Aw4 swap questions

Howdy all,
Tomorrow I will be swapping my warm out aw4. I have read the "everything you need to know about aw4" thread and it all makes sense accept for the wiring part. The thread says it's a simple cut and splice for a 97 trans into a 96 xj but the trans in my 96 has 8 wires in it and the one in the 97 has 5 wires. does that mean I only splice the wires that match? I know I may sound dumb but in need some help on this one. Everything else is ready to go accept the wiring

BAXJ96 said:

Howdy all,
Tomorrow I will be swapping my worn out aw4. I have read the "everything you need to know about aw4" thread and it all makes sense except for the wiring part. The thread says it's a simple cut and splice for a 97 trans into a 96 xj but the trans in my 96 has 8 wires in it and the one in the 97 has 5 wires. does that mean I only splice the wires that match? I know I may sound dumb but in need some help on this one. Everything else is ready to go except the wiring

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The TCU wiring connectors need to match, color wise. Some have a green connector, some have a tan connector and I think the later models have a red connector. I did the same thing with an 88 MJ using a 94 XJ AW4. I was trying to wire the 94 harness to fit the 88 truck. They had different wiring and I played hell trying to splice this to go with that. So the wiring harness need to coincide with the TCU. If you use the right harness, TCU combination everything should plug in, no splicing required. You may be able to source the right harness/TCU at a salvage yard or ebay