'89 Jeep Wrangler, how hard is it to replace the transmission?

A cheap one has just come up locally that's supposedly got a bust manual trans - will only go into 4th gear and the owner doesn't have the cash to fix it. I guess that's the Peugeot trans that's made out of glass, right?

Don't know yet if it's a 4 or 6 (trying to find out) and I've never really worked on 4x4s anyway.

I'm figuring that if it's not to hard to change out the trans, I'd try to see if I can get a used one, stick it in, drive it over the winter and flip it in spring...

I've never had to replace a trans in a Wrangler before, but they are very easy to work on. I would imagine being a truck, that it wouldn't be too hard to remove.

That's kind of what I'm hoping for - I've done a bit of work on my wife's Cherokee of fairly similar vintage and that one is about as complex as a box of rocks.

If it's an 89 and a 4cylinder it will have fuel injection.

If it is a 6 it will be carbed junk.

In reply to Ignorant:

if it's a 6 you throw a 4.0L head/intake/TB/dist. on and MS it.

somewhere in 89 or so they used 3 possible gearboxes i think, depending on engine/build date, the ax5 which is weak, ax15 (later) which is good, and the peaugot which is also crap.

removing it shouldnt be too hard, probably best to take the trans/tcase out in one chunk and seperate on the floor.

I think the hard part will be:

Locating a decent replacement transmission,

Dealing with rust,

and lifting heavy things.

The last may not be that big of an issue. You drop the crossmember, which will probably have studs and nuts which are seized in, may need drilled/tapped after you sheer them off. t-case comes off then trans comes out.

Before you look further, see if you can locate a replacement transmission. I personally would not run any 4 cyl manual trans of any variation, although in high school a buddy and I abused a 4cyl 4 speed trans that would only occasionally pop out of gear.

Rust is usually not a problem around here (edge of the desert) so hopefully there won't be too many studs that shear.

Good point about the trans, I guess I better check what the local pick&pull has in stock. Although I did find a rebuilt AX15 for about 1200 bucks online...

WilberM3 wrote: removing it shouldnt be too hard, probably best to take the trans/tcase out in one chunk and seperate on the floor.

So I assume you can pull them from underneath without the benefits of having a lift, as long as you have a transmission jack?

You would have to go to an old pickup truck to get simpler. You might have to jack it up a bit if it's not lifted to slide the transmission out. Check the jeep forums for transmissions -$1200 is too much IMO. also cherokees at junkyards - wranglers seem to be rare at junkyards - at least the ones around here.

WilberM3 wrote: In reply to Ignorant: if it's a 6 you throw a 4.0L head/intake/TB/dist. on and MS it. somewhere in 89 or so they used 3 possible gearboxes i think, depending on engine/build date, the ax5 which is weak, ax15 (later) which is good, and the peaugot which is also crap. removing it shouldnt be too hard, probably best to take the trans/tcase out in one chunk and seperate on the floor.

ax5 was never used on the 6 cylinder but on the 4cylinders.. Behind a 4 cylinder it is a great transmission. Never any weakness issues on mine that I wheeled a bit.

Novak agrees.. Throw out the pegouts. Find an AX model trans and you will be fine. If you find an AX model trans, get it with the transfer case, as there many be some differences between the two xfer cases. I'd hate to see you swap an input shaft.

http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/ba10_5.htm

i bought a $300 parts 5sp cherokee years ago with miatame... he took tires, i took trans/tcase, sold engine, ended up costing us almost nothing.

i know people upgrade the peaugot and ax5 to the stronger ax15 but you'd have to check out jeep forums to see what's needed to make it all work. but a parts jeep would give you a guaranteed matching trans/tcase and hydraulics too. hell if its a 4.0HO parts jeep you could even swap that right in and call it a day.

The ax5 is weak and the Peugeot is junk.

You can replace an ax5 with an ax15, but the spline count on the output shaft to the transfer case is different, so I believe that you have to swap some parts inside the t-case to make things go together. Not sure about things at the engine side.

Ask here: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f12/

I did the trans in my XJ without a jack. If you separate the trans and transfer case before pulling, they're light enough to bench press, even for a weak guy like me.

Did a lot on the old CJ's. Jack it up. Support it on jack stands. Easier to handle if you pull the transfer first, but not necc. Use a floor jack. I don't imagine the later ones are much different.

I used a motorcycle jack to remove the ones in my TJ's.