I can't say about the older tranny's but I have never had issues with the tranny on my 94, smooth as all get out. As far as the unibody I read a report at one time that said the rigidity of the unibody was more than a comparable framed Chevy or Ford. The whole vehicle is integral adding to the overall strength. The only issue i've ever seen is when I'm flexed out on the trail I can't get the hatch shut. The Xj is a very compentant 4X and is awesome for on and off road even in a stock configuration.

 

Hey Bill, the AW4 automatic transmission has been used in the Cherokees for years and years because it's a very stout and reliable transmission. Whoever yold you they were "weak" was probably some Chevy-head who thinks anything other than a Chevy is junk. Personally I'm on 167,000 miles with my original AW4 and I do not baby it whatsoever.

Like piaa-nissan said the unibody structure is very strong, even stronger in some cases than the frame on a conventional.

 

The only problems with the AW4:

1. The PRNDL switch sucks, but is easily overhauled for next to nothing

2. Very slight problem (I've seen less than ten) with shift solenoids, but what electronic shift trans doesn't have this problem?

3. If ya got a leak, the pan is a PITA to remove, especially with the goofy dipstick tube. Luckily, there's a drainplug

Overall, in 13 years working for GM and Chrysler, the AW4 is, by far, the toughest most trouble free trans I've seen

 

i JUST discovered saturday that i cant close my hatch when its flexed.i parked on a log i got out and opened it it wouldnt shut, i had to back down off the log

sorry i had to throw that in there

 

Ahhh, the wonders of unibodys. The chassis flexes so much that it throws the door openings out of square.

 

Whoever told you that about the Jeep tranny must have them confused witha Explorer or something, or maybe just jealous due to them not owning a JEEP..
But I have a 91 and a 96 XJ, my 91 has 219K miles and when I bought it in 93 it had 42K, and I have gave this XJ hell, and never had any problems with the tranny, or engine for that fact, you can click on my profile and see the 91. Now my 96 I have only had it 2 weeks.

BTW my brother in law also has a 90 XJ that has 344K miles and his is still kicking and is a DD and he wheels it every weekend, uses bout a half a quart of oil a week. You cant beat a XJ. And NO problems on the tranny..

 

180k on my 90'cherokee and not a problem with the tranny. The only thing you really wanna watch for as far as unibodies goes, make sure it is not rusted out. A little surface rust is no problem, but holes in the "frame rails" is a bad thing. Look it over good before buying.

 

Whoever was telling you about the bad automatics may have had an 84-86 with one. I had an `86 with the 2.8 and "baby 904" Chrysler tranny in it that gave me all kinds of problems. Of course, the tranny wasn't the real problem; the torque converter was! That combo was mated by a "special" german-made torque converter that would go out about the same time the rear main bearings in the engine did (right around every 60,000 miles).

I replaced the tranny the first time right after buying the vehicle (part of the reason for buying it was the fact that it had a freshly rebuilt engine!); didn't realize that it was going to be a problem that wouldn't go away for good! The torque converter had gone out of balance and taken out the front seal of the trans & input shaft wallered the case bad enough to need replacement. I rebuilt the engine again at ~130,000 miles and not even 1000 miles later had to replace the TC again (caught it this time before the tranny got lunched). When I got rid of it at 185,000 miles the engine had started acting up again and that telltale vibration had started up again. I sold it to a fellow who wanted it for parts when my new `94 XJ arrived and never looked back! I never had a bit of trouble with the `94's tranny; just wish I hadn't totalled it... the motor still runs as well as (if not better than) the one in my 2001. Of course, with only 35,000 miles on the `01, it's still getting broken in!

Don T. AI4CW

 

172k miles on mine, just got done tearing it down and replacing every gasket on the engine, (which was very easy on this motor) and now i have a leak free xj

 

Don T. AI4CW:

I have an 86 XJ with 2.8 and TF904 that was bought new. The TC developed a crack in the casing at 35,000 miles. Heard the same story about a "special (West)German" manufactured one as you did, so I suppose that it must be true. The trans shop owner told me that these TCs were noted for cracks and either you got one with a bad case or you didn't. He recommended getting a used unit and he would garuntee it as if it were a new one. He installed it in the Cherokee and since then 11 years and 100,000 miles on the unit no problems. Also 137,000 miles on the 2.8 no bearing failures.

