BillyBoy

Hey guys- good to see you- hope all has been going well.

I was cruising in my 98 sport, inline 6, 4wd and that pesky
Check Engine light came on. My overdrice quit working, but all other gears and 4wheel-drive works. It even hauls my camper nice. I've checked all fluids, and attempted to shake/check the wires and conns coming off the trans. It's been checked by both Autozone and Oriely, and the readings are...

0700 transaxle control module fault.

P0740 torque converter clutch circuit condition.

P0705 transaxle range switch fault
Causes: either a failed transmission range sensor
Or open or short circuit condition.

I have a few theories on what's going on, but wanted a few opinions from the "Code-Ninja's" we have on the forum.

As a sidenote, my reverse lights don't work, and I've narrowed that down to a dirty neutral safety switch, which is on my "to-do" list for the summer. It's been bad awhile, and caused no issues. I do not think the two were related.

Another sidenote... the check engine light would come on sometimes, OD wouldn't work, then 2 days later, no issues. Then it'd happen again. It'd head to the Zone to read the codes and all would be fine. Again, this winter, it finally stayed on all the time, and OD stayed gone.

I also need to ask what type of trans fluid everyone's using, and how much to buy. Further, are you putting gasket sealer on the trans gasket? {I haven't done one yet.}

Thanks for any input/guesses/advice in advance.

Radi

I'd start by pulling the NSS and cleaning it. Don't forget to re-tension the springs behind the contacts by stretching them just a bit too.
Later XJ's seem to have overdrive issues and start throwing transmission control codes if the NSS is fouled up. Earlier ones don't care.

DexIII is the correct fluid (don't get the +4) and you'll need about 4qt for a drain and refill. You should have a drain plug, no need to pull the pan unless you want to look at the overdrive solenoid.
The factory put the pan on with pink snot. Between getting that cleaned off and wrangling the dipstick tube out of the way, I'd clean the NSS first and see if that takes care of it.

tjwalker

Agree with Radi. Here is a "how-to" link for refurbishing your neutral safety switch.

http://bc4x4.com/tech/2010/jeep-neut...ty-switch-nss/

BillyBoy

Thanks guys, my setiments exactly.

I researched the codes with the search engine, but most seemed to say to drop the pan, change the solenoid, etc, which is a little taxing on the budget. Dad always said 'start wit the little, cheap stuff first, then move onto the expensive stuff.'

NSS is the plan for the weekend.
I'll post again with an update, especially since the girl I started dating doesn't yet know about my jeep addiction and will be on the sidelines for the whole thing. Wish me luck.

Thanks again-

BillyBoy

Update:

I changed the nss, let me tell you, living in michigan, not the easiest thing in the world...

Pointers for any from northern states... wash/powerspray the underside of your jeep first. Put some PB blaster or wd40 on the shaft coming out of the NSS second, then work the gears around to loosen it up. Some dwell-time with a few applications wouldn't hurt.

Be sure to have a crowbar, some {2 or more} long {greater than 16 inches} heavyduty flat blade screwdrivers, and also maybe a flatblade wood chisel to get the damn thing off.

Mine came off in pieces. They should've taken a pict of the shaft sticking out of the trans with all the writeups to let the firsttimers know it's part of the trans. I pulled and pulled with a pair of visegripes before figuring that out.

The loosen the nut and pry thing only busted the nut and the threads it was on clean off of the nss.

279 later, I finally have reverse lights.

BillyBoy

I at least eliminated one of the issues with my trans codes.

Good advice... take the nut off the dipstick tube and clean the contacts. They control the TCM.

I did that, along with the battery grounds and body ground.

Still have the CE light on.

Adjusted the throttle cable, although maybe too much, it shifts hard into drive and reverse, almost to the point of "clunking."

I took apart the plug for the solenoid, tested the pins, remarkably, got 14 at the upper left pin, the white with black stripe, and 1 or less at the other pins {blue and tan with stripes}.

My question is, if my OD is working, but my gas mileage is sucking, what's my likely issue? When I'm driving, it shifts from 3rd to 4th, and downshifts appropriately when I move the shift lever from od to 3, but I'm getting about 16 mpg at 60mph.

Is that possibly the solenoid? Or is it the tcm sensor?

Can I unplug the tcm, shift manually, and not hurt anything?
{As an assessment technique?}

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advanced.

tjwalker

Need a fresh pull of codes. Gotta narrow this down.

Radi

Lift and oversize tires? Are you correcting for tire size error?
My 100% stock '96 will get 19 on the HWY if I drive like a granny. It's a square box with horrid aerodynamics which only get worse when you lift them.
16 does seem a bit on the low side, but not by a lot. What sort of RPM are you turning at 60 MPH?
Agreed with TJ, the current codes would be useful.

BillyBoy

"Fresh pull of codes?"

How do you clear them? I asked the guys at autozone and they said they couldn't clear codes.

BillyBoy

Btw, I have 30's, a 2inch lift, and no, before the check engine light, my gas miles wasn't too bad. Definitely over 20 when riding at 50-55. Now I'm tanking up 2 times weekly.

BBBBBbbbbbiiiiiiGGGG BUCKS!

BillyBoy

Ok, I pulled apart the plug by the oil dipstick. Tested the pins for the solenoids.

I got 1 for the od solnoid.
14.6 for the second one, and 14.5 for the third one.

Does this mean it's a bad solenoid, or a bad wire/connection?

When you open the trans pan, can you test the solenoids when they're in place?

as always, any help is appreciated.

BillyBoy

Also, today I erased/reset the codes by unplugging the neg, tuning the key forward, hitting the brakes for 10 seconds, unplugging the positive, keying and braking again, leaving them both undone for 20 mins {or 40} then reconnecting.

I'm not sure what the actual protocol is for the reset, but for approximately 5 seconds once restarted/reconnected, I had no check engine light.

Another question is... why didn't the radio stations erase?

BillyBoy

Update...

I change all 3 solenoids. Got them online for 120 from oemsolenoids.com. took longer putting the pan on than anything.

I cleared the codes and now she's fixed. No check enging light, mpg's back into the 20's.

Yes, your solenoids can effect your gas mileage horribly!

Thanks for the assist.

Radi

Nice work! That's what that 1 ohm reading on the OD solenoid was telling us I see...that it's shot.

SpyderJeep

I know very odd to have that effect the Transmission but it happened to me tonight.
SO I had a side marker/blinker that blinked but didn't light up as a side marker in my 1999 XJ Sport.
So I bought a bulb, not knowing what number to get the auto store person looked it up to be a 194. when I went out to replace it the bulb in the socket was a 168 so I exchanged the bulb for the 168.
I put the one in (right side, the vertical one) and drove off, within a mile the tranny shifts from OD to 3rd and back like I'm cruising just between to two and it can't make up it's mind... then I get a check engine light.
Fortunately I have a Bluetooth OBD2 reader plugged in and the Torque App on my phone to read the code right away. It is the P0705 code. I stop to clear it and it comes back even before I turn the engine over. I do this a few times to make sure it is not a false positive, no luck! I get home and Google "P0705 jeep" and I end up here as I have many times before. One thing stood out was the blinker bulbs. I changed out the other side to balance the ohms.. no luck!
I went to the auto store again to get the 194 bulb and see if it is the culprit...
Bada Bing Bada Boom!!! NO CODE!!!

I love how we can share our hard knocks here, I hope this helps many more!!!!