59 pages, and no son-of -gun has fitted a temp sender into the special port in the trans ?
by removing the T55 Torx plug adjacent to the lower filler tube & NSS,
one can install a male M14 x 1.5 adaptor into the port, female sender port is 1/8" NPT, $5 from China
this is the high pressure port to allow for measurement of trans fluid pressure, (pictured) ,so i would assume it is direct from the pump, so probably would be hotter than pan or cooler line.
(It so happens this is the same thread as the cooler ports, so once could replace them as well if one wished to)
(note the pic doesnt show the trans sender or adaptor, but thats where it goes)
At first, I thought it wasnt working, as a few mins idle in my drive did not budge from 40C, next day, it took 5minutes driving to move, and climbed to 80C after 30minutes
Ambient temp was 30C @ 80% humidity
It was left to idle for 30mins and stabilised at 85C, with engine cycling 100-105
after 90min, on a long hard uphill, in D, with torque convertor not engaged (60kmph), it touched 95C, hotter than the engine
cooled back to 80 with normal use
I have a 12 x 8 x 3/4 tube & fin trans cooler
On the trip to my property, the last 30mins is hard uphill, after a 1hr trip, trans gets worked hard, that is when mine gave up the ghost
Although it did not smell burnt, if anything would heat a trans, that would. I would prefer to stop and give my trans a rest if temps exceed 100C, or find some way to stop this happening
Speaking to some hard core off-road XJ guys, they went thru a few AW4. I suspect they got cooked
A gauge is the 1st step
its very difficult to fit in situ. The T55 is blue loctite, I got it undone with the box out