JustEmptyEveryPocket

I did what mjeff87 is talking about. Learn from my mistake, and DO NOT use a Crown Automotive valve cover. It was undersized (or maybe the baffle was put in lower) and kept my rocker arms partly depressed, leading to all sorts or nastiness. Gas in the oil, no starts, hard starts, rough running, etc etc. I was doing quite a few things to the truck at the time and it took me awhile to figure out the problem. Went to a JY and pulled a stock cover. That one worked perfectly. Anyways, another story of buyer be ware, especially of C.R.A.P.

Alrighty. So to sum it up, its time to let out some of my aggression. I have a 4 pound hammer, both steel and brass punches, and a young man's arm. I will reply back and let yall know how it goes.

Last thing I need (I hope, this swap really needs to get done and over with already). I want to put on a new inner shift boot, but can't figure out how to pull the shifter handle off. I know how to remove the 4 bolts and take the shift tower off, and I know how to rotate the lock ring and remove the entire shifter, neither of which will let me put on the new inner shift boot. What I need to do is split them apart leaving the stubby small diameter piece on the shift tower, and the rest of the handle removed. I tried pulling on it and searching threads here, but didn't find much. Thanks again for all the help. This forum is great.

Thanks for all the advice and info. Really appreciated. Awesome advise with welding nuts onto the broken bolts. As soon I put out a small fire from welding (I am a complete noob with a welder) the bolts spun right out. Was amazing. I still can't locate the breather tube for the transmission. It is making me feel really stupid. What am I missing?

The transmission has an external slave, so I guess that means it is 94+. The rear driveshaft just pulls out though, so not sealed. Does that limit it to 96-? I guess I will try my hand at welding on some nuts and see if I can get the bolts out that way. The backup plan can be to cut them off flush and drill it out. I have the cross member and trans mount from a 90 XJ (different donor than the transmission/ transfer case). Fingers crossed that the mounts on AX-15s stayed consistent through the years.

My BA10-5 blew up today, so I am busy getting my new to me AX-15 and NP231 ready for install. I am not sure what year it is, since it was sitting on a pallet at a JY for a few years. I saw this number (pictured below), does that help identify it? ie: year, gear ratios, what it was originally installed in . . . Next up, the JY removed the shift tower when they pulled it, and broke 2 out of the 4 bolts. Anyone have a good way of removing the leftover pieces? Looking for any tips and tricks. Already tried WD-40 and vice grips. Really hoping I don't need to try drilling them out. Is there a good site for info on the AX-15? like drain and fill holes marked, recommended lube, video for removing throwout bearing, etc. Oh, and where is the vent on these things? I can't seem to find it, or more likely I am blind. Finally, last question, what is this black connector in the center of the photo? It is on the transfercase. 4wd indicator? Thanks for any and all help/ info here guys.

I have had the same issue on two different 4.0L engines. In both cases everything seemed to check out and replacement belts chirped also. I checked and had the same findings as you report. The problem ended up being the harmonic balancer for both of them. Even though it looked fine from a visual examination, it must have been the culprit because as soon as it was replaced the noise went away. If you do this make sure to get both the removal AND install tool. I managed to only rent the removal tool, which meant an unnecessary trip into town and back.

I have not purchased THESE from DirtBound OffRoad, but they are at least pictured on an MJ. Not quite my style, but might fit your requirements.

Not to thread highjack here, but I thought that the draw from LEDs (like Trucklites) was small enough to not worry about melting the headlight switch. Is this not the case? And would the relay harness really help increase light output with Trucklites? I didn't install one when I swapped stock for Trucklites, but am now wondering if I need to go back and do that ASAP.

I also have a BA10-5 (hopefully for not much longer) and have replaced the slave. I called NAPA and told them I wanted the best quality they had for a replacement. That was ~2 years ago and *knock on wood* that part is still working. TLDR: Get parts from NAPA.

FWIW, I just changed the CPS in my MJ (4.0L BA10-5 transmission). To be able to get my gorilla sized hands and arms in place I ended up taking the transmission crossmember off and allowing everything to rotate around the engine mounting points, effectively lowering the transmission. It bought me an extra 4" of clearance or so, which made it possible to get my hand up to the CPS and guide the socket. Only took an extra 30 minutes to do this as well, so its worth it IMO. I also used (literally) every single extension I own and came at it from the space above the transfer case. Good luck with it.

Thanks for the answers. If anyone has anything else to add, chime in. Right now, the biggest question is how to determine if the used transmission is still good if the vehicle its in doesn't run. Hoping to go look at them Wednesday.

