Brief history my 1997 ZJ: ..started as V8; then went to I6 with origional tranny/tcase (242). Now it's getting an engine, transmission, and tcase (231) from a 95XJ. Becides the mediocer differences that are common with a swap; I'm having some electrical issues with the tranmissions

I can only 'wing it' and jury rig it so much. I can cut and splice matching connectors as needed. But when the electrical is significantly different, ie TCMs, I'm pretty stumped.

I still have the complete donor vehicle; but I'm not really sure how to go about the wiring harness swap as needed...

I've done swaps before-- but typically they've been manual transmissions, where the biggest issue is the reverse light

I'm getting frusterated and would greatly appreciate any help available with the limited details of this post.

-This aint been my month! -First I lost my girl (permently); Then I lost my truck (temporarily); Then because I lost my truck; I'm going to miss out on my Canadian bear hunt (non refundable deposit). Oh, and on top of this; greasy hands caused my camera to slip out of my butter fingers (shattered camera means NO PICTURES TO AID IN THIS POST!!!!!!!). And now all these additional problems with what should be a simple, simple swap...

Thanks everyone ..once again.. any help would be greatly appreciated..

 

I may not be much help, but the 95 is OBDI and the 97 is OBDII. I'd think you'd have to swap the ECU and TCM to get it to function proberly. I'm not sure where the TCM is on the ZJ but on the XJ it's in the lower dash panel under the glovebox. I think I read somewhere that on an OBDII rig the ECU acts as a TCM also, I know on a 95 XJ (my wife has one) the TCM is seperate. on the 95 you can unplug the TCM and will get no check engine light, not so sure about the 97.

 

You're very correct... Well it doesn't look that hard.. here's a write up...

...I'm kidding. It looks insanely hard!!!!!!!!!

For the GRAY 8 prong connector from the Transmission body -

Pin 1 TRS 1-2 Sense - This is a violet with white stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 21 on the TCM plug. (Also known as TRS T42 sense). It's purpose is to apply 12 volts to pin 21 on the TCM letting the TCM know that the shifter is in the 1-2 range.

Pin 2 TRS 3 Sense - This is a violet wire. It needs to connect to Pin 9 on the TCM plug. It's purpose is to apply 12 volts to pin 9 on the TCM telling the TCM that the shifter is in the 3 range.

Pin 3 Fused Ignition Switch Output (Run-Start) - This is a white wire. When you turn on the key to the run or start mode this sends power to the TRS. The TRS then uses this power to send signals to the TCM indicating what range the shifter is in. This will tie into the wire bundle coming out of the TJ PCM on connector 1 pin A2.

Pin 4 TRS Overdrive Sense - This is a light green with black stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 22 on the TCM plug. It's purpose is to apply 12 volts to pin 22 on the TCM telling the TCM that the shifter is in the OD range.

Pin 5 (Not used)

Pin 6 TRS Reverse Sense - This is a brown with light green stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 18 on the TCM plug. It's purpose is to apply 12 volts to pin 18 on the TCM telling the TCM that the shifter is in the reverse range. (Also known as Back Up Lamp Feed)

Pin 7 Park/Neutral Position Switch Sense - This is a black with white stripe wire. It's purpose is to ground the Park/Neutral circuit on the TJ harness when you shift into Park or Neutral so that the starter relay can be engaged which in turn allows the motor to be started. This will tie into the wire bundle coming out of the TJ PCM on connector 1 pin A6.

Pin 8 Ground - This is the ground necessary to complete the Park/Neutral circuit. It will tie into the wire bundle coming out of the TJ PCM on connector 1 pin 31 or 32.

BLACK 8 prong from the transmission body -

Pin 1 Input Speed Sensor Signal - This is a red with black stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 2 on the TCM plug. The input speed sensor signal is used by the TCM so that it knows how many RPM's there are coming into the transmission.

Pin 2 Transmission Solenoid B - This is an orange with white stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 13 on the TCM plug. The solenoids are used by the TCM to shift the transmission.

Pin 3 Transmission Solenoid A - This is a white wire. It needs to connect to Pin 12 on the TCM plug. The solenoids are used by the TCM to shift the transmission.

Pin 4 Transmission Solenoid C (Lockup) - This is a dark blue with white stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 11 on the TCM connector. The TCM uses this solenoid to engage and disengage the lockup.

Pin 5 Input Speed Sensor Ground - This is a violet with light green stripe. It needs to connect to Pin 1 on the TCM plug. It completes input speed sensor circuit.

Pin 6 Output Speed Sensor Ground - This is a dark blue with black stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 3 on the TCM plug. It completes the output speed sensor circuit.

Pin 7 Output Speed Sensor Signal - This is a light green with white stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 4 on the TCM plug. The output speed sensor signal is used by the TCM so that it knows how many RPM's there are coming out of the transmission.

Pin 8 (Not used)

BLACK 26 prong connector to TCM

Pin 1 Input Speed Sensor Ground - This is a violet with light green stripe. It needs to connect to Pin 5 on the black 8 way plug. It completes input speed sensor circuit

Pin 2 Input Speed Sensor Signal - This is a red with black stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 1 on the black 8 way plug. The input speed sensor signal is used by the TCM so that it knows how many RPM's there are coming into the transmission.

Pin 3 Output Speed Sensor Ground - This is a dark blue with black stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 6 on the black 8 way plug. It completes the output speed sensor circuit.

