The one in my wife’s was acting similar. If you were stopped it would not go into first gear. It didn’t fully engage and when you let out on the clutch it would pop out. If you were rolling up to a stop and downshifted into first while still moving it would fully engage first gear and hold. Input bearing was bad and the rubber cup that the shifter sits in was just gone entirely. If you have the mechanical ability they’re fairly simple to rebuild and the kits are $125ish. I used one of the write-ups on here for an AX-15. It’s not exactly the same but close enough to figure out. I found a bad input bearing and completely missing shifter seat bushing wrong with this one. Shifts like brand new now. If you do go for a rebuild make sure and get the right kit, there’s two different input bearing sizes. I ordered the kit for our 95 (23mm input) and after I got it all apart realized the trans was an older unit that had been swapped in at some point and had to order the older style 20mm bearing. All the other parts were the same.

 

I think you're right that it's not the clutch, hydraulics or the synchros. leadline might be on the right track. It could be the shifting linkage.

The synchros are designed to assist in shifting when the vehicle is actually moving. Mine occasionally balks when shifting into 1st when stopped. Does this happen more often when it's cold outside?

 

I've read thru your post a few times to try to understand your symptoms. What I understand is that when you are sitting still w engine running, it can be difficult to put it in gear, but when you are moving, it all shifts just fine. Is this right?

Tell me a few more things; when you changed your clutch slave unit, did you notice that your clutch master reservoir fluid was low by any chance? I just need a few more things to be able to provide input here.

 

Yes its difficult to put in gear from a stop with the engine running. this happens probably 80-90% of the time when you come to stop and wait in neutral. About 10% of the time it will shift fine from a stop. If the engine off you can easily row through the gears.
I have had 3 occasions since last July where it was VERY bad and I had to turn the jeep off then start it while the transmission was in first with the clutch in.

Once you push through this "blocked" feeling and pull it back out with the clutch held in, you get the same sensation (allbeit slightly less) when you put it back in gear. If you go between 1st and 2nd while holding clutch in at about the 4th or 5th time - its smooth and easy like you are rolling. If you subsequently put it in neutral and let the clutch out, depress the clutch again then try to put it back in gear that same "blocked" sensation happens.

If you are rolling - even the slightest bit in either direction its fine. I have noticed that if I am on a hill and let off the break and let it roll a little, it will go into gear no problem, even when rolling the wrong direction. It tends to be better before the jeep/tranny warms up, once warm its a pretty consistent issue but you can nearly always just jam it in and it goes.

Outside temperature does not seem to make a difference - even very cold -15 F and below days it acts the same

The master was a little be on the low side when i bought the jeep but once i added a little it never changed after that. There was no noticeable fluid loss from the master before i changed the slave.

The slave did seem to be "damp/grimy" on the clutch side between the rubber diaphragm and the inside walls of the slave cylinder but nothing that looked like a leak. The reason i changed the slave cylinder is, at the time i suspected the clutch might not be pushed far enough to fully disenguage and was hoping it might help. Given that the problem persisted after the change and that once you push through this "blocked" feeling there does not appear to be any driveshaft engagement - i no longer believe there this is cause of the issue.

I have put about 8k on this jeep since i bought it July 2017 so i don't know the whole history. The jeep itself has 225k on it but the previous owner mentioned the motor had been "rebuilt" before they had purchased it at around 200k. They didn't have any paperwork or further info though. It looks like the motor had definitely been out - but i suspect it was probably a used replacement but hard to say for sure. With this i'm not sure how many miles are on the rest drive line, clutch, pilot bearing, throw-out bearing etc, or if it was even put back together properly

 

