Today coming home from work pulling out of the parking lot, it felt as if i had the parking brake on. (but i didnt)
once it got rolling , it felt fine. Then at the next light, it felt sluggish again. Pulled over, shut it down for a couple seconds, then restart and all felt fine.
Got home, had dinner, then took it out to the store. Sluggish again from a start. So i tryed manually shifting into 1st at the light, and it took out like normal.
I just shifted to 3rd at about 20-25 mph.
Check engine light is on. codes are 12 , 45 , 55.
After a bit of research im hearing of electronic "shift solenoids" that can go bad. ???
Any one else have this problem?
AND anyone know where to get a set of these if it is this?
I checked on RockAuto , but they want $175 for a set of 3! O,O
Sounds like you are having a computer or solenoid issue for sure. Check your grounds. I forget which fuse/circuit carries power for the TCU on the 97+ XJs. The last set of Solenoids I replaced (coincidentally on a 97) I used a set I bought off of Ebay. I forget the exact price but it wasn't too bad. I think it was around 50 or 60 dollars and included a filter and gasket.
Sound like a bad #1 shift solenoid to me. It it's bad, it'll try start out in 4th gear and skip over 2nd as well. Check the transmission fuse and the wiring to the transmission. The wiring for the solenoids enters the transmission on the drivers side near the middle. You can also measure the resistance of the solenoids at the connector to the trans computer - should be 11-15 ohm from memory. Here's a writeup on replacing the solenoids, which can be done with the trans in the vehicle by dropping the oil pan. https://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=987463
$55 on Amazon for the set of three (two shift and one torque converter lockup)
I had a similar issue but with no 2nd or 3rd as solenoid #2 died. As said, it'll try starting in 4th and miss 2nd as 1st and 2nd both require Sol #1 to be active. Providing that your connector is the same, you can probe at the transmission connector in the engine bay (as also suggested). Check for resistance of 11-15 ohms at the circled pins and if you find that I think G (yellow) is reading infinity, your solenoid is toast. When I probed mine I put my negative lead straight to the battery negative.
I also bought the kit from eBay that lawsoncl linked and have not had an issue with it in currently around 6 months.
I can't say for sure but I doubt it's only on the earlier models. On my '95 FSM it shows a permanent live on Fuse 2 and an ignition live on Fuse 12 both in the PDC (under the bonnet). If you haven't already, download the '97 FSM from Cruisers' website as it may show you more than an owners manual.