Pin 4 Output Speed Sensor Signal - This is a light green with white stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 7 on the black 8 way plug. The output speed sensor signal is used by the TCM so that it knows how many RPM's there are coming out of the transmission.

Pin 5 (Not used)

Pin 6 CCD BUS (-) (NOT USED!)

Pin 7 CCD BUS (+) (NOT USED!)

Pin 8 (Not used)

Pin 9 TRS T3 Sense (TRS 3 Sense) - This is a violet wire. It needs to connect to Pin 2 on the gray 8 way plug. It's purpose is to apply 12 volts to pin 9 on the TCM telling the TCM that the shifter is in the 3 range.

Pin 10 (Not used)

Pin 11 Transmission Solenoid C (Lockup) - This is a dark blue with white stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 4 on the black 8 way plug. The TCM uses this solenoid to engage and disengage the lockup.

Pin 12 Transmission Solenoid A - This is a white wire. It needs to connect to Pin 3 on the black 8 way plug. The solenoids are used by the TCM to shift the transmission.

Pin 13 Transmission Solenoid B - This is an orange with white stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 2 on the black 8 way plug. The solenoids are used by the TCM to shift the transmission.

Pin 14 (Not used)

Pin 15 (Not used)

Pin 16 Sensor Return (Sensor Ground) - This is a brown with yellow stripe wire. This will tie into the wire bundle coming out of the TJ PCM on connector 1 pin A4. When we pull sensor signals off the TJ harness we need to send to signal ground back to the TJ PCM sensor return. This completes the circuit the TCM needs to get signals from the TJ throttle position sensor and brake switch sense circuits.

Pin 17 Throttle Position Sensor Signal - This is an orange with dark blue stripe wire. This will tie into the wire bundle coming out of the TJ PCM on connector 1 pin A23. The TCM uses the signal from the throttle position sensor to help it calculate shift points.

Pin 18 Back Up Lamp Feed (TRS Reverse Sense) - This is a brown with light green stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 6 on the gray 8 way plug. It's purpose is to apply 12 volts to pin 18 on the TCM telling the TCM that the shifter is in the reverse range.

Pin 19 (Not used)

Pin 20 (Not used)

Pin 21 T42 Sense (TRS 1-2 Sense) - This is a violet with white stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 1 on the gray 8 way plug. It's purpose is to apply 12 volts to pin 21 on the TCM letting the TCM know that the shifter is in the 1-2 range.

Pin 22 TRS T1 Sense (TRS Overdrive Sense) - This is a light green with black stripe wire. It needs to connect to Pin 4 on the gray 8 way plug. It's purpose is to apply 12 volts to pin 22 on the TCM telling the TCM that the shifter is in the OD range.

Pin 23 Brake Switch Sense - This is a white with pink stripe wire. This will tie into the wire bundle coming out of the TJ PCM on connector 3 pin C24. This allows the TCM to know when the brakes are being applied.

Pin 24 Ground - This is a black with tan strip wire. This will tie into the wire bundle coming out of the TJ PCM on connector 1 pin A31 or A32. Provides a ground for the TCM.

Pin 25 Fused B (+) - This is a pink 20 gauge wire. Rather than tear apart the power distribution center I chose to run this straight to the battery positive terminal. You will want to use an inline 15A fuse. This wire provides constant power for the TCM.

Pin 26 Fused Ignition Switch Input (Start-Run) - This is a dark blue with white stripe wire. When you turn on the key to the run or start mode this sends power to the TCM. This will tie into the wire bundle coming out of the TJ PCM on connector 1 pin A2.

I mounted the TCM under the center console on top of the airbag computer underneath the armrest portion. I drilled a hole underneath where the bin in the arm rest is and ran the wires up along the transmission tunnel, then up the firewall to the PCM. As for the things that I have had to adapt to the ZJ, one is that I had to ground the black with white tracer wire that goes to the pcm (connector A) with a switch so that I could start it. I need to do some work with the NSS to not have to ground this wire as well as get my reverse lamps back. I'll edit this when I figure these very minor issues figured out.

---info from http://www.stu-offroad.com/index.asp.

 

..at this point; I'm going to pull the t-cases, and pray that the 231's shaft just happens to be identical to the 242's! ..if not gotta dig into them.

-and if it's the same- it would have been a one day swap fix.

----and knowing my recent luck.. they'll match up fine. I'll put the origonal truck back together with 'new t-case'... and it'll be a mis-diagnosis -it'll end up being a bum TRANSMISSION.

 

Do a search for "AW4 swap" at www.mallcrawlin.com. Theres a write up there that might help guide you, but i dont think he was able to get the AW4 to shift automatically.. he had to resort to manual shifting. The AW4 trans (Cherokee uses a TCU whereas the ZJ trans uses the ECU and not a trans stand alone puter).

I'd like to see someone figure this all out and get a Cherokee trans in and fully functional.

 

Well I've done some extensive searching, mostly while drinking large amounts of Pabst. ..and the more I'd read, the more I'd drink, trying convence myself it'd be easy

It's been done.. and it works when done correctly. If this were just a trail project ZJ and not a DD, I'd more than likely tackle it. The link I posted before, contains a couple writeups pertaining to it.

If someone managed to manufacture an affordable aftermarket harness kit assembly for this swap.. it'd be pretty sweet. AW4 is a great transmission (IMO).. but goodness...