Yeah, you got me there. I should’ve checked the fluid in the transmission, and I even knew it was leaking and never thought anything of it.

But as far as the “new” one goes, it has about 285k now on it, and it’s tired. It whines in 5th gear, it grinds like **** in every gear, and I’m not wanting to deal with another breakdown after putting a new motor in her. I know my 4 cylinder isn’t going to make 300 horses, but I want to be absolutely certain nothing happens aside from defective parts. That’s why I went the AX15 route, because it’s a stronger transmission that can handle a workload.

I should also mention that I plan on routinely using my Jeep to haul a lot of crap around, and towing in the occasional car into the shop. I’m not that trusting in a transmission that was mainly used in cars and light duty trucks.

On a happier note, I got some more info on what I need to bolt up a Dakota transmission to my 2.5. I’m keeping it 2wd, so not much has to change. The flywheel, clutch, and pilot bearing are all larger, but the throwout bearing, fork, and slave cylinder are all the same. The Dakota uses a different slave cylinder, but the one from my Jeep seems to bolt up just fine. All that someone needs to do if they ever plan to follow in my insanity, is buy a clutch kit for a Dakota and the flywheel for it as well. It will bolt right up, as it is the same engine.

As far as the mount goes, I got a mount for a 1997 XJ with the AX-15. I can always modify the crossmember to let it all bolt up, but I would rather do that then trying to drill and tap holes on the transmission.

 

From my build thread:

-The hole where the pilot bearing fits into has to be hollowed out a little. A Dremel and some patience goes a long way here. Reason being, the pilot bearing on the AX15 is bigger, and so is the pilot tip.
-The Dakota 2.5 clutch pressure plate is just slightly smaller than the Jeep 2.5 pressure plate, and 3 of the 6 bolt holes for the pressure plate don’t line up. All you need to do is drill out the bolt holes a bit and it lines up.
-The crossmember has to be moved back, but there are already pre-drilled holes that just need to be tapped.
-The mount has to be modified some in order for it to fit. I’m sure there’s a mount or kit out there to make it work, but the mount won’t line up with the transmission without drilling new holes. All I did was paint pen through the holes in the transmission and onto the mount, and drilled through them, and attaching a through bolt.
-The exhaust has to be changed a bit, since there is a “hump” for the stock exhaust to fit over the stock location of the crossmember. I haven’t modified my exhaust yet but I’ll do that soon. You also to fabricate a new exhaust mount, since the AX5 exhaust mount is built onto the transmission plate.
-You might have to modify the carpet or tunnel opening, but that’s TBD.

As far as the connectors go, they plug right up. I’m sure the speedo gear is different than the one that’s in the AX5, and I’m sure my speedo will be messed up for a bit, but that’s still TBD.

I’m also not sure why these boxes keep popping up where the apostrophes are supposed to be. Sorry about that y’all