I have a 97 xj Cherokee. The transmission started acting up shifted into 1st slipped bad. I just purchased one from salvage yard. The one in my jeep has only one speed sensor plug. The one from the salvage yard has a sensor on the front and the rear of the transmission. Any help as to whether this transmission will work in my jeep?

 

You got one for a 98-01. They used two sensors. Ignore the 2nd sensor, or pull it and find a suitable cover plate to cover the hole if you want a clean look. Id use a little sealer or make a gasket for it, but thats me. Not sure if the other sensor is the same part number between 97 and 98 as my parts catalog is buried somewhere. The bigger question is did you get the same model AW4 as yours? There is one for 2wd and one for 4wd. They wont swap over without a tear down to swap the output shaft.

 

How do I tell if its 4 or 2 WD? The numbers on the plate are .model 30-43LE . Then there's 5210 and 4210 AC

 

This is what the transmission is doing, shifts down into first gear then won't barely go, slipping really bad. We changed solenoids and the TCM it shifted fine when cold. After it warmed up it did the same thing. You can shut off the key then restart it and it goes a little bit then nothing. It threw codes 1698 1694.

 

there is a very good & complete "guide to AW4 transmission swaps" somewhere on this forum..or maybe NAXJA....but I couldnt find it

it answers almost all your questions, so hopefully someone can link it

I *think* for a 98 to a 97, only some fairly minor (but detailed) wiring changes need to be made

mine is a 96', and it said all 90 to 96 were good, minor change to take a 97, extra changes to take a later one, quite a few for an earlier one, including mechanicals

 

This one?

https://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1053970

 

Interchange info is there in the first post. That 98 tranny is not going to work without some modification because that rear sensor pulses 4x as fast as the 97 sensor. 2wd versus 4wd should be pretty obvious whether it has a tailcone or the mating surface to bolt up a xfer case. The codes you posted indicate the trans computer stopped responding, so I suspect your existing transmission might be fine. Did you check that you have power to it and good ground to it when it's acting up? I think on a 97, the fuse is in the PDC under the hood - it might be in the inside fuse box though. Earlier Jeeps had a fuse in the harness near the trans computer that often causes problems.

 

Thank you for your help. Not sure if the transmission is still good the fluid was dark and smelled burned. There was some clutch material in the pan screen. The transmission from the salvage yard has a serial # it is 99LE 720698. I'm told the 99 at the beginning means its a 1999. Would that be correct?

 

Ouch, yeah burnt smell is not good. Have you looked at the throttle body to trans cable by chance? If that's disconnected, you'l get really sluggish shifting and slipping. Long term that can destroy the clutch bands. Honestly, the best bet for a swap is to see if you can exchange that trans for the correct year. Otherwise you've got some work swapping parts over, as described in the NAXJA thread.