 

It's great that you've gotten such good mileage out of that one; I didn't have such good fortune. I know a fellow who's got the 2.8 in an S-10 that's going on 210,000 without a rebuild; he says he hasn't done anything special to get that kind of life out of it. I've heard far more folks with the same experience as mine, though, so I'm not quite ready to just dismiss mine as a lemon. I have no complaints about my `94 or my `01 (except that I preferred the `94's interior) so they're doing something right!

We'll be finishing the `88 in the spring if all goes smoothly and will see how it compares with the others...

Don T. AI4CW

 

xjy173 and Don

My 84 with the 904 started a heck of a vibration in the past month, the shift from 1-2 is getting kind of sloppy, does this sound like the TC problem that you were referring to. When I head down the road, I get a sort of cyclic vibration with an increase in engine speed. I had been attributing to the motor, but everything, engine, seems fine. This vibration ceases at about 2800-3000 rpm, when running steady, but comes back as if it wants to backfire when letting off of the throttle.

WADAYATHINK.

179K on the vehicle, had it running since March, put 12K on in that time.

 

That's the same type of behavior I remember prior to the breakage; does it vibrate badly when you run the RPM up in park or neutral? I remember mine doing this smoothly at first & getting worse in those positions as the tranny got worse. I believe the time I caught it before the tranny damage it still didn't show up in neutral (only under a load); maybe your tranny can still be saved... good luck with it!

Don T. AI4CW

 

Yeah, vibration is getting worse in park. When I rev the motor up, it isn't as bad in magnitude. I gonna have to look in to this soon. Thanks.

 

My torque convertor failure was cracked case and a fluid leak; I've not experienced the vibration attributible to the transmission that you speak of.

I would check the remainder of the driveline as well, especially the rear propeller shaft and u joints, before condemning the transmission.

If your 2.8 seems like it is about to backfire on de-acceleation, that points to either the EGR valve or the Decel valve and their associated vacuum tubing or routing.

Good Luck; it is always good to hear from other 2.8 XJ/MJ owners.

 

I think I the past 9yrs of working on everything automotive from a VW to Jeeps to an '69 Austin-Healy Sprite, the jeeps I have worked on, mainly the xj-mjs I have replaced 2 tranys, both 89s 4.0l autos, and both had well over 200k...My 89 had had some kind of trany work or t-case work b/c one of the crossmember bolts is missing, and as for the 4.0ls, god what a great motor, granted In the past 5 months I have replaced 8 diffrent rear main seals and one set of main and rod bearings, as for my '89 4.0lwith 187k I rebuilt it this winter will mark 2yrs and about 40k on it in 2yrs with no problems but a bad water pump last month an I swaped out the stock close cooling system with a GDI 3-core open system. Other then a "little" DW at 45+mph it is the best 4x4 I have ever owned, no tranny problems, but will be taking it out this winter and re-building it and the t-case, putting on a SYE and a few other things and will be all ready for the spring/summer time, I dont drive it in the winter unless I have too, mud tires dont work so well on ice and snow...ok that was long...lol..andy
good luck and dont worry about high miles or anything like that...

 

Re: Question on Cherokee Automatic Transmissions

In reply to:

2. Very slight problem (I've seen less than ten) with shift solenoids, but what electronic shift trans doesn't have this problem?

[/ QUOTE ]
I recently bought a 89 Cherokee Limited and I am having a shifting problem. It doesn't slip or any thing but I have to tack it out to get it to shift. Could you educate me on the shift solenoid and tell me if it's fairly easily replaced?

 

Re: Question on Cherokee Automatic Transmissions

For the most part with the AW-4 problems shift or stickin in gear is the TPS is out of Adj, very simple and easy to do. Both Chiltons and Hayes outline it.

As for the crapy tranys in Jeeps I would have to say now that it's the JUnk they put in the ZJs, why they stop using the AW-4 I will never know.

 

I know this might sound odd, but check your transmission bolts for tightness. Mine were all the way out, and making all kinds of ambigous noises, that no one could put their finger on. when the motor was off, it slid back together and was unnoticeable to all of us.

 

Re: Question on Cherokee Automatic Transmissions

Well I had a frind who works on auto trans ( but has never been into a AW- 4 ) any way he adjusted the TPS but no change (DARND) he is going to do some research to see if he can come up with an answer to my problem.
Any one else have any Ideas ??????
<Bolts are tight as well>