bowtieuser Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Ok so I've been wheelin now for about 20 years mainly Chevys but in the last 5 years of so I've become a jeep addict I've had several cj's then tj's then xj's and now on 2nd mj which is by far my favorite. I have a 88 mj 2.5 4x4 short bed 5 speed with 8.8 rear axle 30 in front with chromo's 35 inch tires 4.88 gears. But my issue is its really hard to get into 1 st gear unless it moving very slowly and still jumps out sometimes once in? So is my best bet swapping it out or? Buddy of mine had one out of a 2wd xj are they the same? Or should I just go Chevy drivetrain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 If your buddy's XJ is a 4 cylinder, the transmission internals will be the same, but the output shaft and the case will be different because it will be made for s driveshaft to hook up to it, rather than a transfer case bolted to it. Hard to go into 1st unless you're moving to me seems like both a worn syncro and a clutch that won't completely disengage which would mean either air in the line or a bad slave cylinder (or with an internal slave, a flywheel that has been ground down too far during resurfacing if it ever had the clutch replaced before). Popping out would be a problem with the transmission itself. If you feel adventurous, take both apart and make one good 4wd one out of the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasbulliwagen Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Here, just for your clarification, you can only use another 4cyl trans behind your 4 cyl. The 6 cyl trannies are a different bellhousing bolt pattern. As was said, if your buddies trans is a 2wd 4 cyl trans, then you can swap most internals. Other options would be to find a 2.5 AX15 Dakota bellhousing and swap an AX15 with transfer case in. This would be a great upgrade to your 2.5 but can be hard to source parts for. A full Chevy drivetrain swap will be more headaches than its worth. There are major problems involved with keeping a Chevy cool in an MJ XJ. And since you already like the 2.5, theres really no sense in going all out. There is something to be said for making due with what you have. If you just want to get it going again, look for an AX5 and swap it in and be done. Good luck and let us know what you end up doing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtieuser Posted March 27, 2013 Author Share Posted March 27, 2013 Yea his is a 2.5 he wants $100 for it and i can swap parts so that sounds like the route for me. Clutch is good so the cheap fix for now is swap guts. Its hard for me to tear it down because i only live about 3 miles from haspin and I GOT TO WHEEL!! I'm sure most of you understand. Thanks Comanche Club! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtieuser Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 Can i change the tail shaft and housing only or will i need to use 4wd trasmission case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 The front case and mid plate are identical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtieuser Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 I just bought a 2.5 with 65000 miles on it with a transmission out of a 2wd cherokee!! for $75!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtieuser Posted April 4, 2013 Author Share Posted April 4, 2013 I was just driving down the ride coming to a stop at a busy intersection attempting to get comanche into first gear and BAM!! Just lost 1st & 2nd! So I had to put it in low loc and 3 rd gear to get out of traffic. So then I sat there and tried to get it into a gear. Got it to go into reback then it stuck there. Looks like trannys going in sooner than I thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zackcj7 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 What does it do when it won't go into gear? Will it go into gear if you turn the engine off? Could just be a seized pilot bearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtieuser Posted April 4, 2013 Author Share Posted April 4, 2013 It feels like neutral when you shift it in 1st or 2 nd (no detents) but it works in the rest now so I'm takin to the barn to pull it tonite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zackcj7 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 It feels like neutral when you shift it in 1st or 2 nd (no detents) but it works in the rest now so I'm takin to the barn to pull it tonite So it goes into the 1st and 2nd position but doesn't engage the gears? I've never had one do that. Let us know what you find. Off topic, but it looks like we run about the same setup aside from tire size. How are the 35s with 4.88s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtieuser Posted April 4, 2013 Author Share Posted April 4, 2013 It holds it own pretty good power house no way. I'd like some more power I'm lookin at a 5.3 out if my dads wrecked truck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Does reverse still work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtieuser Posted April 4, 2013 Author Share Posted April 4, 2013 Yea it did so I drove it across a huge parking lot in reverse cause it was stuck there but when I shut it off and started back up I got it to go in 3rd So right after work ill be limping it home starting out in 3 rd lowloc to get movin then easing it into 2 hi so wish me luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Since reverse still works, it may be an easy fix once you get it apart. Can't wait to see inside this thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtieuser Posted April 4, 2013 Author Share Posted April 4, 2013 I have another one hoping to just swap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Yes... but isn't your replacement a 2wd? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtieuser Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 yea but the main parts are the same i think i got the tranny and transfercase out they appear the same except rear section and ive got to use same bell housing ill get deeper tomorrow i hope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 The output shaft is different. You will not be able to just swap the rear housings. No matter how you do it, both transmissions are going to need to be ripped apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtieuser Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 nice that sucks oh well I'm going in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 I'm hoping you just had a cracked (and now broken) 1-2 fork. If that's the case, you can easily swap the one in from the 2wd trans and call it good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtieuser Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 I have had grinding gears and very hard to get into 1st gear so I'm thinking worse than that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtieuser Posted April 6, 2013 Author Share Posted April 6, 2013 i got the 4wd one torn almost all the way down found a broken shift rod forks looks ok. and i found a awesome set of videos on youtube for rebuilding ax15 tranny i think theres 6 vids they are alot of help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 The AX-15 will be very similar but not identical. If it's just the broken shift fork, you should be able to just swap that over from the 2wd one and be good to go, or you could tear them down even further and swap the synchros... but if there weren't any metal shavings on the plug magnet and they don't look worn, that shouldn't be necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtieuser Posted April 7, 2013 Author Share Posted April 7, 2013 the magnetic was covered with shaving and for the last 2 months its been really hard to get it into 1st gear so swappen parts is what I'm attempting now wish me luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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