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New to Wranglers, have a transmission problem

2K views 40 replies 11 participants last post by  Ezekiel81923 
#1 ·
Hey guys,

New to Jeeps, new to the forum.

I picked up a 1995 with 162k miles. 4.0l manual 5-speed. It does not seem to me that the engine has been modified. It has been lifted (fabtech leaf springs and rough country shocks) but aside from exterior modifications that's all I can really determine.

I've put about 800 miles on it over the last month. Just yesterday the transmission was giving me fits. 3rd would grind. Then 2nd would grind. 1st became hard to get in to and then 2nd and 3rd became almost impossible to downshift in to (up was fine). 4th was good. In and out of 5th was fine but when engine braking in 5th it made some pretty terrible vibrating / metallic sounds. Basically, I had to stay in 4th or pull over, come to a complete stop, coax it back into 1st and get on my way again.

Got to where I was going. Parked it for the night. This morning with the Jeep off I tried to row through the gears. Locked out of 3rd. The rest were fine. Turned the Jeep on and the same thing. Up, down, all around, I can get into everything fine except 3rd.

Perhaps coincidentally I can't get 4wd to engage. I can't get the shifter to move out of N at all, with the Jeep on or off. I never messed with it before so I didn't accidentally put it in to 4-low at speed or anything but I suppose something with the transmission could've messed with the transfer case?

Any ideas? I was going to find a local shop that specializes in Jeeps but I don't want to be forced to rebuild a month in. Any help would be appreciated!
 
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#2 ·
First thing to do is check that there is transmission fluid. Park on a level surface and Open the fill port and dip your finger in there, it should be filled right up to the top.

If the fluid is too low, you could be really doing a lot of damage by driving.

I would also suggest going and getting some cheap 10w30 motor oil. Dump the fluid that is in there and fill it with the oil. inspect the old fluid for gold colored brass chips and dust. Drive around and see if your shifting improves. If it improves, I'd leave the motor oil in there for about 100 miles, then you might consider investing in something more expensive like synchromesh or redline as a more permanant fluid replacement.
 
#14 ·
Good on gear oil. I'm on a relatively flat surface and transmission fluid came out when I removed the fill plug. It's **** brown and smells awful, but it's in there. I'm sure it could stand to be replaced but I want to make sure there aren't more serious transmission problems before spending the money on that.
 
#3 ·
It would be a good start to post up a pic or two of your jeep so we can see if there is a body lift involved. And a pic of your 4x4 shifter from underneath. Maybe we can see if something is not right.
 
#4 ·
Here are a couple of pictures. Hopefully these helped. It was hard to get under there as I am in an uneven gravel driveway right now. Thanks!
 

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#7 ·
If you can shift fine when off, but problems on, you have a clutch problem.

If you can't shift well with engine off you a transmission problem.

Best two to memorize :)

Sounds like a bad t/o bearing and slipping clutch. The third gear issue... Synchros will show up when you know your clutch is good, it will grind if synchros bad. Being locked out when engine off is not good.

About tcase. With tran in neutral, still won't shift?
 
#8 ·
On or off it'll shift into every gear but 3rd fine. This when sitting still. I backed it up to make room for my girlfriends car and once stopped it took some negotiating to get it back into neutral.

Tcase won't shift in neutral or in 1st. Whether the jeep is on or off.

I'm probably going to have to find a place that can check / fix both, huh

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
 
#9 ·
Just yesterday the transmission was giving me fits. 3rd would grind. Then 2nd would grind. 1st became hard to get in to and then 2nd and 3rd became almost impossible to downshift in to (up was fine). 4th was good. In and out of 5th was fine but when engine braking in 5th it made some pretty terrible vibrating / metallic sounds. Basically, I had to stay in 4th or pull over, come to a complete stop, coax it back into 1st and get on my way again.
that is a clutch problem. when you took your foot off the gas did it feel like the transmission "shifted", then shifts back when you accelerate?
 
#10 ·
Not all the time but 5th definitely felt strange coming on and off the gas.

