05 Flame Red TJ Build

Brake lights were on even when I had the key off. That stumped me, but it won't stump the Brake WIZARD. He told me to press the brake in and gently extend out the plunger on the brake switch with some needle nose pliers and then slowly let out on the clutch. Brilliant. Brake lights immediately went off. Woohoo!

Adjusted the cable shifter at the base of the stalk.

Test 4. I think we got an Auto!

 
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Eventually got the transmission fluid up to about 8.8 qts. It was reading full at hot in N. RAdiator is working good. Temps staying around 210 on the gauge. I think I need to adjust the shifter a bit more because when I put it in park and turn off the engine I have to jiggle it to get it to release the key. But I'm super happy this was a success. It's a monumental (quoting @Alex01) amount of work, but with the great help from a number of people on the forum it is doable even by a non-mechanic like myself, if you are dedicated to being meticulous.

It took me 20 days, and I couldn't have done it without the help of the following people. Thanks to @PNW_LJ for alerting me to the transmission for sale over in Gig Harbor. My wife was just planning a trip in a few weeks, so I put some money down on it and we made the trek. Thanks to @Rickyd who tipped me off to a great deal on an auto shifter with all the goodies! Thanks to @mrblaine for teaching me several things about wiring harnesses and loom . He also answered several questions along the way that were of inestimable quality (his norm). He also took a phone call to walk me through some things. Thanks to @Jamison C for several parts, putting up with my questions, and reminding me of his previous posts that I read multiple times but still somehow forgot. Also took some calls and just encouraged me that it was going to be successful. Meant a lot. Thanks to @Mike_H for some small parts for the shift interlock cable. He just tossed them in a bag and wouldn't take anything for them. Mike's pretty talented in a lot of areas and he answered some of my questions along the way. Thanks to @All 4 Wheelin' for loaning me a bearing puller that made pulling the NSG370 bearing off the crank shaft a breeze! One day @Wildman helped me on three calls, and without them I would have remained lost. I am behind you getting yours done all the way. Thanks so much for the help. Couldn't have done it without you. Thanks to @Wranglerfix. The ECM is perfect. No issues. Basically fired right up! Thanks to @KJT for helping me get the transmission on even though I had to take it right back off, but then back on again. Thanks for encouraging me along the way, and for leaving your rig home a few days and even pausing to let me take a few engine pics on the days you were heading out to work. Thanks to Joshua, my other son, who spent Friday from 9am-1pm helping me. Just having someone to get wrenches for you is really helpful when you're up and down from under the rig 100+ times a day. Thanks to Luke, my future son-in-law, who was there the final hour to help with whatever was needed. At 19 he's done more auto work than most have by 50. He notices the little things. I'm proud to be your future father-in-law.

So far, no leaks! RMS good after about 15 miles of driving! I hope it holds. Absolutely no drops under the rig!
 
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JMT said:
Brake lights were on even when I had the key off. That stumped me, but it won't stump the Brake WIZARD. He told me to press the brake in and gently extend out the plunger on the brake switch with some needle nose pliers and then slowly let out on the clutch. Brilliant. Brake lights immediately went off. Woohoo!

Adjusted the cable shifter at the base of the stalk.

Test 4. I think we got an Auto!

Click to expand...

Those giggles... are the giggles of a very very happy man.
 
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JMT said:
Eventually got the transmission fluid up to about 8.8 qts. It was reading full at hot in N. RAdiator is working good. Temps staying around 210 on the gauge. I think I need to adjust the shifter a bit more because when I put it in park and turn off the engine I have to jiggle it to get it to release the key. But I'm super happy this was a success. It's a monumental (quoting @Alex01) amount of work, but with the great help from a number of people on the forum it is doable even by a non-mechanic like myself, if you are dedicated to being meticulous.

