Here's the jeep engineer thread - http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f144/...49/index9.html

I feel some research had to be done before simply changing a fluid specification. If they were to blindly throw a different fluid in there, what would stop them from using atf or something else along those line? 10w30 has a similar viscosity to 75w90 with little to no brass eating sulphur found in GL5.

Found this quote on naxja - "Incidentally the MTL has the same viscosity as a 5W30 motor oil, and the MTL90 a 15W40. That certainly lends some credibility to the guys who claim they run 10W30 in the AX15 with no problems."

Another quote - "I recently had my AX15 rebuilt and got the info from the dealer that the numbers supercede to a 10W-30 motor oil. It is supposed to aid in better cold shifting according to the print out they gave me."

more - "The opinions and suggestions of using 10W30 and synchromesh are based on getting a lube with a similar viscosity, that's safe for brass synchros, and has a decent friction coefficient to help with smooth shifting."

 

Vehicle is 1999 Jeep cherokee sport 2wd, 4L, 6 cyl

I am a total newbie. I don't actually fix my jeep, but my brother-in-law does (thank goodness). I'm asking this question for him, so forgive me if terminology and/or content is a little "off". Just replaced engine. All gauges work EXCEPT the oil gauge. I have the instrument cluster out. Can I open that box and fix just the oil gauge in some way?

Sorry I think I replied to someone's question and didn't mean to. Don't know how to move/delete it.

 

 

How in gods earth do you remove the headlight switch on a 94 xj. The dash is apart. The trim removed. The weird screw is removed and the harness removed. I can move the switch around behind the dash but its to big to fit around anything to be able to get it out from behind the dash.

 

Should be an oil pressure sensor next to the oil filter.

 

Yes, thats where its placed.

 

Like you said, the reasoning is straightforward enough, but I wouldn't read too much into it. All JeepEngineers did was confirm what a part number was.

Not sure what MTL this is referring to. Redline? Royal Purple? Honda?

I'm sure you can appreciate that these lack any sort of credibility. Nonetheless, for every post saying "10w30 works great in my AX-15" I can find you a post that says "10w30 works absolutely terrible in my AX-15". In fact, I'm one of those people. I tried it. It sucked. After a thousand KM or so shifting was worse.

You can find the exact same sort of quotes regarding ATF+4 in an AW4. Sure, some people have no problems with it. I believe DualSportDad on this site has had zero issues. Everyone else, however... not so much.

I don't know much about gear oil but consider that engine oil is designed and tested against sliding forces present inside an engine and control of contaminants. Not against gear teeth. The base stocks and viscosity may be similar but I don't buy that motor oil would, in any circumstance, be ideal for gears over the long run.

Was this ever specified as an acceptable lubricant by the actual manufacturer? No. Will the transmission explode? No, probably not. It will likely work okay but it's certainly not the best.

I really don't care what you run in your transmission but "This is what Chrysler carries" is NOT the same as "This is what Aisin-Warner recommends".

The oil pressure sending unit (above the oil filter) is sensitive and easily bashed. Also when they crack and get filled with oil - including the wires to it - the thing stops working. Don't bother messing around with the dash, it's the sensor or wiring 99.9% of the time.

 

Salad I'm not worthy I'm not worthy all I know is my baby loves R-T6,,Oh and my jeep does also...

 

Sorry about the thread hi-jack.............I`ve had 2 different power steering pump leaks from the reservoirs.....is this a commomn occurrence? I have another that Im gonna install next weekend but am wondering if this is some kind of manufacturer defect? Or am I just unlucky? Can there be too much pressure built up? (Although I`d think a line would fail before the pump housing). It has leaked twice from the same "weld" in the pump housing.Just curious as this change out is getting OLD (although I`ve become quite adept at it!) Thanks for any replies/opinions..........Pez

 

Continuing our discussion... Take a look at what Jerry mentions in post #2 -
http://www.wranglerforum.com/f282/ax...ge-317193.html

"Don't worry about the seemingly huge viscosity difference between the 75W-90 gear lube and 10W-30 motor oil. Gear lubes and motor oils are measured on two different viscosity scales & those two lube have very similar viscosities. The manufacturer of your AX-15 approved the use of a synthetic 10W-30 motor oil several years ago since the other lubes I mentioned that were on their original list of approved lubes are very hard to find locally."

 

News to me. I did a quick search and haven't found any results that don't quote the Chrysler part number change.

What I DID find is that Novak only lists 75w90 as the fill for these gear boxes: https://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/ax15.htm

I also found what I've suspected for a while but haven't felt compelled to look. Like the AW4, Aisin Warner built the AX-15 for a host of other customers, most notably Toyota's R154, which was also installed in Supras. (This is mentioned on Novak's page too). And, unsurprisingly, just like with the AW4, the fluid specification has never changed. Toyota still requires the use of a 75w90 GL3 or GL4 oil.

So there is absolutely zero doubt in my mind that this is just more Chrysler bull****. I'm not the only one who thinks this, either. I stumbled across a few posts from four years ago with the same reasoning (that I had never read before lol)

This is the viscosity chart to compare between oil types:



Saying that two fluids are similar viscosity must be the same is a little silly. I could thin molasses out but that wouldn't make it wise to use in either application.


For reference, my local NAPA stocks Redline MT-90 on the shelf.

 

To each his own, if you can locate gl3 or gl4 gear oil go for it. Same with redline, synchromesh, 10w30, atf... That chart shows 10w is nearly equal to 75w gear oil. As long as its yellow metal friendly these tough trannys will be fine. As far as running 10w30, I run rotella because of it's high zddp levels. Both gl3/gl4 gear oils use zddp just like rotella engine oil, and they both have similar viscosity. Whether or not it it helped your transmission, it certainly helped mine and many others.

 

lol, I pressed send before I finished typing and forgot to go back and fix it. Oops.

 

I know a lot of people do not care for the Dana 30 front axle but I want to do a cheap upgrade to it anyway because I will probably never wheel hard enough to justify putting in an axle built for a tank.

I was reading IRO's website about axle shafts and they offer an OEM heavy duty Dana 30 front axle shaft assembly that comes out of a 95 or newer cherokee. That makes it sound like the axle shafts out of 94 and older are not as strong?

I have a 98 so I figured my axle shafts must be the same thing that IRO is offering? Which means I already have a semi-upgraded axle shaft with a 297X u-joint. This is what I am thinking after reading the info on their website. I could be wrong.

Anyway, they offer a Spicer 5- 760X u-joint for the front axle assembly and these Almost Alloy caps that weld on over the top of each u-joint cap. According to the website this will help prevent axle shaft failure by preventing the u-joints from coming apart. According to IRO, the axle shaft failure occurs after the u-joints have failed.

Am I reading all of this correctly and if so would you consider this a budget upgrade with the new 5- 760 u-joints and almost alloy caps?

I just ordered my new gears and will be adding a Lokka to the Dana 30 when I have it tore down. While I have the axle shafts pulled out I figured I might as well put in stronger u-joints and these almost alloy caps if it is considered an upgrade.

Sorry this is so long winded.

 

Sorry to interrupt the debate but I am getting ready to replace the oil sending unit. Should I go with MOPAR on that our is a NAPA brand fine? Doing a tune up while I am in there and going to replace the distributor gasket as well. If anyone has any words of wisdom on that it would be appreciated.