Would you reccomend fluid changes?
 

1993 XJ 4.0HO w/ AX-15 and 165K on the clock.
Don't know if any of the fluids have been changed by PO. What would you do?

Thanks!
T

Do you really need to ask that question?

Change those fluids, man!

Well, I remember someone saying its not good to change some fluids if you have high miles and don't know if they have been changed because it could cause more damage than leaving them in.:brickwall:

Just don't FLUSH them. Your seals and synchros and chains and teeth have become best friends with the deposits left behind by our old fluids. If you flush the deposits out, the components get separation anxiety and get very, very angry.

I would do this...
Change motor oil
drain trans fluid and refill
drain tcase and refill
change diff fluid front and rear
drain antifreeze and refill
drain power steering and refill
change brake fluid

That should cover all the fluids..Like trueblue said just don't have the tranny and cooling system flushed..

It shall be done! Thanks again guys!

why cooling system?

Drain it run some water through to clean any rust out then refill with fresh..it'll cool the engine better..The question is when was the last time the PO changed it never more then likely..

Also if it's a used car I would also do a complete tuneup...cap,rotor, plugs, wires, air filter, fuel filter...

These are things I do anytime I buy a used car..

You said not to flush the tranny or cooling system - i understand the tranny just was confused why not on the cooling system..

Well if you flush a radiator and cooling system that's never been flushed could cause leaks and so on..Me I just drain the radiator then grab the garden hose and run water through the block in case any rust is settled in their..A trany flush could cause goop to loosen in places you don't want it to...

LOL Good one Trueblue :)

i work at a jeep dealership and i personally dont think it matters with the aw4. that is such a tough trans. We have had guys at are work flush their trans with a 150000 and to his knowledge never had a flush and it actually made his shifts alot crisper.

its all preference on that trans

i didnt feel like flushing mine and my trans pan was leaking a little bit so i jus spill and filled it, i also changed the trans filter.

Are transmission guys at work have been doing this for a long time and niether of them have ever had to rebuild an aw4.

i do agree with not doing the radiator flush though! Iv seen older radiators calapse under the pressure of our flush machine at work.

i would rather know it then, rather then out on a trail if its not going to hold up to pressure...

Eh I don't worry I have a nice 3 row all metal not that crappy stock...Works great...I neer go above 210 sitting at a stop light or in a drive thru even when temps were over 100 outside...

I'm going to change the fluids as soon as i get a chance this weekend. On the differentials, the site I read said to clean the inside with brake cleaner, Is this ok or will the parts also get seperation anxiety?

Heres the instructions I found to use if someone wants to look over them and make sure its correct:

Differntials fluid change
http://www.4x4xplor.com/diff-service.html

Tranny & Transfer Case
http://www.4x4xplor.com/trannyservice.html

Thanks,
T

I would rec the brake cleaner also. Always a good idea to clean them up. Refill with Lucas. No additives necessary although they will prolly try to sell you some. They can usually hurt more than help once the diff gets HOT!

Yep.. use brake cleaner. The parts in a diffential are good old fashioned steel on steel types(except the LSD clutches). So getting them good and clean is the correct thing to do. Also lets you take a good look for damage or discoloring of the parts.

Refill it with good quality fluids, and you are golden. The only time to ever use additives is LSD additive and only if you have one.

how much oil does the AW4 Auto trans pan hold? i want to replace the gasket and tranny screen. What type/brand of oil is best?

Drain and fill em all. That's something you should do regardless of miles when you purchase a used vehicle and also frequently throughout the life of the vehicle. I purchased my rig with 81k and changed them all. Thank god i did. T-case was black, oil was watery, tranny was brown, front diff black, but rear diff was clear like new.

When i bought my tj (17k), i changed all the fluids in that one too. You just never know...

A service fill is 4 quarts.

Brands are like noses everyone has one. Get a Dexron/Mercon III fluid from a quality supplier(not store brand) and you will be good.

Whatever you do NO ATF+4 fluid. Its the wrong stuff for your tranny.

Hey guys!

