So I did a fluid change on my ax-15. went smooth besides spilling gear fluid all over the driveway (my mistake). Finished up, cleaned up and drove it around the block. shifted smooth everything went great. This morning i went and fired it up to drive down to the gas station and my clutch was making grinding noises when I fully depressed the petal. THIS WAS NOT THERE BEFORE! did I do something wrong?? or did fate just curse me to have to do a clutch job?

 

coincidence; oil inside the trans doesn't get on the throw out bearing (at least it better not if you want yor clutch to last) and this sounds to me like a throwout bearing sort of noise.
It could though be the mainshaft input bearing, but as long as enough oil got in the tranny vs on the driveway then I doubt it. I usually pull the shifter and pour the new fluid thru there, leaving the sid eplug out just for a "level indicator" for the fluid.

 

This is a video of the noise. you should hear a grinding/ chattering besides my 4.0 rattling.

http://youtu.be/_2aQgwy_OdU

 

If it's a throw bearing then need that replaced along with the clutch

 

and i checked the fluid level this morning and it was fine. it was parked on the side of the street (grade of the road is towards the curb) so i was able to put a little more fluid in there just to be safe.

 

What oil did you put back into the trans? The noise is coming from the trans, or engine, and not from the clutch.

 

I had a mechanic buddy look up what its supposed to have and according to their program at his shop (alldata) it said 75w-90 GL5 with absolutely no exceptions, so that's what i put in.

 

This is wrong on multiple levels. First, GL5 will eat up your brass synchronizer rings. Second, it calls for 10W-30. Sounds dumb, yes, but I have checked with Chrysler for my 91 XJ and my buddy's 97 TJ.

 

Yea everywhere you go it will say GL5, which is the standard gear oil standard now. I opted for fully synthetic 75w-90 and it works much better.

But probably a clutch issue

 

ok i called 2 different transmission shops and my local MOPAR service center and they all sayed that i have the right fluid in there. so i am going to stick with the 75w-90. I am also going to take my xj to one of these tranny shops which does a free evaluation. this will tell me if its a clutch, throwout bearing, or something goofy in the trans.

 

Improper oil in the trans will usually only cause hard shifting. Unless the noise was while putting it in gear, it probably isn't that.

That said, GL-5 should NOT be in an ax-15. Believe what you want, but GL-5 has sulphur as a high pressure additive, and sulphur eats yellow metal, such as brass. Which your ax-15 has in it.

Search the internet (I did it a few months ago when I was changing mine for the first time), half say 10w30 half say GL-3 or GL-4 gear oil. But the consensus is GL-5 is NOT acceptable, and there a countless people that will tell you they switched to GL-5, had HORRIBLE shifts, switched to something else and all the problems went away.

 

I went with 10w30 after calling Chrysler and largely because GL4 was literally impossible to find at any parts store near me.

 

10-30 and 75-90 gear oil aren't too different in viscosity. As noted, the sulfur in gl5 is the problem with older trannys that use brass parts.

I will also agree that this is not the problem with the noises you are having. The brass breaks down slowly over time and will cause synchronizer problems.

 

Pennzoil Synchormesh gear oil (yellow bottle) is yellow metal safe and that is what I run in mine. It was hard to find but I bought enough from few stores.

 

so the noise has been solved. i took my xj to a transmission shop and they discovered that the bellhousing bolts were stripped out, or loose. when i pushed on the clutch it was pushing the transmission 1/4 of an inch away from the engine. so they put new bolts in and snugged everything up and it runs great again!