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are the ba10/5 trannys THAT bad?

1K views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  JeepCrz 
#1 ·
this past new years... my tires locked up, and "shotgun" type noises wehn off in my tranny.

ok, busted.

a hell of a week later, found a cheap replacement.. got it in 3 days ago, and today.. i awake to the SAME THING.

broken/f*cked.


IS THIS POSSIBLE?
what could be causing this.... something engine related? pilot bearing mabye????


cuz this isnt right.
im just... feeling sad right now.
 
#3 ·
These are known to be very weak trannies and have a reputaion to blow up, When the first one goes people usually go to an ax-15 or different tranny. sorry man to hear that you lost two within a week. It could be a worn out pilot bearing but it should not have caused the tranny to go that fast.
 
#4 ·
yep they suck. Mine blew out and I got a rebuilt one up in NH. Within a month the reverse was shot and you had to hold in reverse or it would pop out of gear. I bought a used ax-15 and if I decide to keep my 87 I will be trying to repalce the POS this spring. Sorry to hear about your trouble. Best I can tell you is to go with an ax-15 or something comparable.
 
#5 ·
It's a shame but yes they can be that bad. It's actually so bad that when I talk to mechanic friends, guys who aren't even big into jeeps, even guys who are just 'ricer mechanics', about my 2nd gear grinding less than a year after a rebuild they get this look of dispair and go "oh god, you don't have that, umm, french tranny do you? What is it called, fuget, pugie, peugot??". People who know nothing about jeeps still seem to know about this legendary nightmare tranny. I don't run a peugot thank god, just an AX5, but I would consider maybe getting an AX15 from a junkyard and doing the swap, someone just did one not to long ago, do a search and maybe PM the guys who have for some tips.
 
#7 ·
hmk_21 said:
is doing an AX-5 swap equivalent to a AX-15 in regards to effort?

new input shaft on tcase, slave cyl, bell housing, linkage etc?
why go with the Ax-5 if you're going to do all that work? it's still a light duty tranny, and with the torque output of the 4.2 i doubt it would hold up much longer than the peugot. besides, the bolt patterns are different. you'd need some custom machining to the bell housing to get it to work. there's no adaptor that you can buy ready made to do it as far as i know.
 
#8 ·
ok so... my choice is to go with the AX-15 swap.

Now, as far as make/model/years go that i can take this tranny out of?

What "I" think i need....

AX-15 transmission
bellhousing (or can i re-use mine?)
input shaft bearing (mabye)
slave cyl.
most likely new hydraulic lines
New 23 spline Tcase input shaft
4x4 linkage & shifter
 
#9 ·
Hello, I also have a 89YJ with a BA10/5 I cross my fingers everytime I head out for a day of trail riding. I read somewhere that the NV3550 out of Dodge trucks is also the same length as the Peugeot that we have if you look in the Quadratec catalog they even sell kits with the tranny for $2300. but if you can get the install kit and then pull a used one at the U-pull it you could probably do it for around $1000. with a new clutch. And a little more work you could think about even going with a NV4500 but it is a little longer than the Peugeot. Hopefully someone that has done these swaps will reply. So you do have a few more stronger choices if you wheel alot. Jeff
 
#10 ·
I found this guy on ebay and I was giving it some serious thought before I decided to go with a whole new jeep. I can't vouch for the company or anything but he claims that this is a direct bolt-in.

Ebay
 
#12 ·
160k on my Ba10.. I can't see how you blew two in a row, there has to be something else that needs attention. (Unless you were doing some nasty off-roading or squeeling some huge tires)
 
#13 ·
JeepCrz said:
160k on my Ba10.. I can't see how you blew two in a row, there has to be something else that needs attention. (Unless you were doing some nasty off-roading or squeeling some huge tires)
i know, and im trying to trouble shoot as to WHY.. but nothing comes up.

i do live on a hill, run 33's and yes.. have to engage 4H everytime its snowy or icey just to climb into my driveway, but i cant imagine thats why they are breaking.

perhaps the cold, along with stress with larger tires..?
 
#14 ·
danmc77 said:
I personally would find out exactly why they both blew in one week. Whether it's a junk trans or not, they don't break for no reason. No point in breaking another transmission by just throwing another one in there.
any ideas?

the second one.. had a tick already to it, and was a 75$ replacement... so i assumed problems anyways, but hoped it would get me till spring...

regardless, like you said... WHY? any ideas?
 
#15 ·
Have you opened up the transmission? Is it scattered? What oil was in it? When was the oil last changed on the first transmission and did you use the same type on the second. Maybe you used the wrong oil and the tranny overheated.
 
#16 ·
the first tranny (stock) that came with it when i bought it.. used the mentioned above... 80w gear oil.

i did change it.. over a year ago, and was fine last time i checked it.. 6 months or so... mind you, silver sludge now poured out once it blew.

the lastest cheap replacement, used 75W synthetic gear oil...(the previous owner said he switched it over 50k kms ago on the tranny)
 
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