Speedo won't work after trans swap - please advise

[ShitboxTechnical]

88 Sport truck - 4cyl 4sdp 2wd renix

Just swapped from AX4 to an AX5, and I immediately realized since the renix speedo is mechanically driven and the ax5 is out of a newer TJ, my speedo won't just plug right up and work.

The reason I'm here is to learn more about this issue and determine if its preferable to swap my speedo to an electronic one, or do something to make the mech speedo work with the ax5 I just put in, and what it takes to do that. pls

[eaglescout526]

You need to swap out the speedo gear assembly from your AX4 into the 5. Unless you go to swap in anything newer than 91 into your truck, you will have to stay with mechanical speedo.  Theres nothing wrong with some old fashioned analog technology. The digital ones are a more tricky to work with anyways and costly as you have to replace the speed sensor if that fails. To where as if a cable fails, then thats all you have to replace. 

[ShitboxTechnical]

1 hour ago, eaglescout526 said:

You need to swap out the speedo gear assembly from your AX4 into the 5. Unless you go to swap in anything newer than 91 into your truck, you will have to stay with mechanical speedo.  Theres nothing wrong with some old fashioned analog technology. The digital ones are a more tricky to work with anyways and costly as you have to replace the speed sensor if that fails. To where as if a cable fails, then thats all you have to replace. 

awesome, i honestly prefer that too. is there a previous post you could help me find or any resource on how to do that anywhere you could recommend?

[Eagle]

It's a straight swap. You unscrew the retainer for the electronic sender, remove the sender, insert the "quill" from the other transmission, and replace the retainer.

 

What you need to watch for is orientation. Clean both the sender and the transmission housing well. You will see some marks on the housing, and an index mark on the quill. It has to be installed with the same orientation.

 

 

Part #7 is the retainer. It has two ears on the tips of the arms. Part 4 or 7 has four notches that set the orientation, and are engaged by the two ears on the retainer. Just be sure you note the orientation of the cable quill (looks a lot like part #7) on your old transmission, and install it in the new transmission in the same orientation.

[eaglescout526]

21 minutes ago, Eagle said:

It's a straight swap. You unscrew the retainer for the electronic sender, remove the sender, insert the "quill" from the other transmission, and replace the retainer.

 

What you need to watch for is orientation. Clean both the sender and the transmission housing well. You will see some marks on the housing, and an index mark on the quill. It has to be installed with the same orientation.

 

 

Part #7 is the retainer. It has two ears on the tips of the arms. Part 4 or 7 has four notches that set the orientation, and are engaged by the two ears on the retainer. Just be sure you note the orientation of the cable quill (looks a lot like part #7) on your old transmission, and install it in the new transmission in the same orientation.

But he’s swapping downward Eagle, what he got is an AX5 from a TJ that has the electric speedo vs his MJ mechanical cable. But the same principal applies, look at the orientation from how the speedo gear is removed from the AX4 and match that when you put it in the 5. 

[ShitboxTechnical]

14 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said:

But he’s swapping downward Eagle, what he got is an AX5 from a TJ that has the electric speedo vs his MJ mechanical cable. But the same principal applies, look at the orientation from how the speedo gear is removed from the AX4 and match that when you put it in the 5. 

 

37 minutes ago, Eagle said:

It's a straight swap. You unscrew the retainer for the electronic sender, remove the sender, insert the "quill" from the other transmission, and replace the retainer.

 

What you need to watch for is orientation. Clean both the sender and the transmission housing well. You will see some marks on the housing, and an index mark on the quill. It has to be installed with the same orientation.

 

 

Part #7 is the retainer. It has two ears on the tips of the arms. Part 4 or 7 has four notches that set the orientation, and are engaged by the two ears on the retainer. Just be sure you note the orientation of the cable quill (looks a lot like part #7) on your old transmission, and install it in the new transmission in the same orientation.

Super helpful stuff, I really appreciate you guys letting me know about that. All I'll have a look at the trans with enlightened eyes asap.

[Eagle]

Just to clarify -- the two speedo senders might not have the same orientation, because the donor vehicle for your "new" tranny might have had different gears or different tires. You want to insert the cable speedo gear quill into your new tranny with the same orientation it is in the original transmission.