Hard to get into 1st gear from a stop

[TrueTexas]

@TrueTexas sorry I did not notice this before. I have not exactly figured it out. I've just been tolerating it. I find that if I very consciously push the clutch to the floor and then slowly shift and wiggle the shifter a bit it works nearly all the time. The few times it won't I just get really annoyed and get honked at, and it works eventually...

What is the "front seal leak" ... I am aware of engine rear seal but what do you mean by "front seal" - where is it located? I do not see leaking fluid under the vehicle.

Thank you!

The front seal leak is the tranny front seal. It is on the front of the tranny where the bellhousing meets the transmission.

You may be able to do a cursory inspection if you remove the starter and look inside the bellowing. A borescope would be very helpful.

 

[Louis_Talon]

Recently bought a 1998 TJ Sahara with 163000 miles. Sometimes it is hard to get into first from a stop. It it takes a firm pressure to get it in, 2nd gear is a bit notchy but fine otherwise, 3rd to 5th are as smooth as butter. It's still driveable, but sometimes i worry i won't be able to get it into gear at a red light. I changed the transmission fluid to Redline MT-90 about 100 miles ago and it feels like it got slightly better, but the problem is still there.

Symptoms:

1. Seems like it happens after driving a bit and the Jeep warms up.
2. If I put it into 1st while rolling at ~2-3 mph, it slides right in without any problem.
3. sometimes it grinds into reverse when at a stop
4. I can go through all the gears with the engine stopped, no problem

This leads me to believe that the clutch isn't fully disengaging and keeping the the input shaft of the tranny slightly spinning, but i could be wrong.

After reading a lot about this issue, some people say the synchros on the AX-15 are known to go bad. Some people have replaced the slave/master cylinder and the problem goes away. I just ordered the LUK pre-filled master/slave assembly. Hopefully that fixes the problem. Has anyone else had this problem?

Now this isn’t a 100% but when I was having this issue and it ended up the rod inside clutch had snapped and it would push in the clutch sometimes but other times it wouldn’t go in (I can get the actual name of the part just got to find the invoice) my mechanic replaced it for like $350

 

[Joeyjeep98]

Recently bought a 1998 TJ Sahara with 163000 miles. Sometimes it is hard to get into first from a stop. It it takes a firm pressure to get it in, 2nd gear is a bit notchy but fine otherwise, 3rd to 5th are as smooth as butter. It's still driveable, but sometimes i worry i won't be able to get it into gear at a red light. I changed the transmission fluid to Redline MT-90 about 100 miles ago and it feels like it got slightly better, but the problem is still there.

Symptoms:

1. Seems like it happens after driving a bit and the Jeep warms up.
2. If I put it into 1st while rolling at ~2-3 mph, it slides right in without any problem.
3. sometimes it grinds into reverse when at a stop
4. I can go through all the gears with the engine stopped, no problem

This leads me to believe that the clutch isn't fully disengaging and keeping the the input shaft of the tranny slightly spinning, but i could be wrong.

After reading a lot about this issue, some people say the synchros on the AX-15 are known to go bad. Some people have replaced the slave/master cylinder and the problem goes away. I just ordered the LUK pre-filled master/slave assembly. Hopefully that fixes the problem. Has anyone else had this problem?

Ive got a brand new AX-15 in my TJ. It’s maybe 3 years old this June. Hasn’t even hit 20k miles. Since new, it‘s been randomly picky going into first, but notchy into second. Yet it shifts smoothly just about all of time and never grinds.

Reverse, I absolutely put into first, first. Then, into reverse. It’s simple an action that I do without even thinking. Works every time. Used to do the same w my NV3550. like others have mentioned: no synchro for reverse?

End of the day, the TJ is a different shift feel than any car or modern manual vehicle Ive ever driven.

Recently bought a 1998 TJ Sahara with 163000 miles. Sometimes it is hard to get into first from a stop. It it takes a firm pressure to get it in, 2nd gear is a bit notchy but fine otherwise, 3rd to 5th are as smooth as butter. It's still driveable, but sometimes i worry i won't be able to get it into gear at a red light. I changed the transmission fluid to Redline MT-90 about 100 miles ago and it feels like it got slightly better, but the problem is still there.

Symptoms:

1. Seems like it happens after driving a bit and the Jeep warms up.
2. If I put it into 1st while rolling at ~2-3 mph, it slides right in without any problem.
3. sometimes it grinds into reverse when at a stop
4. I can go through all the gears with the engine stopped, no problem

This leads me to believe that the clutch isn't fully disengaging and keeping the the input shaft of the tranny slightly spinning, but i could be wrong.

After reading a lot about this issue, some people say the synchros on the AX-15 are known to go bad. Some people have replaced the slave/master cylinder and the problem goes away. I just ordered the LUK pre-filled master/slave assembly. Hopefully that fixes the problem. Has anyone else had this problem?

Racecare825, I’m experiencing this EXACT problem on my 98 Wrangler TJ with identical symptoms. What was the fix and how’s it holding up now?

 

[Austin O.]

Racecare825, I’m experiencing this EXACT problem on my 98 Wrangler TJ with identical symptoms. What was the fix and how’s it holding up now?

