Tech Geek doing Tranny Work

[Aaron]

Well, I'm finally getting around to it. The jeep has been down and out for 4 months now with its tranny issues and I feel like I've been ingnoring my FR buddies...

I got started this weekend and dropped the skid plates, disconnected the driveshafts. The tranny is being supported only by love and jackstands. Mostly jackstands.

Next I'm going to disconnect the slave, disconnect the bell housing from the engine and see if there are any issues inside the bell housing which I might be able to fix without fully removing the tranny and opening it up. Hopefully there is just a throwout bearing issue or the clutch or something like that.

Wish me luck. I'm in the crap deeper than a tech geek should be :) Guess we'll see.

Aaron

[JeffX]

Good luck! I think my tranny is on its way out!.....

[Brody]

Being a tech geek you will have the advantage of being more anal than a lot of mechanics. Make it work for you. No way should you drop the tranny and not replace the clutch, throwout bearing, etc, (assuming that it is the manual, of course...) Figure on either replacing or resurfacing the flywheel, too. You have already done all of the grunt work getting to this point. If the rig has a secondary clutch cylinder, go ahead and replace that, too. What you are going for is another 50k or more miles of trouble free wheeling, at least in regards to the clutch and tranny.

[Aaron]

Thanks Brody. I'm definitely taking my time on this deal (in addition to taking my time getting it started:).

What I'm really hoping for is to find some stuff wrong in the bellhousing so that I can avoid going inside the tranny. The clutch itself is less than a year old but if it is showing any wear, its hitting the bin. I'll be replacing the throwout bearing and all the consumables in the clutch assembly. I'll hold off on the slave and master clutch cylinder as it is external anyway and can easily be replaced when needed without dropping this thing again.

My guess, however, is that there is some internal issue to the transmission and at best I'll be replacing synchros. I'll keep you guys in the loop.

Wish me luck!

[Funrover]

Good luck!

[Mporter]

Good luck man, hope all goes well

[Aaron]

So I decided to take about an hour today around lunch time to do a little more disassembly. Now I have the fluids drained (all over the garage floor), the slave off and the Crankshaft Position Sensor off. The transfer case linkage is also disconnected. It was too much to hope that I could get away without removing the center console in the Heep. Thats first on the agenda tomorrow as I remove both shifters and hopefully get the tranny free from the engine.

[Jamie]

you didn't say if you removed the T-case or not but it is alot easier to manuveur with it off.

You got the PDF I sent you right?

[Brody]

You are going to be thankful that you aren't under the gun to do this. Most of the time it seems like it is your DD that you absolutely have to get back on the road over the weekend. Having the option to do things in an unhurried manner is more of a blessing than you can imagine. The other good thing is that you have the time to walk away from it when things get frustrating instead of being forced to get it done no matter what. Make use of that, especially since this is your first time doing it. It'll probably make a big difference in just doing it one time.

[Aaron]

you didn't say if you removed the T-case or not but it is alot easier to manuveur with it off.

You got the PDF I sent you right?

Yeah, I got the PDF and am using a combination of that and an online guide from 4x4xplore.com. That guide is for changing a clutch but getting the tranny out and back in is the same no matter what you are doing...

So, you are right. I will take the t-case off tomorrow as well to make things a bunch easier. I was thinking of not doing that just in case I find something out of whack in the bell housing and don't need to completely remove the tranny, but I think those chances are pretty slim.

Thanks Jamie.

[Aaron]

You are going to be thankful that you aren't under the gun to do this. Most of the time it seems like it is your DD that you absolutely have to get back on the road over the weekend. Having the option to do things in an unhurried manner is more of a blessing than you can imagine. The other good thing is that you have the time to walk away from it when things get frustrating instead of being forced to get it done no matter what. Make use of that, especially since this is your first time doing it. It'll probably make a big difference in just doing it one time.

I definitely am blessed that I can do it this way. Quite honestly, if I was under the gun, I would take it somewhere and pay someone to do it since I have no experience doing this kind of thing. I certainly do hope I get it right the first time...

