Trying to get the owner to part with this 2wd XJ so I can fix it and make it look pretty and sell it for a decent profit. He paid $400 for it from a friend knowing it had transmission issues and didn't know how to fix it. So I'm offering him $400 to take it off his hands and hope it is something simple, lol.

So far, i'm considering full fluid changes, cable adjustment, trans solenoids and some plasti dip to make it look purdy again. We'll see...

 

Well I finally talked him into it, lol. Turns out it was built 11/1994 so it's actually a 95 model. I'll be handing him $300 cash tomorrow and taking the keys and title. Should be a fun project. I've done a lot to my 2001 XJ, but haven't messed with any older ones, so I'm sure I'll have a question or two along the way.

 

Expense Tally so far:
$300 - Price of 95 XJ
$60 - New pro-rated Battery
$85 - (3) New Solenoids, filter, gasket
$35 - TPS Sensor
$35 - Rear Hatch Struts
$22 - Dex/Merc III ATF
$20 - Delo 15w40 oil
$4 - Puralator Oil Filter
$6 - Oil change boxes
$5 - New oil drain plug
$570 - Total invested so far.

*I bought new wipers & air filter for my 01 XJ and transfered my old ones to the 95 XJ, so I'm not counting those in the cost.

I am trying to save most of my $1,000 budget for used tires, but without a working transmission, tires will be pointless.

 

So today I changed the oil, transmission filter/fluid & all 3 shift solenoids.
Then took it for a test drive, still bad. Noticed TV cable was out of adjustment, re-adjusted, didn't fix it either.

Then I noticed both reverse lights were not working, so I tried to start it in neutral and it wouldn't start. So I cleaned the NSS, reinstalled. Now I have reverse lights and I can start in neutral. But didn't fix the major problem.

I replaced the TPS, still have the transmission problem.

That only leaves about 4 possibilites that I will look into next weekend.
1. Continue to exchange the old fluid for new Dex/Merc III and see if symptoms improve
2. Clean all ground connections and trace any possible wire faults.
3. Diagnose the TCM properly and see if the actual TCM is bad. (fuses are good)
4. The clutch packs are shot and I've wasted about $500.

 

Fixed it, loose wiring
So...yeah....thanks for the help? lol

 

R*C*B*R*C

 

Just bought my first XJ, so please tell us which wires for future reference.

 

Not sure, I just started unplugging and cleaning every harness in the engine bay. Also cleaned all the ground contacts.

 

Way to go. everyone should do that.

 

Not sure what that means, but I get the feeling I should have read something written by you first, lol.

 

Refresh*Connections*Before*Replacing*Components.

You did it on your own!!!!

 

Ahh ok, yep it's too easy really.

The only thing I probably didn't have to do, is replace the solenoids, but oh well, I have extra for my 01 if I ever need them.

EDIT: Hahaha, I just saw it in your sig too, I'm a little slow today.

 

I just noticed your signature. I see you live up to it.

 

Maybe I should wait until I have problems ...

 

It's all about the timing, I guess.

You wanna do a bit of maintenance and prevent problems, or you wanna wait for the problems to arrive?