Infectious Off-Road.com

I have been readin up on this since the first time I took my XJ wheeling.
I was wondering why i couldn't crawl down steep hills, the trans would shift into 2nd gear and i would have to ride the brakes sometimes, and when it did start to slow down it would shift back down into 1st and throw me forward in my seat.

Well I found a pretty simple fix for this and today I installed a switch to lockout the solenoid controlling 2nd gear, and with the switch flipped, 1st gear is locked in and 2nd is locked out.

Ready?

here we go
[b]I chose a spot for the switch, last weekend I went to one of the local JY and picked up a switch for the fog lights on a 89 XJ, and I am going to put it in the same spot on my XJ[/b]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0470.jpg[/img]
[b]then removed the instrument panel cover, mine only had 2 screws[/b]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0471.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0473.jpg[/img]
[b]Now I have access to where I am mounting my switch[/b]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0474.jpg[/img]
[b][color=#BF0000]You don't have to use this kind of switch, almost any type of switch will work, you only are connecting 2 wires, unless you have one that lights up, and you only have to ground the 3rd wire conector[/color][/b]
[b]The following pics are me getting the switch ready for install[/b]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0475.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0476.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0477.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0478.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0480.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0481.jpg[/img]

[b]Ok now the real fun begins, I stopped myself at this point, I disconnected my battery, just as a safty precaution[/b]
Remove the lower panel to gain access to the Trans Control Unit
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0482.jpg[/img]

[b]Unplug the connector and locate wire #15, it will most likely be [color=#BF80FF]VIOLET[/color][/b]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0484.jpg[/img]
[b]Now your going to cut the wire, but make sure you leave enough room to work with, remember you will be connection a wire to each end you just cut.[/b]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0485.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0486.jpg[/img]
[b]I used red wire, if I was to do it all over again, I would have found some Violet wire. I used heat shrink to connect the wires together.[/b]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0488.jpg[/img]
[b]Now all you need to do is run the other ends of the wires to the switch, I ran them along the panel, then up under the dash, and out where the switch is going to be located[/b][img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0489.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0491.jpg[/img]
[b]I used the factory connector for the plug that I took off the donor XJ and connected the wires then heat shrinked them[/b][img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0492.jpg[/img]
[b]Then I zip tied the wires together and cleaned up any loose wires, and installed the switch assembly back into the factory location[/b]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0493.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk215/thebigdogg49/1989%20Jeep%20XJ/IMG_0494.jpg[/img]

[b]I finished puttin everything back together, hooked the battery back up and went for a test ride. First i tried it in 2WD with the trans selector in 1-2. WOOHOO it stays in 1st gear, then I stopped, flipped the switch and it drives normal, then i tried it in 4lo, OMG talk about crawling!!!!

Well I hope this will help some of you if you were ever wondering how take your XJ crawl.

On a easy to hard scale from 1-10, I would rate this a 3, not to many tools, you can use diffrent type of connectors, electrical tape, whatever floats your baot!!![/b]

What a great write up. Nice job.

Great write up!!!!!!

I would have loved to have this information back when I had my 87 and 97 Cherokees!!!!! I hated the fact they wouldn't stay in 1st gear!

Do you know if it works on the new body style XJ's? 97 to 01?

there are a few different ways to do it. (On all automatics) They also have a shifter you can wire in where you put the jeep in Drive and shift the gears manually!

Good write up, but you could have saved yourself trouble by just shifting into 1st gear.

[quote="igofshn"]Good write up, but you could have saved yourself trouble by just shifting into 1st gear.[/quote]
there is no just first gear, the lowest option is 1-2 together

You are saying if you put it in first, it shifts into second??? Most vehicles just don't have a second gear unles the vehicle is in 3rd or drive

cherokees will shift into second. It sucks. the actual shifter goes P-R-N-D-3-1,2

or if you are having problems understanding what AJ wrote try this:


[b]P
R
N
D
3
1-2[/b]

great job Harry I still want to find out how to do it 2 the new body XJ... 97+

Hey Harry can I get u to help me install one on mine? Since u already did it and all... I hate when it shifts Into 2nd...!

[quote="Mickey"]Hey Harry can I get u to help me install one on mine? Since u already did it and all... I hate when it shifts Into 2nd...![/quote]
I sure will, wait, depends on the year......

Think my tranny is off an 01 cherokee

[quote="Mickey"]Think my tranny is off an 01 cherokee[/quote]

they are actually a little different... but if you guys make it work... make a write up too.. I would not mind doing it to mine too... I have a 97+ too!!!

They actually sell kits for the newer years... I was just trying to go the cheap way about it... lol