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Everything you ever wanted to know about the AW4

well i'm at a loss then, i'm surely no transmission guy :rof:

on a random note though, i'm not exactly sure how to describe it, but i'll be driving and then come to a stop, and then it feels like a part of the drivetrain keeps spinning for a split second and then slams into another and stops it from spinning?

perhaps i'm due for a rebuild relatively soon? u-joints seem to be fine, no slack in em

perhaps i should look at the slip yoke coming out of the transfer case to see if it's all ground up in there or something?

AW4/NP231 combo, no SYE
 
Nope. Directions that came with slave cylinder said to hold slave cylinder with piston facing the ground and hydraulic line up toward bottom of vehicle and pump piston in and out, in and out repeatedly until all air is out of line. There is no bleeder screw anywhere. I've checked cause I thought it was odd that there wasn't.
 
If you're not looking for full automatic operation, swapping in the AW4 can be much simpler. What I'd do -
pull the AW4, NP231, rear shaft, front shaft, and any other parts you'll need from your donor. It's a 21 spline AW4 so not ideal and will limit your spare parts availability, but that can be handled.

Another thing I just remembered - you're going to need a 91-01 flexplate, since the flexplate from the 89 is for the RENIX CPS + ECU and won't line up electronically with an OBD CPS + ECU. If you were closer/I had more time I would mail you one, I have AT LEAST two or three decent ones sitting around.

Pull your AX15, swap in the AW4. If you care about your reverse lights you can get them working again using the proper pins from the NSS to drive the wiring that used to be hooked to the reverse switch. Swap in the older case with the SYE, the driveshafts, etc as well... you may have to shorten or lengthen the rear but I think the front should line up.

You have 3 wires that are important on the AW4 - the solenoid ones. If you don't mind always shifting in manumatic mode, you can wire them to the NSS and some toggle switches or a rotary switch in such a way that it'll work fine, you just need to know to shift it manually. I'm not sure exactly how to wire it up to the NSS but can look into it sometime tomorrow or Thursday hopefully. If you don't mind having to use the AW4 shifter as well as a rotary switch to shift, you can do it very simply with a 2 pole 4 position (or 6 position, radio shack has a 2 pole 6 position rotary in stock that works great) rotary switch.
 
If you don't mind having to use the AW4 shifter as well as a rotary switch to shift, you can do it very simply with a 2 pole 4 position (or 6 position, radio shack has a 2 pole 6 position rotary in stock that works great) rotary switch.


theoretically speaking, would it be possible to use an aftermarket shift lever that has an extra slot in it?

for example, as opposed to haveing 1-2/3/d it would have 1/2/3/d instead?

and then you'd be able to use the shift lever for all 4 gears?
 
My last post was toward oldcancer.

Now on to your last post Kastein, and thanx for all the advice and info, very helpful. I was looking into buying RADesigns baja shifter and going that route encase the wiring of th TCU was a pain.
 
that would work great, actually. RADesigns is a sponsor here and their stuff is designed to work with that trans.

You need to keep both shifters IIRC - the factory shifter is mechanical and controls the valvebody hydraulically, while the RADesigns one is electronic. The only difference I believe is that in the mechanical 1-2 shifter position, the overrunning clutches are locked, resulting in much stronger engine braking. I'm not sure if you can enable that electronically but I haven't found a way to do so, I need to look through teh valve body diagrams in my FSM a bit more. Also the torque converter lockup solenoid is not controlled by the RADesigns shifter (iirc, could be wrong) but you really only want to run that with a toggle switch anyways, and probably only in 3rd/OD.
 
funny how he found that too, cause after i posted, i thought of how little sense it would make to have a shift lever with 4 drive gear positions while the transmission would still only have 3 selections anyways due to the linkage, but then again, i had never considered 2 shift levers
 
Ya I know you have to use both the stock shifter and the baja II shifter when utilizing the baja II and I'll have to wire it to the AW4 to be adle to shift manually. And also wire up the TC lock up to a toggle switch. Just hoping I will be able to do this so I can get rid of the crappy AX-15 .
 
Also I just heard back from a guy that is parting out a 92 Cherokee he said I can take everything needed to do the auto swap on mine for $250 bucks will the 92 auto work better than the 89 Cherokee auto I already have? That sounds like a pretty good deal only problem is I don't know what kind of shape the tranny is in. The 89 Tranny I already have I know is in good shape.
 
The trans wiring is in the engine and dash wiring, so you'd have to swap both IIRC. Doing custom is probably faster.

The 92 stuff won't plug in, I would probably run the 89 stuff over it.
 
I thought you had said 90.5-96 is the preferred years to use do to a auto swap on a 96, that being said since its a 92 auto and I can get everything to do the swap for $250. You would still choose the 89 Auto over the 92? I would prefer to be able to use the AW4 in its original condition and only use the Baja manual shifter when im wheeling offroad. And I thought you said with the 89 I probably wouldn't be able to. That's why I started looking for one closer to my year range, and came across the 92 that someone is parting out close by.
 
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