Input shaft & pilot bearing hell !

Ok, I just picked up a new AX-15 this morning.. I've just recently replaced the clutch. It had a centerforce clutch kit in it when I bought it & the problem seems to be that the pilot bearing was smashed in when installed. the motor was also replaced with what I've come to believe is a jasper re-man engine. Now, the real problem... the pilot bearing has way to much room around it when installed, and requires a "shim" like sleeve around it at the crank... could this be that the motor was for an auto-tragic ? I don't want to put the new transmission in with the clutch and have the same issue with the pilot bearing slowly raping the input shaft and transmission again.

any help here would be gratefully appreciated !

Oh, and what is the recommended fluid type for the AX-15 ? I've heard different things about this, but can't remember which it was ?

There are two pilot bearings you can get. Both are available on Rockauto. One is just a bearing:



And one is the same bearing along with the larger round piece it sits in:



The crankshaft is the same between auto and manual, so that's a non-issue. You might be able to use the larger one if the previous owner only screwed up the bearing bore. I had to drill through & collapse the larger piece to remove it on mine.

If the full bore on the crank is screwed up, measure it while you have it apart and get a piece made similar to the large piece shown above but with a larger OD to match your crank, and just put a new bearing in it.

THANKS! that helps a lot. Hopefully this will solve the problems !
and I'll no longer feel like doing this to my beloved XJ !!!1

Oh that's ODD. The bearings SHOULD be plug and play between the auto and AX-15s. I adapted my swapped 97/98 HO from it's NV tranny to my AX-15 with just the bearing for the AX-15. I put a centerforce II in mine - no problems at ALL. It's been STELLAR for the last 12 years!!!

ummm, there's no bearing on the autos.

You mean that the bearing will go into the pilot bore on a 4.0 that was originally in front of an auto, right?

yeah - sorry it's been a while...! I remember pulling the NV and all I had to do was buy the bearing for the manual transmission version and it fit right up!

... the NV? NV3550? That's a manual transmission too. And didn't come in the 97/98s, only came in the 00s/01s.

or whatever the heck the autos are called... sorry if I'm being a little casual with my names... brain fart and all...