Shin_Jihns

So a little backstory. Was driving my xj to work today, got to the end of my street and the shift lever became completely free to spin. Not the shift ****, the entire lever. Spun her around and took her home.

When I get home from work today I thought id take a look at the lever to see if a set screw or something had come loose allowing it to spin. I took off the ****, the shift boot, a smaller circular boot and peered down where the lever interacts with the transmission; nothing. So I then proceed to lift the lever out of the hole and then I see something fall, presumably off of the assembly on the lever, into my transmission and disappear.

I have no idea what it was. No idea if it is plastic or metal, kinda looked like a black washer in the split second I saw it. So my question is. Am I ****ed? Do I have to drop my transmission and try and fish whatever fell in it out? Why was my shift lever free to spin?
Honestly have no idea which transmission i have, it was a swap when I bought it.

Chick-N-Picker

I'm pretty sure I know what that part was. I can not remember the name of it. Shift lever maybe. I'll try to remember and come back to share if I do.

Edit: I think it is called the shifter bushing. Search Jeep Cherokee Shifter Bushing. Do you have a piece like that anywhere. It can be black, white, or green. It's plastic. I certainly don't see it in any photos. I bet that part wore our and just broke. Your set up look basically identical the 89 Toyota I fixed before, mentioned below.

I had to change it on a Toyota 5 speed once. I am assuming that is what fell and is the same in an XJ. It was a plastic circle. When it wears thin or breaks it can cause the shifter to not want to shift into certain gears correctly, smoothly, or even become free like yours did. When I replaced it. That Toyota shifted like it never had since the 90's. Felt brand new and perfect tight shifting.

Not sure if you should drop the transmission to try and get it out. Others will know.

BlueRidgeMark

Ouch. I sure wouldn't want to assume it's okay.

Dunno about the manual - does it have a pan you can drop? If so, I'd do that first.

RocketMouse

X2 with BlueRidge....yeah...we all know what ***/u/me spells...
I would try that too... go less invasive if you can.

robsjeep

perhaps the top cover of tranny can be removed, I see four attachment bolts in your photo. once the cover removed, maybe you will be able to get the part that fell in there.

If metal, Id be very concerned, if plastic, given you have a manual tranny, Id not be very concerned, as a small bit of plastic likely wont do damage to a manual tranny, If it was an automatic, Id be much more concerned even if plastic, as an auto has so many teeny tiny fluid passages that might become clogged.

Good luck

robsjeep

perhaps the top cover of tranny can be removed, I see four attachment bolts in your photo. once the cover removed, maybe you will be able to get the part that fell in there.

If metal, Id be very concerned, if plastic, given you have a manual tranny, Id not be very concerned, as a small bit of plastic likely wont do damage to a manual tranny, If it was an automatic, Id be much more concerned even if plastic, as an auto has so many teeny tiny fluid passages that might become clogged.

Good luck

Chick-N-Picker

Fairly certain all shifter bushings are plastic. That being said, if you can easily take a cover or pan off and check then listen to these guys and do it.

doublechaz

Even without a pan, I would buy a new oil catch pan, make sure it is perfectly clean, jack/ramp the car until the trans drain is the lowest point in the trans and then drain the trans into the pan. Next filter the fluid until you find it. If it isn't there, I would shoot a lot of carb clean down that hole until it flushed out. Then wait a day with it all open to be sure the carb cleaner has evaporated and finish with new gear oil that it probably years overdue for a change anyway.

lawsoncl

I don't believe there are any metal clips in there and most likely it was a piece of one of the boots or from the plastic bushing in the shift tower. No oil pan on the AX5/AX15. As mentioned, the shift tower can be unbolted and removed to get better look. There is a gasket under there and you can just use a bit of silicon to seal it back up if it tears. Opening up the trans requires removal from the vehicle and a fair amount of work to separate the front and back halves.

If you do a fluid change, don't use GL gear oil. Use Redline MTL, penzoil synchromesh, or mobil1 10W30. Most GL oils have sulfurs which are not friendly to brass synchros and the EP additives meant for differentials make the synchros slip instead of grabbing the gears like they should. If you have the shifter and/or the shift tower off, it's much easier to fill it from the top until it flows out the fill hole on the side.

agreen

Hold up. I just wrote a bunch of stuff that doesn't even matter any more. I know what it was that dropped. It's the pin that locates the shifter. See that groove on the bottom of the shifter where it pivots? There's supposed to be a pin in the shift tower that looks like it's gone in the pics. You can try to roll the dice and let it go, but I'd probably be dropping the transmission.

Now, here's where some people will get squeamish. You can do this. I believe in you. Drop the transfer case, pull the transmission, and pull the back half of the transmission off. The locating pin should be right in the back half of the transmission, behind the mid plate. Let me go find a video for you that I found fairly helpful.

agreen

Here:

Once you get to about 6:00, you can stop and put it back together in reverse order. It's absolutely not as scary as it sounds. I had mine out, completely apart, replaced the input shaft, and back together and driving in a day.

lawsoncl

Good catch on the pin. That would explain the shaft spinning as well.

doublechaz

I would start by trying to locate or build a suitable tool for magnet fishing, then give up and pull it apart.

BlueRidgeMark

ROFL! Yup! You nailed it!

Shin_Jihns

Hey everyone, sorry for never responding to this, life got in the way and I finally have some free time now. I really appreciate all of the feedback I got.

I decided to drop the trans and finally got around to it yesterday, got it all apart, and retrieved both pins that had fallen in. There was also this plastic piece in the bottom of the case part I took off; I do not know what it is or where it came from. Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

Since this is the first time removing and tearing into a transmission I had some questions.
1. How do I clean all the old gear oil out?
2. Does anything look off in the overview photos?

1. 
   Overview1
   
   Overview2
   
   Overview3
   
   Overview 4

3. I saw these cracks in the bottom of the case section I took off. I can't tell if they are something I should worry about or if they are just casting mistakes. It feels rough when i run my finger over them.

1. 
   Cracks1
   
   Cracks2
   
   Stuff found in transmission case
   
   Plastic Piece
   
   Plastic Piece2

4. Is this spring on the clutch fork in the right place? it popped off when I was taking the bell housing off.

Clutch fork spring

5. Can you tell the condition of the clutch without taking it off? Nothing felt off when I was driving it but Id rather get everything taken care of so I do not have to take the trans out again because it was a pita.
6. Are there any kits that include basically all the stuff I should just maintenance while the trans is out? rear main seal, throwout bearing, transmission seals, clutch, etc.