Of course, this leads me to a question... The symptoms I had only reared their head during shifts at speed above second gear. Once I finish this job, is there any way to test my work besides throwing it back in the heep and seeing if it works?

[Jamie]

No problem. The t-case comes off with 6 or 8 bolts I can't quite remember but I can say for sure that it makes the tranny alot easier to balance and get back in.:fing:

[Aaron]

The tranny is sitting on my workbench... Perhaps tomorrow is the day I open it up.

[Aaron]

Nows the time to freak out. The tranny is open and my worse fear has come true. If you are thinking that my worse fear is that a gear is broken or the main shaft is bent, nope. not it. My worse fear is that everything looks fine. Of course, if you look at the title of this thread, I'm not sure I would know what it would look like if it were broken.

The one thing I dont want to do is replace the synchros, put the whole mess back together and then find out that wasn't it.

So, what course of action. Take it to a shop and have them look at it? What shop?
Find a low mileage used transmission and put it in? Where exactly do you find those?
Put synchros in (if I can figure it out) and go for broke.

Dear Lord!

[Brody]

Well, I can't say that I envy you, Aaron, as I would have to be desperate to take apart an auto tranny unless I had a working spare 'just in case'.

That said, it it were me, I would replace the syncros and at least the 2nd gear band. That is the one that always seems to get the most wear and tear. Someone correct me if I am wrong here, as I know more about manuals than autos...The other thing I would do is to explore some options for simply beefing it up a bit...shift kit, reverse valve body, heavier bands...heck, you have it down to this point...Any of the off road places that advertise in the magazines that do auto tranny work will help you with suggestions.

That X15 is a stout tranny and is popular, so some manufacture somewhere has done stuff to make it even better. Googling 'beefing up an X15 tranny' will probably get enough hits to start..Parts aren't going to be a huge amount to upgrade it would be my guess, too.

[Aaron]

I know more about manuals than autos..

Its a manual... So does that mean you can help?

At this point I'/m trying to figure out if I want to spend the 200 bucks on the master rebuild kit (synchros and the like) or find a low mileage used or go with a reman like on eBay. Those are like 700 buck with a warranty so a bit pricey but at this point, I want to get a little mud (snow) on the tires.

Aaron

[Brody]

Its a manual... So does that mean you can help?

At this point I'/m trying to figure out if I want to spend the 200 bucks on the master rebuild kit (synchros and the like) or find a low mileage used or go with a reman like on eBay. Those are like 700 buck with a warranty so a bit pricey but at this point, I want to get a little mud (snow) on the tires.

Aaron

DUH on me....I was just reading the auto transmission threads....

Depends on the budget...I would be inclined to go with the master rebuild and replace the syncros, etc. I prefer to have a good solid working knowledge of whatever rig I am driving and the best way to gain it is by actually tearing something down and replacing it. With a manual, you should be able to tell if everything is working right when it is up on the bench, too.

I don't know how much help I would be able to offer. This isn't something I would necessarily do on someone's rig other than my own...mainly for my lack of experience rebuilding manual trannys. Last one I did was about 15 years ago...

[Aaron]

Good news. The Jeep is back up and running like new!

[Rob]

Good news. The Jeep is back up and running like new!

Excellent news. So what ended up being wrong with it?

[Chris]

Great news, just in time for good wheeling weather - congratulations Aaron!

[Aaron]

So what ended up being wrong with it?

Well, Let me say that first, I'm pretty happy with myself that I got the tranny out and in myself. However, I did give up on trying to rebuild it myself. I kept putting it off and just decided to have it rebuilt by someone who knows what they are doing. Its amazing how quickly everything goes back together though...

It had worn synchros, bearings were in horrible shape (balls all over the floor when removed) and a worn 1-2 shift fork and slider.

I'm just glad its done!

[Aaron]

Yeah, the weather was putting a fire under me.

[Chris]

Nothing wrong with having some expert help, I did the same when my tranny went out. :thunb: