New to owning a Jeep and need some help!

[mwheeler84]

Ok so I just picked up a 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo, straight 6, 4.0l. When we bought it I believe it had been sitting a while. We've cleaned it up vacuumed it out and what not. So here's my problem:

Putting it in drive and going to accelerate the rpm's jump up to between 1600-2000 rpm before it will start to move even if I punch it. If we drop it down to 1st gear it seems to do the same thing. It's really slow at acceleration but to me it seems to get a little better after driving it for a bit. It does have an exhaust leak at the exhaust/intake manifold gasket which has not been fixed yet. We have replaced the transmission filter and dumped 32 oz of Lucas gas treatment in a full tank of gas. We were hoping that the filter would fix the problem but it is still the same.

If I put it in reverse it takes right off, no hesitation at all. I do live in cold Iowa and I'm not sure if it's just the cold but dad doesn't seem to think so.

Also, when we were changing the trans filter we noticed there was a sensor that plugged in somewhere on the transmission where the transmission pan was at the had 3 wires that were exposed. There was also another plug/sensor that wasn't plugged in to anything and we think that might have been the o/d sensor. The o/d off button doesn't seem to work by the way. Any ideas what those sensor's are down there?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Misty

[4.3LXJ]

Do you have all four gears?

[mwheeler84]

I think so but how can I tell? I don't feel it shift at all except when I put it in R or D from Park. Also it's only 2wd.

[4.3LXJ]

I would suggest seeing if you can feel it shift and watching your tach while you accelerate. It almost sounds like you only have one gear. Those wires might be for the shift solenoids

[mwheeler84]

I have watched the tach and it jumps up to 2k rpm before it starts to move. When you take your foot off the brake at a stop it doesn't move forward at all. Once it gets moving the acceleration is fine. I can get up to highway speeds no problem after getting it to start moving. I've looked at a lot of things and think maybe tps or maybe could it be the exhaust leak... not getting enough air. You can hear the leak when you accelerate from stop as it's very loud and throaty.

[mwheeler84]

Ok so we just took it for a drive to see what was happening when it is "supposed" to be shifting. Usually in a non-broken vehicle you would see the rpms drop a little when it shifts. Getting on the freeway in drive the rpm's never shifted down. They just kept rising. When putting it in 1st and manually shifting to 2nd the rpm's never dropped. The only time the rpm's dropped and you could feel it shift is when manually shifting from 2nd to drive. Soooo my question now is... could those exposed wires if they are the shift solenoid could that cause the vehicle to not shift or does it sound like my tranny is shot?

[cantab27]

tps ...................

[mwheeler84]

Alright so I think I just solved my problem! LOL. I was reading on another thread about how to check the codes manually and I am throwing codes 23, 22, 21 which are all the solenoids!

[4.3LXJ]

Codes was my next question ...

[mwheeler84]

Ok so could there be a fuse that would make all 3 of the solenoids throw codes or is it common for all 3 to go bad at once? Also, what is the damage to the vehicle if I continue to drive it without replacing the solenoids?

[bigjim350]

Sounds like the wiring in your tranny is messed up. And it would be a bad idea to keep driving it like it is. If its not shifting its running very high rpms which can ruin the trans and also run a very high risk of over heating the engine.

[bluedragon436]

Id say look into seeing if you can find a new trans out in the JY if you can't afford a rebuild.... or heck if you can source the parts find a trans and other parts needed you can convert it over to 4WD using JY parts.... if you can source the parts and have the time to be able to put into swapping/upgrading your ride...

[4.3LXJ]

No fuse really. You can check them, but those solenoids are controlled by the transmission control module, which is working if it is throwing codes at you. Tony (Mudderoy) replaced his. It is not hard. Since you have had the pan off, that is most of the work. Make sure all the wires are intact while you are at it.

[mwheeler84]

4.3LXJ .... ok when I was up under the jeep changing the filter before we took the transmission pan off we seen this plug that had 3 exposed wires coming off of it. As your laying on your back looking up at the pan it's like on top of the pan plugging into something and the only part we could see of it were the 3 exposed wires. There was also another plug that looks like it should have been plugged into something but it was just loose. Any ideas what those would be?

[4.3LXJ]

Post some pics. You will have to get into it anyway. Tony will know. I haven't been an AW4, just fords and chevys.