1988 Wrangler: No Reverse (5 forward gears ok)

[pk77]

I'm considering buying a used 88 Wrangler that has all five forward gears working but not reverse. Can a trans like that be repaired, or would I most likely have to swap it out?

[Moppie]

Who needs reverse?

Its a Jeep, you just drive over anything in front of you........






Anything is repairable, but depending on why it doesn't have reverse it might be cheaper and easier to just buy a used gear box in.

Do you know why there is no reverse?

[fredjacksonsan]

In a manual trans, there could be numerous reasons why reverse isn't working, anything from the shifter, linkage, or the gear forks in the transmission, etc.

You didn't say anything about how it felt when you tried to shift to R....any clunks, resistance or feel to it?

You might need a transmission repair to the reverse gears, but as the other commenter said, it might be cheapest to simply replace the trans - as long as the problem is internal.

[GTP Dad]

If reverse is out it may be a symptom of things to come in that the forward gears are probably in need of work. I would look for a replacement or have it rebuilt using heavy duty parts.

[CaptainOC]

If the Jeep has a 4 cylinder engine then it's most likely the AX-5 transmission and they are known for being weak. I'd replace it with an AX-15 if you can, of course you can probably just find a donor with an AX-5 and bolt it right up. If it's the 6 cylinder it should already have the AX-15 tranny in it, but again I'd probably just replace it. They are fairly easy to rebuilt, but you'll need access to a shop press and some specialty tools, plus it's pretty time consuming.