2.5l Trany trouble AX15 or NV4500?

coupesaville

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 26, 2007
Location
Raleigh
Well hope one of you guys and gals can help me.
My AX5 finally kicked the bucket. On my way back from Uwharrie last week I lost 5th gear. No big loss the 2.5l can't push it anyway, but I still need a replacement. The word on the street is that you can now mount an AX15 to a bell housing from a dodge dakota. My question is, is this going to work and would i be better off dumping the $2500 to get a NV4500 kit from AA. I do plan on eventually going to 33's or bigger and swapping the engine in the long long run. If there are other options for a 5 spd I'd love to know.
 
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=181361&highlight=ax15
read up :)
also from what i've read on some places there is a c-clip that holds 5th gear. yours probably broke.
from another forum
5th gear in my AX5 has went out several times now. Never heard of it in an AX15.
It is easy to fix, it's the clip on the end of the mainshaft that holds 5th gear in place. It's only a $3 part, but labor is expensive, mostly to remove/install the tranny. If you remove/install the tranny yourself, the clip will be cheap to fix.
The clip will break again (trust me, I know) unless you get to the root of the problem, usually bad synchros from running the wrong type gear oil in the AX5. Mine breaks every time I shift from 4th to 5th quicky. If I let RPMs fall between that shift, it won't break.
Good luck.
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more from pirate

FYI: I figured out why my AX5, and many other's keeps breaking c-clips. I noticed that the fifth gear had a some play in it. I spoke with a guy from one of the local transmission shops, and he said that the splines on the fifth gear and on the main shaft wear out after a while. This causes the fifth gear to wobble at all times, putting a lot of stress on the c-clip. You have two choices: you can get rid of that piece of shit and get something better, or you can buy a new clip, main shaft, and fifth gear.
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my ax-5 has 133,3xx on it, no problems yet.
 
If you want to stay with a 5 speed, I'd stick with the AX5 until you swap motors. When you do an engine swap you'll want a different trans anyway, no point in swapping it twice. My expreience is that the AX5 holds up fine behind the 2.5L, the AX15 is not worth the trouble/time and the 4500 is way too long/heavy for the 2.5L. My .02
 
If your thinking you could do a swap. IMHO you have enough skill to drop the tranny and pull 5th out. Really only gain the knowledge that its not going to possibly damage other stuff..

then x2 what CYJKrawler (john) said. Wait and do your 4.0L/AX15 swap one shot..
 
5th in the ax5 is easy to fix if it just popped the retainer and slid up the shaft. Might not even have to remove the tranny. 5th is in the adapter housing. $2500 on a tranny for a 2.5 would be a huge waste of money.
 
Kevin Lawler said:
5th in the ax5 is easy to fix if it just popped the retainer and slid up the shaft. Might not even have to remove the tranny. 5th is in the adapter housing. $2500 on a tranny for a 2.5 would be a huge waste of money.
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Yea true that. I have one that works. Give me yours and $200.00 and drop this one in.
 
The ax15 or nv3500 swap is super simple and affordable, but if you plan on ditching the 4banger later dont bother. Just patch up the ax5 and ride it until the new engine goes in.

The clip breaks and/or stretches and lets 5th gear walk back on the output shaft. Its an easy fix, sometimes you get lucky and no teeth are chipped so you can just slide the gear back on and slap in a new clip.

I have done the ax15 swap a couple of times and they dont get much easier.
 
Thanks for all the help. Spent the weekend in Uhwarrie with no problems. Oh, other than a spent starter. With a little time I was back on the BUSTY trail. mantrans has a 1425.00 kit using an AX15, won't this have the same 5th gear issue? I think I'm gonna wait until it goes real bad. I do plan on checking the 5th gear clip, thanks for the heads-up on that.

Kinda off the subject...EZ-Locker/Lock Right??
I'm in the market for some traction:driver:
 
YJ4rox said:
I have done the ax15 swap a couple of times and they dont get much easier.
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Your thread on pirate is absolutely the best resource for this swap. I'm in the parts collecting phase of my swap and will give it a whirl this winter. Kudos to you YJ4rox.
 
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