'95 Np242 Into A '90 4.0?

[Oddmodman]

Title says it all. Will an NP242 that came out of a '95 cherokee 4.0 auto(blech) mate to my '90 4.0 and ax15, and if so will it need mods? Foremost in my mind, anybody know if the input shaft won't mate into the '90 ax15?

 

[Oddmodman]

Also, since I'm assuming all 4.0 I6s from every year have the same bolting points for the tranny bell, anyone know if I can take the bell-to-engine bolts from this '95 auto bell and use them for my '90 ax15? 

[Bounty Hunter]

The 95 auto has a medium length input shaft and the ax15 requires a short input shaft, both are 23spl.

[Oddmodman]

Meaning it won't work I'm assuming? Know how much a replacement shaft that will fit would cost ballpark?

[Bounty Hunter]

They're expensive.  It's best to have one too long that will reach the seal in the transmission than to have one too short, so you can try it and see if it'll fit.  

 

If it doesn't fit, you can have your input shaft machined to the correct length, or you can buy the correct one from me for $40, I have a bunch.  Retail they're very expensive.

 

The entire t-case requires disassembly to replace the input shaft.

[Oddmodman]

Cool, thanks for the info. I've actually done the shaft swap from the 21 to 23 spl, so I have experience with it. Also, I know someone who can shorten it for me. I think I'll buy it. It's only 50 bucks, which is a steal. Any idea about the bell bolts? I figure the guy will only charge me a few clams for em so I might as well just take them.

[Bounty Hunter]

You know thread count and diameter will be the same, but it's hard to say if the bolt length will be the same between the two different transmissions.

[Oddmodman]

Nevermind...the jerk sold the whole thing from under me for 150 bucks. If I knew he was going to sell the whole thing for that cheap I would have just bought it. Coulda solved an expensive, many-part problem if I just had the whole thing.

[mvusse]

Cool, thanks for the info. I've actually done the shaft swap from the 21 to 23 spl, so I have experience with it. Also, I know someone who can shorten it for me. I think I'll buy it. It's only 50 bucks, which is a steal. Any idea about the bell bolts? I figure the guy will only charge me a few clams for em so I might as well just take them.

 

Even though it doesn't matter anymore, but even so, if you currently have a 90 231 and you were planning to swap that input shaft into the 95 242, it would not have worked. Around 94 the transfer case internals were changed, and the pre94 and post 94 cases have a different cut on the gears. I believe this change happened at the same time that the 231 gained a true neutral.

 

I do not believe an auto bellhousing would fit on a manual transmission, but have no evidence to back this up.

[Oddmodman]

Oh, thanks for the info Mvusse. I was actually planning on just machining the shaft down to size if it turned out it didn't fit in the tranny. As for the bellhousing, I didn't actually need it, my ax15 has one. It's the bolts that are missing, and I really need to find some. Here in Alaska though parts and parts vehicles are somewhat hard to come by. Tomorrow I'll try calling the Chrysler dealer and see if they can get me bolt dimensions so I can make some.