recently i have noticed my jeep does not like to go in gear, i have to sometimes force the shifter or pumpthe clutch pedal a few times to get it to loosen up. i had the same problem on my old f150 a few years ago and it was the master slave cylinder, but a few friends with xj's have told me all i need to do is put new trans fluid in it? what is the most likely cause of this? if i have to change the slave cylinder how tough is that? is there an easy way to bleed the hydraulic clutch fluid?

the fluids play a pretty critical role in your jeeps preformance. check fluids for discoloration, bad smell. i seem to remember somewhere that AX15's have these kinda issues... as for the master cyl... idk

should be on the out side of bell housing not that hard to change

where do you live?
i know during winter, both my tj's are hard to shift when cold. but ok once warmed up.
common problem is the 2nd gear syncro, usually tough to get into 2nd.

Mine was getting kind of hard to shift and grinded a lot going into reverse. Royal Purple recommends 10W40. If you already have some damage, which it sounds like you do, a 10W30 Royal Purple synthetic might help you out. That is what I put in mine and it definitely did help. I rarely grind reverse now and shifting is noticeably easier.

When I drained the tranny, I could smell that it was regular gear oil, it was dirty, and there was a decent amount of metal and sludge on the drain plug.

when is the last time you changed the fluid? When I got my Jeep I changed the fluid in my AX-15 and found less that a quart; and I drove it over three hours home and still no problems to date.... IF you do get to changing it get Amsoil 75W-90 GL-4 its the best stuff I've had experience with.

I don't really know a good way to verify which component isn't working right; the master or slave so I can't help there but I do the pump, pump, pump, hold & bleed, re tighten, then release and it works great on my 240sx. never had to bleed the Jeep's

ok thanks guys i will drain and refill the tranny fluid this weekend and see where that gets me. i will post my results

x2

This or the Redline MTL is the ONLY thing you should put in your AX-15. Make absolutely sure it is "GL-4" rated, NOT "GL-5". I made this mistake also, but it contains additives that will eat away the brass syncros in our transmission. Long story short I ended up changing my tranny fluid twice.

Yes, I know people will respond saying jeep switched it's recommendation to 10w-30 motor oil a few years ago and they haven't had any problems using it. I'm still convinced it's absolutely retarded to put motor oil in a hypoid gear assembly, it wears wayyyyy to fast and the viscosity is far too low. I refuse to bet the life of my transmission on Jeep's quest to save some money.

don't know if you've resolved your issue, but the slave cylinder is pretty simple... 2 bolts. You'll need a universal on the half inch socket with a good extension on the ratchet to get to the top bolt with the most ease.

...make sure you fill up the new slave cylinder with fluid prior to installation so you don't trap air.

good luck!

Pennzoil or GM synchromesh. Both specifically formulated for gearboxes with yellow metals. Great success for me.

pretty sure he resolved it - this thread is over a year old....

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