AW 4; 1&2 gear shifting characteristics?

Hi All

I was wondering if you have an input, how I can adjust the shifting characteristics on my '97 AW 4 in manualy locked 1&2 range. It has the 225/75-15 tires and 4.0l engine, factory axle-gears...

Going down a hill, I like to shift down manualy to save on brakes. I've done it once and it stood in second gear quite long. But in a sudden it hardly shifted down to first, and did this ever I shifted back from 3rd to 1&2. I'd like to have it staying in second gear and not shifting down to first, cause this makes the engine reving high, and keeping speed too low. Doing this on a hill, I figure it schould be ok in second and not need first!

Do you have any idea, how I could adjust the down shifting characteristics to keep it in second for a longer and probably down to a slower speed?
Could the trans throttle cable need adjustment or could it just be an bad trans or speed sensor?

All other shifting seems okay to me, shifting up and also manualy down into third is okay! Is it possible that the AW4 just likes to shift down into first and doesn't like to stay in second? I have an original service manual and just checked it but couldn't find an advise so far...

TIA and keep on running SIMON

There isn't a way to adjust the pattern mechanically. The AW4 is an electronically shifted tranny except for the kick down.
That's not to say there isn't a way to do what you want. There is a product called the CompuShift Plus that allows you to lock the trans into second gear. It also has provisions to take off in second but kick down if the pedal is pushed beyond 1/2-3/4 throttle. It works great on the pre '97 XJ's, but will cause a code problem on the OBDII control of the '97 and newer XJ's. It is one of the best mods I have done on my '91.

There are those that have made their own 1-2 controls with switches that work good. Do a search on the set up and you should find what you need, though if it is too far in the archives you will need a membership to access it.

Bones :skull1:

Thanks bones for the input

I checked on the search dep. There was a writeup from Mister Gojeep.com! but for the pre '97 models

I started a reply on that (in modified tech.) and was wondering if anyone has an input on the OBDII three solenoid setup?

Have a good one
Simon