Feedback from shifter ax15 trans . . .

[Allen9878]

I am getting feedback from my shifter (vibrations, just short or grinding) when it is in neutral and moved around close to the gears (all gears) but nowhere near to shifting into them. I do not experience this when in gear or when the clutch is in. It is a ax15 Transmission on a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l . Anyone know why this could be? it wasn't doing it 2 weeks ago, hasn't been moved in that time, but I took the shifter stick out to make a custom plate around it, and now that it is put back in, I am getting this feedback... Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Allen9878]

no ideas huh?

 

[Old Dog]

I would say a mainshaft bearing, but after reading this

I would say It's something you just did. Sorry I have no idea what that might be though. Just double check everything you just did.

 

[priceg]

There is a double sided dog that is on the main shift rail. It has a large tab on one side and a smaller one on the other side. Both sides have to be lined up at the same time. The smaller tab has missed its slot and is ridding on the outside of the block. Clear as mud?

 

[Allen9878]

That sounds promising, thanks!

 

[jeepindavis]

do you have photos of your AX15 swap or the final install? I'd love to see what it looks like and what you did with linkages/crossmember/shifter etc. Thanks!

 

[Allen9878]

Nothing was needed to be done to the shifter, the ax15 was longer that my T-5 , but the shifter is located farther forward on the Transmission making it end up in the same place. I posted the information about the crossmember by your other post. As for the linkages I have the hyraulic set up and was able to use the master cylinder from the wrangler I got it from and just drilled a hole to mount it right in behind the brake booster on the drivers side. actually it went so smoothly I was shocked. I then swapped the clutch pedal from the wrangler to my cj and it all bolted right up. It is a pain trying to get the clutch spring off, it is extremely heavy duty. I have to cut it off with a pneumatic cutoff wheel (careful of the wiring!) If you go with the hydraulic setup you might need a lighter spring. I will try to get some pictures on later of some of this.

 

[jeepindavis]

Bert,
Thanks for the info. Just curious, what year donor did you get you AX15 from? I hear from my research on this forum that there have been at least three different AX15's (different output shafts I think). I am really looking forward to trying this on one of my CJ's (one was an auto but I only drive a manual if I can do anything about it) so I'd love to make it manual and the AX 15 sounds like a better choice than the stock T-5 . I'm also very interested in putting the NP242 behind it. I have one in my '98XJ and LOVE the full time 4x4 option. I know the Dana 300 is probably a better case but I want to drive this CJ all the time and winter in PA makes full time an attractive option.
So did you have to hack into the tub at all for clearances for the shifters or was the stock locations close enough?

 

[Allen9878]

I did have to hack into the tub to give a little clearance for the stick, only like a half inch to the rear. The plate will still cover it but you will probably need to make a new plate because those hole will not be correct. The Dana 300 shifter came out farther to the passenger side and I did have to heat it up and bend it to get it to be in a normal place. Easy enough to do. ThisGuyYouKnow on the forums would be a good guy to talk to about this, he also did the whole swap and has a whole write up that helped me figure out some stuff before I dug in.

 

[Allen9878]

Here are some pic's of where I located the master cylinder. You have to make sure this is in the exact location or it will not line up perfect with the clutch pedal.

 

[Allen9878]

Here's a couple more pics to show where the shifter comes up. I unfortunately don't have any pics of the mount right now.