'89 Cherokee manual tranny?

[TJRON]

What kind of manual tranny would an '89 Cherokee have? Would it fit in a TJ? Would it be better or worse than an AX 15?
Thanks,
Ron

[Handlebars]

BA10/5 - 5 speed manual - manufactured by Peugot. Most Cherokee guys swap those out for the AX15 that you already have.

[TJRON]

Thanks Alex. Mine is giving me problems and a friend and I are tearing it apart today. I saw and ad and was wondering........

[Handlebars]

Are you having syncro problems? Be aware that the AX15 requires gear oil rated API GL3, not the GL5 that is more commonly available. Supposedly the GL5 oil uses sulpher as an extreme pressure additive, sulpher has corrosive effects on the brass syncro rings. I have to say that I am guilty of running the GL5 for a long time. I also switched to Mobil 1 synthetic gear oil after my first winter here... that is also GL5 rated. Redline synthetic gear oil is rated as safe for yellow metals, as soon as I can find some I will get rid of that Mobil 1. FWIW I have 143k miles on the tranny and no shifting problems.

[Ace!]

Sounds like a good time to swap to the automatic you've always dreamed about!

You should be able to find a used one fairly cheap through a salvage yard. As far as manuals, the AX-15 isn't bad, compared to the Peugeot. A salvage yard can do a national search if there isn't a tranny in the local area.

[Jeff Weston]

Here's my experience with the Jeep manual trannies:

'88 XJ - Peugot tranny had to be rebuilt pretty much right after the warranty expired. Somehow the main shaft got trashed and scored up enough that it had to be replaced as well. Unfortunately, the AX-15 swap was not really in vogue at the time but the tranny did hold up for the rest of the ride up to 250K miles.

'89 YJ - AX-15 (some say theirs came with the Peugot but I know mine did not as evidenced by the solid case, not split). Since I only kept this Jeep for 6 months I can't say much about it.

'93 YJ - AX-15 had the difficult "normal" 1-2 shift from the get-go. Other than that it did okay until I sold the Jeep to my dad. At 120K miles the tranny let go and had to be rebuilt (shortly thereafter, the 4.0L engine with the "normal" engine slap noise had to be rebuilt as well. A year later he swapped out the rebuilt AX-15 for a 700R4 and all is well!

So, it seems like the Peugot is weak, the AX-15 has trouble shifting and perhaps synchro issues and the NV3550 is noisy at idle in neutral.

[TJRON]

A friend and I just took mine apart today. Allthough I run the same cheap GL5 lube I run in my diffs the synchros looked fine with 85K on them. A bearing gave out and caused a synchro to hit a gear. Nothing a rebuild kit won't fix.
BTW, it was fun to watch someone take it apart that knew what they were doing after I got stumped. It's really not too complicated.
Thanks for all the info.

[Daless2]

Pictures Ron, Pictures!!!

I am particularly interested in those syncro rings that don't look warn.

If you can, Thanks in advance.

Frank