Mine has done the same since I got it. Like he said, using redline has improved it slightly, otherwise I’ve kinda just been ignoring the problem, maybe I should do something about it, I don’t know…

I have figured out this though: At stops, shift into 2nd, then 1st, it’ll go into 1st much smoother most of the time. If not, shift back to 2 and up to 1 again. For reverse, shift into neutral, come to a full stop, put clutch in, shift to 4 then shift to reverse. That completely stopped the grinding in reverse. That’s just what works for me

 

[Joeyjeep98]

Mine has done the same since I got it. Like he said, using redline has improved it slightly, otherwise I’ve kinda just been ignoring the problem, maybe I should do something about it, I don’t know…

I have figured out this though: At stops, shift into 2nd, then 1st, it’ll go into 1st much smoother most of the time. If not, shift back to 2 and up to 1 again. For reverse, shift into neutral, come to a full stop, put clutch in, shift to 4 then shift to reverse. That completely stopped the grinding in reverse. That’s just what works for me

Austin, I appreciate the fast response.
I threw in some redline like a month ago and that made a major difference to me as far as smoothness goes.
The trick of going into 2nd then 1st as well as the reverse trick to stop the grinding works as well…….

BUT sometimes I can’t get into 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th at all at a complete stop usually at a stop sign or red light. (I live in NY so pretty common that I piss off whoever is behind me) The only “fix” that gets me out of that jam is depressing the clutch peddle, and kind of pressing/ pumping it until I can slip it into a gear.

If my wheels are still rolling, then I have no problems, it shifts into gears fine.

 

[Austin O.]

Austin, I appreciate the fast response.
I threw in some redline like a month ago and that made a major difference to me as far as smoothness goes.
The trick of going into 2nd then 1st as well as the reverse trick to stop the grinding works as well…….

BUT sometimes I can’t get into 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th at all at a complete stop usually at a stop sign or red light. (I live in NY so pretty common that I piss off whoever is behind me) The only “fix” that gets me out of that jam is depressing the clutch peddle, and kind of pressing/ pumping it until I can slip it into a gear.

If my wheels are still rolling, then I have no problems, it shifts into gears fine.

Interesting, sounds like just a more severe version of what I have going on. I don’t know how transmissions work, so unable to help any further… but hopefully you’ll figure it out. Update the thread if you do

 

[machoheadgames]

Austin, I appreciate the fast response.
I threw in some redline like a month ago and that made a major difference to me as far as smoothness goes.
The trick of going into 2nd then 1st as well as the reverse trick to stop the grinding works as well…….

BUT sometimes I can’t get into 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th at all at a complete stop usually at a stop sign or red light. (I live in NY so pretty common that I piss off whoever is behind me) The only “fix” that gets me out of that jam is depressing the clutch peddle, and kind of pressing/ pumping it until I can slip it into a gear.

If my wheels are still rolling, then I have no problems, it shifts into gears fine.

You need a new master/slave cylinder assembly.

 

[g.hayduke]

All the symptoms described point to the clutch not fully releasing. In most cases, replacing the clutch master/slave assembly will fix it. If it doesn't, time to pill the trans and dig deeper.

 

[kendal]

Recently bought a 1998 TJ Sahara with 163000 miles. Sometimes it is hard to get into first from a stop. It it takes a firm pressure to get it in, 2nd gear is a bit notchy but fine otherwise, 3rd to 5th are as smooth as butter. It's still driveable, but sometimes i worry i won't be able to get it into gear at a red light. I changed the transmission fluid to Redline MT-90 about 100 miles ago and it feels like it got slightly better, but the problem is still there.

Symptoms:

1. Seems like it happens after driving a bit and the Jeep warms up.
2. If I put it into 1st while rolling at ~2-3 mph, it slides right in without any problem.
3. sometimes it grinds into reverse when at a stop
4. I can go through all the gears with the engine stopped, no problem

This leads me to believe that the clutch isn't fully disengaging and keeping the the input shaft of the tranny slightly spinning, but i could be wrong.

After reading a lot about this issue, some people say the synchros on the AX-15 are known to go bad. Some people have replaced the slave/master cylinder and the problem goes away. I just ordered the LUK pre-filled master/slave assembly. Hopefully that fixes the problem. Has anyone else had this problem?

Yes - we are currently having this problem with 1st gear after having the clutch replaced. We took it to the dealer and they said it is ok. However, this problem is not imaginary - I think the dealership just wants to skip out.

 

[TrueTexas]

Yes - we are currently having this problem with 1st gear after having the clutch replaced. We took it to the dealer and they said it is ok. However, this problem is not imaginary - I think the dealership just wants to skip out.

You are definitely not imagining it although having pulled the tranny to replace the clutch should have identified the problem.

I chased (and finally resolved) this issue on my AX-15 and learned a lot along the way.

The vast majority of the time, it is due to the tranny input shaft not slowing down enough to allow you to easily make the gear change. However, there are several reasons why this could be occurring.

1. Clutch not fully releasing. This could be the clutch master and slave cylinder or a bad / poorly installed clutch. It could even be the clutch fork in the bellhousing. Note- you can remove the starter to see the clutch fork.

2. Bad Pilot bearing. This should have been replaced with your clutch. If they didn't, I'd be upset. They could have even damaged the bearing when re-installing the tranny

3. Contamination on clutch or flywheel. This could occur from a bad RMS or (in my case) a leaking tranny input shaft seal that was allowing tranny fluid to travel up the input shaft and coat the clutch/flywheel.

4. Tranny problem. Change the fluid to see if anything improves. If the syncros are shot, it's time to replace/ rebuild it.

I'm sure others can chime in with more options but I'm thinking it's time to pull the tranny again.