Prodigy Performance 3.6 Turbo DIY Install

[UselessPickles]

Timmy, you're the second person to comment to me about how quickly I shift my Jeep's manual transmission. I thought the shifting was slow! But I'm used to the speed of clutchless shifts on a sport bike sequential transmission

Normally, I shift slower. I still shift in one continuous motion, but the shifter "pauses" and resists going into the next gear briefly (while the synchro does its job). So it ends up feeling like a 2-step process, even though I'm applying continuous smooth pressure on the shifter. After it resists going into gear very briefly, it pops in smoothly.

When accelerating hard, I just use more force to make the synchro work harder and get its job done quicker. I move the shifter faster, and apply more pressure into the next gear, but I don't yank the shifter. It's still a continuous smooth motion/force. During the quicker shifts, I still feel the shifter resist popping into the next gear, so it still feels like a 2-step process, but the brief pause before popping into gear is much quicker.

I don't get any grinding or other angry noises from my transmission regardless of how quickly I shift. The key is probably making sure you don't try to yank it suddenly into the next gear.

I'm running Redline MTL transmission fluid. i don't know whether that makes my shifts significantly smoother. It did seem to make my shifts from 1st to second a bit easier/smoother (especially when cold) when I first replaced the original transmission fluid.

[Timmy]

Normally, I shift slower. I still shift in one continuous motion, but the shifter "pauses" and resists going into the next gear briefly (while the synchro does its job). So it ends up feeling like a 2-step process

That pretty well answers my question then. It is a two step process for me as well. If I really gun it, like you, I'll pull in one continuous motion and just force it in, but man, it sure doesn't like to go in fast!

So a dumb question... I've driven plenty of manual's before, but all were more of a sports car and none had this crazy two-step, don't shift too fast feel to it. Are the Jeeps like this for any particular reason? Is the transmission more bomb proof or something and thus a little harder to shift, or is it that Chrysler (Mercedes?) just doesn't know how to build a smooth manual trans?

I'll maybe have to take a look at putting in a different transmission fluid as I'd love any chance to make it smoother. I hate to admit it, but I've never dealt with transmission fluid on my own before. Is it very difficult to do? Is it just your standard drain plug, pull out old, fill with new? Do you feel Redline MTL is the best? Anyone else have any experience or comments about swapping trans fluid?

[Timmy]

i'll maybe have to take a look at putting in a different transmission fluid as i'd love any chance to make it smoother. I hate to admit it, but i've never dealt with transmission fluid on my own before. Is it very difficult to do? Is it just your standard drain plug, pull out old, fill with new? Do you feel redline mtl is the best? Anyone else have any experience or comments about swapping trans fluid?

bump bump...

[UselessPickles]

bump bump...

Oops. Sorry.


Manual transmission fluid change was pretty straightforward. There's two gotchas:

1) The stock exhaust blocks direct access to the drain plug. There's various ideas out there for making your own tool, or buying a specific tool for the job. I think I found the simplest solution. Buy a 17mm allen socket like this:



And pound the allen bit portion out of the socket. It's now a very short allen wrench with no handle. There's enough room to fit that between the exhaust and drain plug, then use a 17 mm open end wrench to turn it.

Use some aluminum foil to cover the exhaust and form a makeshift funnel for the draining fluid.

2) You need a bottle pump to transfer fluid from the bottle into the fill hole. The one I ordered online didn't work. It didn't fit the threaded opening of the bottle of fluid I had, and the style of pump relied on the bottle being sealed to build pressure. I picked up another bottle pump at a local auto parts store that still didn't fit my bottle, but also didn't rely on a pressure buildup to function properly.

Here's a full writeup with a more complicated custom tool suggested: http://project-jk.com/jeep-jk-write-...ission-service