Does anyone have the flexplate part number for a 96 XJ with a 4.0 and automatic AW4? On Rockauto there are two. One is Z337 which is interchangeable with OEM 52118551 and has an outer diameter of 13.81”. The other is Z339 interchangeable with OEM 52117761, 53006324 and has an outer diameter of 13.83.

 

The Jeep parts catalog lists 52118551 for a 1996, and 52117761 for 94-95. Of course being a 1996 crossover year, it's a crap shoot what you actually need.

 

measure the new vs the old very carefully, and let us know what is the result

I would go the '96 version

a few guys have installed the wrong one, and it causes major problems

 

However you get it, you can stack them, one on top of another, and line up the bolt holes, and tooth patterns, INCLUDING the spaces on the walls of the plate. The ENTIRE thing should be IDENTICAL! And yes, "an inch counts..."
if they're not IDENTICAL, bolt holes, spaces on the outside, etc, (pay attention to detail...) itll still rattle/make noise.

 

Also, going thru a local autoparts store, VS online, allows you to bring in the Old Part, and Match it up... In Person.
and,, they don't (often) cause too much Hassel with returns.

 

Hey guys, sorry for the delayed response. So as I was preparing things and taking the flexplate to torque converter bolts off, three of the four bolts were loose. Only one was tight and required me to hold the crank to get off.

anyway long story short, I cleaned them, put red loctite, and torqued them to 28ft ilbs. Rattling noise is gone now.

as far as which flex was correct I think it would of been Z339. On the front side of mine it said 51630I

 

Cool. An even easier fix that you thought! Pretty common problem, btw.

 

For people stumbling on this thread in the future, I used "Pioneer Automatic Transmission Flywheel FRA-480." There have been reports of some of the other ones being slightly too big and scratching the inside of the transission while making terrible noises. The one I got worked great.

 

what year xj do you have? My flex plate is cracked for sure and I for the life of me cannot find one that I’m 100% will work. Mines 2001 with the aw4. I’m terrified to try the atp or pioneer ones because the reviews are so mixed. I’m having a shop do mine and don’t wanna pay them to have to drop the tranny twice lol

 

which one you end up using ?

 

so I haven’t replaced it yet. However I bought one from a junkyard in grand junction Colorado that only deals with old jeeps. They had an original flex plate from a 2000 xj they shipped me. It’s not cracked and looks virtually perfect for a 25 year old part. The place is called parts breakers they’re awesome!! Can’t promise they have one but absolutely worth a shot. I will update this thread when I replace the flex plate. I’m gonna have a shop do it as I’m not confident enough to drop and reinstall the transmission, so when I save up enough dough and get it done it’ll repost here. However since it’s cracked it had to have cracked for a reason so who knows how long I’ll get out of this other flex plate lol.

 

I used FRA-480 and had a horrible scratch on start up along with random misfires took it out and stuck a good used oem flexplate in it out of another Cherokee same year and has been running great. Gonna keep all the Cherokee flex plates I come across since the aftermarket ones are crap. Will update

 

Probably too late but you dont need to drop the trans, just back the trans/tx case backwards on platform trolley.

I have adapted some SS shopping trolleys for jobs like this, the angle grinder does its thing, scrap is used for concrete reo etc

You only need a few inches.

Use blue loctite on the short bolts

I never throw away a used XJ part until it is destroyed beyond recognition. My spare XJ is full to the brim & over-flowing with new & used parts.
I get them cheap, use them when I need, the good parts will appreciate in value over the years. and my descendants will be glad of them, either to use, or sell on ebay
You should make absolutely certain the TC is fully mounted when replacing trans, measure distance back from lip, while trans is back, take this time to ensure it is fully back, there are 3 positions. The trans should be able to be pushed back all the way basically by hand.

I use longer bolts to help connect and draw them together, but if the last 1" wont go in by hand, that could mean the TC is not fully seated

 

so I ended up using that flex plate I got from partsbreakers the used junkyard from Colorado, which I highly recommend, but it worked great! I just got it back last week! I had the shop hold the old one for me and it was cracked 100% all the way around the mating surface 😅. If anyone needs a flex plate for their xj 100% Google partsbreakers and call them first but definitely go the used route if you can.