It took me 20 days, and I couldn't have done it without the help of the following people. Thanks to @PNW_LJ for alerting me to the transmission for sale over in Gig Harbor. My wife was just planning a trip in a few weeks, so I put some money down on it and we made the trek. Thanks to @mrblaine for teaching me several things about wiring harnesses and loom. He also answered several questions along the way that were of inestimable quality (his norm). He also took a phone call to walk me through some things. Thanks to @Jamison C for several parts, putting up with my questions, and reminding me of his previous posts that I read multiple times but still somehow forgot. Thanks to @Mike_H for some small parts for the shift interlock cable. He just tossed them in a bag and wouldn't take anything for them. Mike's pretty talented in a lot of areas and he answered some of my questions along the way. Thanks to @All 4 Wheelin' for loaning me a bearing puller that made pulling the NSG370 bearing off the crank shaft a breeze! One day @Wildman helped me on three calls, and without them I would have remained lost. I am behind you getting yours done all the way. Thanks so much for the help. Couldn't have done it without you. Thanks to @KJT for helping me get the transmission on even though I had to take it right back off, but then back on again. Thanks for encouraging me along the way, and for leaving your rig home a few days and even pausing to let me take a few engine pics on the days you were heading out to work. Thanks to Joshua, my other son, who spent Friday from 9am-1pm helping me. Just having someone to get wrenches for you is really helpful when you're up and down from under the rig 100+ times a day. Thanks to Luke, my future son-in-law, who was there the final hour to help with whatever was needed. At 19 he's done more auto work than most have by 50. He notices the little things. I'm proud to be your future father-in-law.

So far, no leaks! RMS good after about 15 miles of driving! I hope it holds. Absolutely no drops under the rig!
Click to expand...

That's awesome, Jeremy! Good for you. Honestly happy to see you complete this project in such a short time frame.

Any first driving impressions you could share?
 
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PNW_LJ said:
That's awesome, Jeremy! Good for you. Honestly happy to see you complete this project in such a short time frame.

Any first driving impressions you could share?
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It was freaky just R out of the driveway. Giggly for sure. Hit the road with my wife I flipped the OD switch off and when we got out of the neighborhood I floored it. RPM's hit 4500. Yeah! Gearing isn't great, but I'm glad to know that I have a reliable transmission and I can get in R! I had moments of, "I miss my manual," and my left foot searched for the clutch a few times. My right hand reached for the manual shifter that is no longer 5" above the new Auto shifter. 🤣 All in all I want to wheel it now and see what happens. I'm very interested to see how it goes and the control I have. Thanks for watching!
 
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JMT said:
It was freaky just R out of the driveway. Giggly for sure. Hit the road with my wife I flipped the OD switch off and when we got out of the neighborhood I floored it. RPM's hit 4500. Yeah! Gearing isn't great, but I'm glad to know that I have a reliable transmission and I can get in R! I had moments of, "I miss my manual," and my left foot searched for the clutch a few times. My right hand reached for the manual shifter that is no longer 5" above the new Auto shifter. 🤣 All in all I want to wheel it now and see what happens. I'm very interested to see how it goes and the control I have. Thanks for watching!
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I'm confident you'll love the control and precision the auto gives you.

We gotta get out to Reiter sometime, maybe once Rick gets his done as well.
 
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PNW_LJ said:
Those giggles... are the giggles of a very very happy man.
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We all had those giggles when we first got them moving under their own power lol.

JMT said:
It was freaky just R out of the driveway. Giggly for sure. Hit the road with my wife I flipped the OD switch off and when we got out of the neighborhood I floored it. RPM's hit 4500. Yeah! Gearing isn't great, but I'm glad to know that I have a reliable transmission and I can get in R! I had moments of, "I miss my manual," and my left foot searched for the clutch a few times. My right hand reached for the manual shifter that is no longer 5" above the new Auto shifter. 🤣 All in all I want to wheel it now and see what happens. I'm very interested to see how it goes and the control I have. Thanks for watching!
Click to expand...

My first time out wheeling after the swap was such a blast. I felt so much more relaxed letting the transmission do all of the work and not having to worry about the clutch.

So friggin stoked for you, you've taken what a lot of people consider an impossible task and turned it into a success! Welcome to the club!!!
 
