Sulphurized synchromesh blues: Jeep Cherokee

General Discussion
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1

Almost two years ago, I was in a hurry and went to a drive through convenience oil change place for service on my 1996 Jeep Cherokee. Important detail: this vehicle is equipped with an Aisin AX 15 manual transmission. I asked for an oil change and transmission fluid change and the service was performed.

They put synthetic gear oil in the transmission, but I didn’t notice until this month that they used the wrong kind. If you put a gear oil with sulfur in it into a synchronized transmission, what do you get? You get bad synchros.

And that’s what I now have: a transmission that doesn’t like first gear or reverse anymore.

Do I have any recourse here, since it took almost 2 years for the damage to be noticeable and for me to trace back the cause of the damage? Or will I have to eat this mistake?

2

Probably not, but you’d be wise to seek advice from a lawyer rather than believe the advice of non-lawyer internet forum addicts.

You’ll probably have to “write this off” as the cost of an education. The lesson? Don’t ever stop at a quickie lube even to ask the time of day.

Sincere best.

3

It should not be automatically assumed the choice of fluid caused this problem.

A worn/misadjusted clutch or shifting habits can cause synchronizer problems leading to gear crunch or gnash.
First and reverse is usually the symptom of the above causes.

Do you have any recourse. I’d say snowball in hxxx due to the passage of time and the fact that the problem may not even be related to the choice of fluid.

I suppose if you’re willing to spend beau coupe bucks for an engineering study you may be able to prevail. Or not.

4

Do reverse even have a syncro in this thing?
Problems with a clutch will be most apparent in first and reverse.

5

Any discussion of premature wear on ANYthing on a 1996 vehicle will go out the legal window, IMHO. The SUV is 22 years old.

You didn’t say how many miles on it but it really doesn’t matter. Any small claims judge or civil jury will focus on the fact is that it is 22 years old.

Rebuild the transmission and move on.

6

If the clutch is operating properly there should be no grinding or crunching shifting into 1st or reverse when stopped regardless the condition of the synchro’s condition.

7

Have you tried the experiment of putting in the correct spec transmission fluid?

8

I don’t think you have any recourse here. The vehicle is 22 years old with unstated thousands of miles on it. The "incident " was almost 2 years ago. And even though you state “for me to trace back the cause of the damage” you haven’t. There are several causes for your problem including age and normal wear. And even a couple that have nothing to do with the transmission itself (clutch, master/slave cyl. etc.) So just what did you actually trace the cause of damage back to? Nothing more than a guess. Good luck.