I am leaning towards hydraulics, and think that is worth looking at. It is really best to replace both slave and master units as a pair here, since it is an established pattern that in replacing one, the other one will frequently fail in short order. Take a look down the inside of the firewall up above your clutch pedal, pull back any carpet here, and look at the sheet metal. If you have a pattern of rusting and damaged paint trailing down below where the clutch master rod comes thru the firewall, you have evidence of a leak. Even without this, clutch hydraulic slave and master units can "leak internally" past the piston/seals and show the same failure. I suggest you change your clutch master cylinder, and see if this changes your shifting in any way. Make sure you fully bench bleed the master unit before you install, then bleed system carefully afterwards.
I really do not think that your problem is transmission here, and there are a few things that can happen in your clutch mechanics that can alter shifting without have a bad clutch plate per se. If your clutch was changed/replaced when the motor was (likely, as you say) replaced, you may have that nuisance plastic composite TOB body that is failing. I've also seen pressure plate fingers worn off so the TOB would barely engage, as well as fractured long snout front bearing retainer, and bent/fractured clutch forks. It is not a huge investment to replace your clutch master, before digging further into taking apart more difficult systems, such as dropping the transmission.
I honestly do not suspect synchros here, or an internal transmission issue, though as previously mentioned the bushing that sits in the base of the shift tower falling apart also is known to be an issue here, and can contribute to shifting problems. Photo of it here, it is the lowest item in the photo. https://www.amazon.com/jeep-Speed-Transmission-Shifter-Repair/dp/B01BZ9OS3E
I have found that Marlin Crawler, which supports Toyota stuff, sells 3 of these, you just need to know the diameter of your shift tower in mm like with a mic in order to request the correct one. I like theirs since they are a bit harder and stiffer. The Toyota W50 series, etc shares numerous parts with the AX 5; they are both Aisin transmissions of course. Info just in case you chose to replace this while working through your shifting issue.

 

best to replace both slave and master units as a pair

Thanks ill try that this weekend

 

My 95 is doing the same thing, wont go in 1rst and if you force it the gears grind its a pain to fish around trying to get it to engage. It also was hard to get out of 1rst and the jeep would keep pulling, I almost ran over my megacab because of it, so I put a new master and slave as one prefilled and bled unit. That stopped the jeep from continuing to pull when you tried to stop, but it is still hard to get into 1rst. My gearshift just flops around so you have to hunt for the gears.

 

^ check your shifter bushing

 

I replaced the master and slave with a prefilled unit. The clutch feels stiffer now but, there is no differents in my origional problem of having a blocked sensation when going into gear from a stop.

The shifter is plently springy and will go back to center on it's own with out an issue and I don't have to hunt for the gears so I guess the clutch is next on my list....

 

I had the same blocked feeling when going into first gear. If I was still rolling, even if just the wheels barely moving, it would click into gear fully but sitting still it was like the slot for first gear wasn’t deep enough. Along with the missing shift bushing the front input bearing had a lot of slop in it. I guess that allowed the gear on the input shaft to get a little out of line and cause the issue. I didn’t replace the clutch but did replace the pilot bushing and rebuilt the trans. Shifts like a brand new unit now.

 

• It does not pop out of gear
• It does not slip
• It does not grind (except for a tiny bit when shifting to reverse)
• From a stop, when it is misbehaving, - you can feel it being difficult in every gear but it seems worse in 1st
• It seems to be more prevalent once its warms up
• if you put it in 2nd or 3rd and then go back to first it does not help
• Shifting while moving is smooth with no harshness or grinding. even moving very slowly
• If you pump the clutch it does not help
• Once you get it in gear, if you hold the clutch all the way in with the jeep on flat ground - the jeep does not creep in either direction.

Just trying to figure it out without just throwing parts at it.

I'm certainly not an expert. But I do understand how a clutch and hydraulics work.

IMHO it sounds like a trans shift linkage problem. I'm not even sure that that's exactly the term. But since your leaning towards the clutch, why don't you first pull the shifter and see whats going on up top. You'll have to do that anyway to pull the the trans.

 

Interesting that the new hydraulic system did not remedy the situation. But it was a wise choice to give that one a shot. I do suppose the next chore is redoing the clutch. It is certainly not unreasonable to do this next. Recommended clutch is Luk Repset, and of course decide what you're going to do with the flywheel. While the FSM recommends replacement of the flywheel rather than resurfacing, I've done a ton of resurfacings, and haven't had a problem, but it is practically the same expense to get a new flywheel, and the downtime is way shortened when you have a new one to slap right in. I really don't like the idea of "scuffing" the surface with scotchbrite pad or with sandpaper.....to me that seems the same as taking a shower when you're dirty, and then putting the same underwear back on. I don't recommend putting in a plastic/composite body throw out bearing like they're putting in the kits. Honestly those are just pure doo doo, and you should source a cast iron/solid metal body TOB separately and use that instead. Those plastic body ones are know to fracture/split/collapse/separate, etc and you're back inside bellhousing wondering why you put that POS in in the first place.
Chances are though, that you have your own opinions and tricks on clutches etc. Let us know how this comes out and what your findings are on the current parts.