98 Wrangler SE won't go into gear

Burgerguy

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Joined
Apr 20, 2023
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Jackson missouri
Hello, I have a 98 wrangler SE. It doesn’t seem to want to go into gear from the neutral position when I press the clutch in now if I start the vehicle in gear it goes through the gears perfectly fine no grinds no pop outs nothing but as soon as I let the clutch out and push it back in to go into gear. I have to force it in gear or wait until it decides to let me engage it into gear which could be multiple minutes. Now the clutch feels good. It pulls really well. It does not slip nothing and I have replaced the master and slave cylinder. It is not helped. Does anybody have any thoughts on what it could be?
 
That is a very common issue for several TJ manual transmissions and there have been a lot of attempts to come up with an actual fix but so far there's no definitive fix. A lot of us used to think it was caused by the pilot bearing in the flywheel not spinning freely but that wasn't it either. I changed my pilot bearing during a clutch replacement hoping it'd help but it did not.

It appears to be very common without a good fix that basically becomes just something to have to live with. :(

P.S. I'm gonna ask a retired very senior Jeep engineer I know and see if he might have some insight.
 
I just had a rather lengthy conversation with Jim Repp, retired Jeep senior chief engineer and "father" of the Jeep Rubicon. He had no clue on why it won't shift into 1st gear from neutral and could only suggest stuff I knew wouldn't help. We talked about the issue occurring with both the AX-15 and NV3550 and he was just as clueless as anyone on what could cause it. Mine did it even after replacing the clutch disk, pressure plate, and pilot bearing... none of which made any difference.
 
I just had a rather lengthy conversation with Jim Repp, retired Jeep senior chief engineer and "father" of the Jeep Rubicon. He had no clue on why it won't shift into 1st gear from neutral and could only suggest stuff I knew wouldn't help. We talked about the issue occurring with both the AX-15 and NV3550 and he was just as clueless as anyone on what could cause it. Mine did it even after replacing the clutch disk, pressure plate, and pilot bearing... none of which made any difference.

I get this sometimes with my NSG370. Doesn't want to go into 1st or 2nd. The jeep slightly will roll forward when trying to engage. I end up getting it into 3rd or 4th, then roll a bit then go back to 1st.
 
Mine did that when I first got it. After reading many ideas oh here, the good one was shift into second first. I find that your shifts have to be precise and slow. The same movement every time. Over time the transmission adjusts to your precise moves. I wonder if my disk is worn , and that;s why it wont go.
 
Hello, I have a 98 wrangler SE. It doesn’t seem to want to go into gear from the neutral position when I press the clutch in now if I start the vehicle in gear it goes through the gears perfectly fine no grinds no pop outs nothing but as soon as I let the clutch out and push it back in to go into gear. I have to force it in gear or wait until it decides to let me engage it into gear which could be multiple minutes. Now the clutch feels good. It pulls really well. It does not slip nothing and I have replaced the master and slave cylinder. It is not helped. Does anybody have any thoughts on what it could be?

Those are the symptoms of a bad pilot bearing.
 
I had that issue on a big T19 4 speed although not as bad as the OP describes but going to second then first worked great. On the T19 first is actually a granny gear but I used it all the time just to get rolling in order to reduce smoke (diesel). Sometimes I wonder if new or better fluid (Redline?) might help? I'm no expert on standards though but by going into second then first it seems to be stopping or slowing rotation to make first easier. To be clear, I'd hit second gear but leave the clutch dis-engaged then go to first and let the clutch out.
 
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On most old Fords when it won't go into gear it can usually be the clutch being worn. What makes the TJ different?? The slave cylinder. I ask because my Jeep has some issues as Burgerguy going into gear as long as I owned it.