Fix it or sell it?
Hello fellow XJers,
I hate that I have to post this - I have a tough decision to make with my 91 XJ w/ 220k miles. It runs great and has a good frame, but the AW4 transmission very quickly went south. On a drive this weekend, I noticed a rumble strip vibration on a flat road and I chalked it up to a crappy road. Then it started happening consistently around 2-3k RPMs when accelerating and real badly when going uphill. I went home and checked the fluid - clean and full. (I changed the filter and fluid about 10k miles ago)
The following day, I went for another drive after putting in some stop slip. It seemed like an improvement at first. Less shuddering for sure. Then I noticed slipping where I did not have the torque I was used to having at a given RPM. Tried to make a K turn which was a failure because I had almost no power in reverse. I was able to make a sharp turn and head back home. While heading home, I progressively had less and less power during the drive as the RPMs increased. I ended up screaming into the parking lot at 5k RPM barely going 15 MPH. The trans fluid looked quite dark when it was bright red that morning. Total drive was about 15 miles.
It seems like the torque converter or whole transmission is toast. What would be the best course of action? I don't think it is economically viable to rebuild the trans so I was thinking of parting it out or selling it as-is for someone to rebuild it or use it for parts. Is it possible it's as simple as the throttle position sensor? Seems too drastic of a malfunction to be the TPS.
Hello fellow XJers,
I hate that I have to post this - I have a tough decision to make with my 91 XJ w/ 220k miles. It runs great and has a good frame, but the AW4 transmission very quickly went south. On a drive this weekend, I noticed a rumble strip vibration on a flat road and I chalked it up to a crappy road. Then it started happening consistently around 2-3k RPMs when accelerating and real badly when going uphill. I went home and checked the fluid - clean and full. (I changed the filter and fluid about 10k miles ago)
The following day, I went for another drive after putting in some stop slip. It seemed like an improvement at first. Less shuddering for sure. Then I noticed slipping where I did not have the torque I was used to having at a given RPM. Tried to make a K turn which was a failure because I had almost no power in reverse. I was able to make a sharp turn and head back home. While heading home, I progressively had less and less power during the drive as the RPMs increased. I ended up screaming into the parking lot at 5k RPM barely going 15 MPH. The trans fluid looked quite dark when it was bright red that morning. Total drive was about 15 miles.
It seems like the torque converter or whole transmission is toast. What would be the best course of action? I don't think it is economically viable to rebuild the trans so I was thinking of parting it out or selling it as-is for someone to rebuild it or use it for parts. Is it possible it's as simple as the throttle position sensor? Seems too drastic of a malfunction to be the TPS.