My truck: 1987 MJ 4.0L, currently BA 10-5 and NP231. Rear axle is a Ford 8.8 with 4.10 gearing, front axle is Dana 30 with 4.10. Possible donor: 1998 (or 1999?) XJ with 4.0L, AX-15 and NP231. I have done some reading on this and had a few points to clarify and opinions to gather. My truck is my DD, so I need this to come apart and go back together in a weekend, without the "oh crap I forgot to get xyz part". It also probably needs to happen sooner rather than later. My BA 10-5 has been howling for months, has lost syncros for 1st gear, and is sloppy enough I can slip shift all the way up and down through the gears easily. For a bonus, I noticed that in fifth gear the stick will move two inches or so forward and back depending on if I am accelerating or decelerating. I assume that is not normal. Anyways: Is there any way to check that the transmission is good before I get the vehicle? The Cherokee does not run currently. Assuming I buy it, what should I replace while the transmission (AX-15) it out of the vehicle? front and rear seals? etc. Getting the 74 CJ 304 pilot bushing should be all the extra pieces I need, correct? I plan on renting a pilot bearing puller from Orielleys. I know the flywheel has to match my engine (renix). What about clutch disc and pressure plate? Match the engine or transmission? Recommended brands? Transfer Case linkage: Do you recommend BoostWerks or Novak? I do not want to fuss around with the stock linkage. Speedometer: Will my cable screw on to the connector of the new transfer case? What could go wrong here? The transfer case output will be a sealed style, not a slip style like my old one, correct? Will a new driveshaft need to be made? Is Tom Woods still the go to for custom drive shafts? Sorry for the blast of questions. I really have tried to read and research before posting this, just looking for confirmations. Please let me know if anything else that I have not thought of. Thank you for any and all help/ advice.

Following Ohm's advice the truck is back up and running. Overall, I am happy with how it turned out. Thanks to everyone for the help and ideas. DirtyComanche: Besides leaving as much original as I could so it is possible to switch back to stock if I hate the external fuel pump; the reason I put in brand new wiring was to control installation error. This way I know the ground is rock solid, and the power is full and steady. I am hoping that part of the death of external fuel pumps comes from bad ground or bad power. Time will show me the error of my ways. Thanks again yall.

Thanks for the manual 97MJTIM. Looks like I get the fun job of tracing wires....yippee....

Relay is mounted on passenger side fender, right by the original fuel pump relay. I wanted a close run to battery power and ground. No fuel pump ballast resistor.

Ahhh, did not realize that. I will try wiring it directly as DirtyComanche suggested. Cruiser, I get ~2ohms resistance from the injector clip to the battery. And measured between the pins on the clip I get ~6mv of juice with key on. Cranking maintains ~6mv. I only have a digital multimeter, so is it possibly not seeing the quick on/off signal? Anyways, I am going to call that ok for now. Not doubting what you are saying 87MJTIM, but when I backprobe the wires coming from the fuel pump relay I have Red- Constant 12V Solid Orange- Ground (with lots of resistance, but the only one that gives me an ohms reading at all). Solid Yellow- switched 12V that works with key on and then the Orange with Black tracer that gets 12V once the yellow switches on. Not sure how it could feed a ground signal in that case, but I am none too handy with electrical items. I understand that external fuel pumps have less longevity, but it is FAR easier to change them on the side of the road and get home again. While it is possible to do the in tank one, it takes longer and (at least for me) requires dropping the tank to get the seal to sit down properly. With a screwdriver and 30 minutes I can change the external pump for a new one with a minimum of spilled gas. For me, the trade-off makes sense. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE: Following the ideas above I tried a few things and finally got the truck to run again. 1st: Tried putting power directly from battery to fuel pump and cranking. No joy. 2nd: Re-attached the PO's small wire to connect the orange w/ black wire from the fuel pump relay. Left the pump on switched power from the ACC pin. No joy. 3rd: Kept Orange and black wire connected from fuel pump relay, AND put direct power to the fuel pump. Lo and behold it fires up and runs. So does anyone know of a good place to get constant power when the key is on AND when cranking? I can easily solder in a 16gauge wire for the orange and black wire connection. No sweat there. Although, I would like to know why that connection is necessary to make the truck run. 87MJTIM, could you explain the "ground for the ECU" part better to me? Remember, complete noob for electrical ideas. Second question: since I will be leaving power in the harness to the fuel tank do I need to worry about the pigtail in there with the fuel? I have read that gas is non-conductive, but I would be worried about something bridging the posts and causing a spark and *kaboom*. However unlikely it might be, I would like to eliminate any chances. So ideas on how to fix that? I could just cut the power wire close to the connector by the fuel tank.... Thank you all very much for the comments and suggestions.

Howdy all. I've been a long time lurker, first time poster here. Never needed to start my own thread before because I could always search and find an answer. Well this time, I'm stumped. I'm working on a 1987 MJ, 4.0L engine, BA10-5 transmission. I have done Cruiser's tips and tricks for Renix. All of them. The problem is a no start condition. It will crank, but never try to catch and fire. I have checked the CPS output. It is giving me .536VAC. So that is not it. In fact, I have spark according to an inline tester that I used. Issue first came up when I swapped in an external fuel pump. I got tired of putting bosch units in the tank, so I fabbed up an e2000 pump for myself. I wanted to be able to switch back to stock in the future, so I ran new wiring. I am using a relay, which triggers off the ACC pin in the fuse block. Power and ground are directly wired to the battery. Pump works fine, and is generating plenty of pressure, measured at 39psi at the schrader valve. So I have both spark, and fuel pressure, but it won't catch, despite turning over very happily. One thing that I am wondering about: The orange and black stripe wire from the original fuel pump relay was cut at some point. I believe this wire takes power back to the fuel pump in the normal set-up. The PO rigged it back together with some small gauge wire (which might explain why the in tank pumps kept burning up) and when I found this, I pulled it apart and secured the end. Now I am wondering if this wire somehow controls the injectors? Since I have fuel pressure and spark, the only thing I can think of that would keep it from firing is that the injectors aren't spitting in fuel. Does anyone know if injector power is routed from the fuel pump relay wire? Anyone have some ideas for me to check?