Newby on this also so I have the same issue. Like I see, I can't change the tranny fluid to prevent later problems. Now, I would change the transfer fluid. Some of you said that use a Dextron/Mercon III for the transfer? Which one is the best one? Lucas have this product? And on axles, how I do it?

According to the website he listed it states that the Dana 30 and 44 have the screw in drain plug and that the 35 and 8.25 have the rubber plug. Is this true and standard across the board? or does it all vary?

Transfer case is not picky. I use atf-4. You can use dextron if you wish.

No.... the early model D-35's have a screw-in plug.

You can change the transmission fluid, but there are some things to consider. If the fluid is the normal red color with no evidence of contamination it doesn't need changed. Since you don't know how the PO took care of the transmission you are not going to want to use a synthetic fluid. Most of the "synthetic fluid killed my tranny" situations are where an owner didnt take care of the tranny previously and now the owner wanted to switch to a synthetic. The AW-4 requires a Dexron III fluid spec'ed fluid. But you are going to have a VERY hard time finding one. So a Dexron/Mercon III sped'ed fluid is just fine. NO ATF+4... its not the correct fluid for the AW-4. No matter what that TSB from Chrysler says. The tranny wasn't designed, spec'ed or built by Chrysler. They had nothing to do with it.

People's favorite brands are like noses, almost everyone has one.
I'm not a fan of Lucas products, so I'm not current on their complete product offerings.

There is a write-up here in the tech section on changing fluid in a Dana 30. It's the same basic process when doing most axles out there. Its written in a bit of sarcastic tone, but the info there is solid and correct.

Emailed the previous owner of the jeep ( I work with him). He had the jeep for 90K miles before me and didnt know if any of the fluids had ever been changed.

So, picked up all the fluids today. With the tools I need that I didn't already have (30mm socket, 24mm socket, break cleaner, bottle pump, etc) I spent a little over $100 in mats but it will be cheaper every other time after this I do it as I will only need the fluids.

4 bottles Lucas gear lube for the front and back differentials
2 bottles of ATF for transfercase
4 bottles for gear lube for the AX-15 manual transmission

How often should I do this mantiance? Each 30K?

Thanks. Almost had me thinking that I had the 44 all along. Thanks for the clarification. :head:

One thing I didn't get was a torque wrench. Is this a necessity? Can I just tighten to an approximation? Hmm wonder what 20 ft/lbs feels like....

What is the API-GL rating on the stuff you got for your tranny? It needs to be GL-4 rather than GL-5. GL-5 is corrosive to yellow metals(bronze,brass,etc.) which happen to be inside your AX-15.

Also keep a close eye on the condition of Lucas' gear lube. They use a TON of viscosity modifiers in it to make it heavyweight. This causes them to shear down quicker than other fluids in those weights.

Maintence is going to be dependent on usage. If you only drive on road and don't tow. You are going to need less frequent maintenence. But if you off-road alot with big tires, tow a bunch or just generally beat on your Jeep you need a shorter maintence interval.

Whowey, it is in fact Valvoline 75W-90 API GL-5, MT-1

Do I need to take it back?

It depends... Unless the container clearly states non-corrosive to yellow metals I wouldn't use it. That's one of the main differences between the GL-4 and the GL-5 ratings. The sulfur contained in the GL-5 fluids is corrosive to the yellow metal portions of your transmission. Does your transmission have brass or bronze parts? Is the first question I ask of my customers asking about manual transmission fluids.

Hi:

I didn't found the Dextron/Mercon III; I found it but with the number V. Can I use it? Or have to be III?

Ok, just to sum up what happened.

Autozone gave me GL5 valvoline.

Some people here made me aware of some issues. I wasnt satisified, so I called the jeep dealer to see what they use. Gl5, they said they wernt aware of any problems with it corroding.

So i read some more forums about it being bad and decided to call valvoline directly. They said that their formula of GL5 uses a non activated sulfur and does not cause corrosion to yellow metals and was safe to use unlike some other GL5.

I just had my whole drive train oils changed, diffs, t-case & auto box. Changed the filter in the tranny as well and I must say that it made a noticeable improvement to my gear shifts.