AX-5 Transmission - No 5th gear or Reverse

89JeepYJ

89JeepYJ

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Hello everyone,

I’m trying to revive my 1989 Jeep Wrangler with the 2.5L and AX-5 transmission. I’ve got it running, but I’m running into an issue with the transmission.

It will not go into 5th gear or reverse. There’s no grinding, no popping out of gear—it simply won’t engage those two gears at all. All other gears seem to work normally.

Before I go as far as pulling the transmission, I wanted to see if anyone has run into this before or has any ideas on what might cause both 5th and reverse to disappear like this.

Any thoughts or direction would be appreciated.
 
5th and reverse are likely separate issues. 5th commonly slides out of place on the AX5 because it’s held in place with a cheap snap ring that eventually gives up under torque. Large tires with stock gears exacerbate that condition. I doubt anybody has that issue on stock size tires. Anywho, some aftermarket companies make solutions to repair it which I believe involves removing the transfer case, pushing the gear back into place, and securing it with a collar that holds it there. I’m not too in the know on that but I’ve seen it before.

As for reverse, not sure on that. Maybe the idler gear is broke? I’m going to assume you’ll need a tear down for that.
 
There's also a reverse lock-out pin which prevents you from going into reverse from 5th gear. My guess is the 5th gear fork is stuck in the engaged position and preventing you from selecting reverse.
 
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Flyer58 said:
There's also a reverse lock-out pin which prevents you from going into reverse from 5th gear. My guess is the 5th gear fork is stuck in the engaged position and preventing you from selecting reverse.
Click to expand...

That’s a good point. I have driven my YJ so infrequently lately and am so used to my truck that I forget reverse is on that side and had that lockout lol.
 
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89JeepYJ said:
Is there any way to troubleshoot/ fix this by going in through the shifter vs dropping the transmission?
Click to expand...

Maybe, but it's a big maybe. Here's a few pics of my AX5 when I had it apart. 5th gear sits by itself to the rear of the center plate and all other gears are forward of the plate.

Next to that you'll see the gear selector rods ends which actually move the synchros depending on how you move the shift lever. I believe I have them marked correctly because when you move the shift lever forward into first, it actually pulled the rod to the rear because of the ball joint on the top of the transmission. 5th / reverse rod is on the left because you're moving the shift lever right.

In neutral, you'll want all three places lined up in the center as shown. I suspect your 5th/rev is not centered.

1777391572914.png


I think the linkage between the three rod ends (circled above) should be accessible for the top of the transmission by removing the four bolts which secure the small plate surround the shifter.

Another view from the top with the output shaft on the right.

1777391986597.png


These four bolts

1777392076717.png


1777392161440.png


I just can't recall what that intermediate linkage looks like.

I VERY STRONGLY recommend you download the YJ Factory Service Manual from the RECOURCES section of this website and study the linkage.

Here: https://wrangleryjforum.com/styles/yjforum/manuals/1991-service-manual.pdf

WARNING: Even if you get the shifter to work in reverse again, there's no guarantee what will happen if you drive around with 5th gear rattleing around, if indeed the clip fell off. I don't know. Some people may drive arounf for years while other have problems.
 
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