Jeep Wrangler Forum banner

New Jeep Owner and need some Tranny Help

1K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  Dextreme 
#1 ·
Just bought my first Jeep. It's a 1997 TJ with the 2.5 engine and 5 speed transmission. There's a lot I don't know about cars, but I know enough to be dangerous and I figured I spotted most of what was wrong before I bought it. Little did I know. Biggest selling point to me was only 100,000 miles on it, adult driven, and many of them being pulled behind an RV.

To make a long story short, I discovered it had a bad transmission two days later when 5th gear went haywire. Brought it to my mechanic who confirmed what I knew deep down. We went ahead and drained the fluid. It came out gray and almost sludge with lots of metal shavings. Went ahead and changed the front and rear differential fluid with 75w90 and refilled the tranny with the same fluid per the local NAPA's recommendation. (I have to keep this thing on the road for now) Luckily the previous owner had enough integrity to split the new transmission bill so I'm not out nearly as much.

New transmission has been ordered, and in the meantime 5th gear is completely gone. So my first question is what type of fluid to put in the new transmission? My owner's manual says 75w90 GL5 and the local dealership says 80w90 GL5 and the guy really didn't sound confident. On most of these threads ya'll say Redline MT-90 but they are usually about a different year model and engine size. Some even say 10w30 motor oil. Do I have brass synchros too? Should I go ahead and put the same stuff in the differentials too? I only want the best. My head is just swimming as I do not want to go through this again, nor do I want to buy new front or rear end.

On a separate but related question do you think this damage could have been caused by not removing the driveshaft when towing the Jeep? Or just poor maintenance habits.

Thanks!
 
See less See more
#2 ·
The AX5 tranny is really happy with Redline MT90.

Congrats on the new Jeep. Once you get these initial bugs worked out, you are going to love it! :thumb:

To flat tow it, you don't have to remove driveshafts....just Tranny in gear, xfer case in Neutral, and steering wheel unlocked. I suspect it maybe had the wrong fluid it it for a long time, or maybe was incorrectly towed....who knows, parts can fail.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top