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JMT said:
It was freaky just R out of the driveway. Giggly for sure. Hit the road with my wife I flipped the OD switch off and when we got out of the neighborhood I floored it. RPM's hit 4500. Yeah! Gearing isn't great, but I'm glad to know that I have a reliable transmission and I can get in R! I had moments of, "I miss my manual," and my left foot searched for the clutch a few times. My right hand reached for the manual shifter that is no longer 5" above the new Auto shifter. 🤣 All in all I want to wheel it now and see what happens. I'm very interested to see how it goes and the control I have. Thanks for watching!
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Very nice work Jeremy. We are all happy for your success. And what a nice tribute to the forum for the help you found in this community(y)
 
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JMT said:
Full disclosure. I have twin sons. They’re 18. They sorta know their way around a rig, especially Kaleb (he has a TJR)). At noon I asked Joshua if he could help me. He said he had to go meet his girl. Would have taken 10 min to mate the Tranny. Oh well. 4.5 hours later and I’m still at it. Kaleb comes home and starts telling me what i should do and somethings wrong. (It was). I just said, screw this bolt in while I push up here. I mean I had my knees on my chin and my feet on the corner of the tranny pushing with all my might. I’m 50 yrs old. Totally sucked. Got it on only to find out I didn’t get the TC totally seated. It was hard against the flex plate. Probably why it didn’t want to mate. 😟😬 So pissed. Remove. Seat. Repeat. 5.5 hrs. Torqued the 4 bolts from flex plate to TC to 65 ft-lbs. That’s where I am.
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Reminds me of the first time i put a manual transmission in with a hydraulic throwout bearing inside the bellhousing. I was in high school and fought it for hrs.i gave up for the night pissed off. When i came back in the morning i realized the hydraulic line needed to be hooked up so the fluid in the throwout had somewhere to go.
 
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JMT said:
It was freaky just R out of the driveway. Giggly for sure. Hit the road with my wife I flipped the OD switch off and when we got out of the neighborhood I floored it. RPM's hit 4500. Yeah! Gearing isn't great, but I'm glad to know that I have a reliable transmission and I can get in R! I had moments of, "I miss my manual," and my left foot searched for the clutch a few times. My right hand reached for the manual shifter that is no longer 5" above the new Auto shifter. 🤣 All in all I want to wheel it now and see what happens. I'm very interested to see how it goes and the control I have. Thanks for watching!
Click to expand...

I was wondering how often your left foot would twitch. 😄
 
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I see why it’s hard to document this swap. There are mountains of little things you are doing all the time and there’s no procedures for some of the things in the FSM. It just assumes you know how to do it. YouTube doesn’t have some of these things either. Maybe it’s intuitive for most, but sometimes things weren’t intuitive to me.
oldjeepman said:
Great Job, Jeremy.. makes me want to do this..
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You can do it. It’s just a lot of work. Be meticulous. Take your time. Don’t skimp. Be scrupulous. I labeled every bag of screws, bolts, nuts, and still can’t find two screws. I’m hoping I’ll find them when I clean the garage tomorrow.

The sequence falls into place pretty naturally. You’ll be in the FSM plenty, and people on here are a big help. I’ll help any way I can if you decide too.
 
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Rickyd said:
Reminds me of the first time i put a manual transmission in with a hydraulic throwout bearing inside the bellhousing. I was in high school and fought it for hrs.i gave up for the night pissed off. When i came back in the morning i realized the hydraulic line needed to be hooked up so the fluid in the throwout had somewhere to go.
Click to expand...

You can’t see it till you see it. Sometimes laying it down is what you have to do for it to click. BTW, I initially forgot to put you in my hall of praise, so I went back and added it. Thank you! You’re obviously have tons of knowledge I pick up around here. Most of it over my head.
 
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Woodrow said:
Very nice work Jeremy. We are all happy for your success. And what a nice tribute to the forum for the help you found in this community(y)
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Thank you Woodrow. You keep raising the bar with your quality installs and write-ups. You appear very patient and at ease in a garage!

You went to 35’s waaayyyy faster than me and @Mike_H, so I feel comfortable saying “You’re a goner!”’ I look forward to seeing what you come up with, and even more to wheel together!
 
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Mike_H said:
Congrats, Jeremy! That first drive is Crazy, isn't it? I've had mine in about a year now, and I still am a little taken aback by an auto wrangler...
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Thanks Mike! I never thought I’d be on this side of the project. Thanks for your clear articulations of some of the procedures.

Man is it crazy to drive. Feels so odd. Most people I tell about the swap think it’s strange I’m going to an auto. It is a bit of an odd concept. Likely because everyone hasn’t caught up with Jeep evolution. Most of the old CJ’s were manual and the shift to more autos didn’t start much till the TJR and LJ. The JK’s really took off with it. There is something nostalgic about a Jeep and a manual.
 
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