I've reached out to a local transmission place and I'll probably take it over there if I can make it. I haven't had time to get a new socket for the transmission fill plug, I have one that'd work on the drain plug but that doesn't help a ton
 
#11 ·
I tried to take some better pictures of what might be the 4wd drive problem. Again, the shifter is in Neutral and won't shift out with the Jeep on or off, in N or not.

One line (picture 4) coming from the front axle definitely goes to nowhere (picture 5) but other than that everything looks ok to my novice eye. Everything on the rear axle headed back to the front looks like it makes its trip home but its tough to see above the transfer case.
 

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#12 ·
#18 ·
I'm going to check the clutch reservoir first, it's easy enough, but I've already been in touch with a local transmission shop that could deal with the transfer case too just in case.

I'm pretty confident its an AX-15. 95 4L with external slave and the drain / fill plug locations match the AX-15 diagrams I've seen.
 
#21 ·
If your transmission fluid is brown, that probably means it has been submerged. You need to get the old stuff out and put new stuff in.

Use the cheapest dinosaur 10w30 you can get your hands on, whatever is on sale at walmart. Fill it, run it, dump it, fill it, run it for a few hundred miles, dump it, then you can consider an expensive high quality transmission fluid if things improve.

While being locked out of gears is a good sign that the clutch hydraulics are not operating correctly, this is rarely the case if you can't get into gear when the engine is off. Being locked out of 3rd when parked is a huge red flag here. My diagnosis is that it is rusty inside. new fluid and rowing the gears 1,000 times will help. You can afford the $15 for cheap oil when your next option is $1000 for a transmission rebuild.
 
#22 ·
At the buzzer! I was going to have it towed tonight but I'll try that first insteas. That makes sense, and I have no idea the history of the Jeep prior to a month ago. It was very brown, which I thought was strange, so maybe with a couple of flushes I can get it to work itself out.

While flushing it I'll keep an eye out for brass dust or pieces too.

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#26 ·
Some 10w30 known to cause premature wear in ax15s. A tractor gl4 10w30 ive heard is ok. A gl3 90 weight can be used, but you will have the cold start issues. Don't use gl5, you will toast synchros. Penzoil synchromesh and redline mtl are good replacement fluids. C
 
#28 ·
I drained the transmission fluid today. Pics are below. It was a brand new drain pan so nothing else has been in it, whatever came out is definitely separating and there was a little of silver sludge on the drain plug.

I wasn't able to re-fill and flush it, I bought Rotella to row the gears in and my funnel method of filling it didn't work. I didn't want to buy more expensive fluid just to get the squirt bottles but I guess I must. More to come.
 

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#29 ·
You should be able to get a hand pump and pump it in. Certainly looks bad. Is it or does it have grit (Dirt) in it? Id flush about a quart of new oil through then fill. Drive about 10 miles shifting through all gears and change again. If that oil looks bad I would repeat. Believe I would do the transfer cases and differentials as well.
 
#30 ·
water definitely got in there....

buy a crap load of inexpensive 10w30 and flush it really really well.... (i am OCD so i would do it 5 times). Then see what it looks like after the last cycle. Synchromesh all the way when you're ready to fill it and run it.

Follow @calpbs suggestion and do the tcase as well as both diffs. Looks like it wasn't taken care of in the months leading up to its sale (which is normal). Sellers usually just take care of superficial things to get the money in hand with little regard for the buyers. Check your powersteering fluid as well... that almost ALWAYS gets overlooked.

SO far the glass is half full... just take the advice we have all shared and take it from there. Things could be worse... if that oil came out of your engine ....thats an oh **** moment
 
#32 ·
Power steering looks good. Reservoir is about 1/2 - 3/4 full.

If I can get the transmission working right I'll move on to the transfer case and differentials. Right now 3rd is still a pain, I can get it into third when I get lucky otherwise I'm still locked out

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#31 ·
I got some Rotella 10w30 in there. Engine off I can get all 5 gears and R. Engine on it needs some encouragement but after a few cycles back and forth I can get in every gear. Sometimes it doesn't like 3rd but it's better than it was before.

I was half tempted to drive it but that didn't seem like a great idea. I think I have enough to drain and fill it again so I'll give it another flush and go from there

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