auto or manual?

i'm kinda looking at a XJ of the 01 vintage. and i was wondering about performance, and durability of the autos and manuals, now i've always had manuals in everything so this would kinda be my introduction to autos. anyways, thanks for the info.

Oh oh, can open worms everywhere u ~ ~ ~ ~~ .
I've always been a manual Trans fan, & that's what I have. Pro's to me are : reliability, no starter needed, can drive w/out clutch, though not exactly easy. Harder to over heat, Less heat going through radiator. lower 1st gear. You can distinguish a trans leak, between a tranfercase leak easier. Less service dependant

Con's : Lack of smoothness, Hand throttle helps alot, Auto torq conv will trans more torq, Stalling, missed shifts, or wrong gear selection.

Just my $.02

Rob P

are you basing this upon a DD or trail rig or both? Leaving it Stock or Modified? Its just a personall preferance thing... I have both and it just depends what you have in mind for it...

Some more pros:
Snob factor, any idea how many people CAN'T drive a stick now a days
Both my kids with TJ's sneeer at autos
No NSS, Neutral safety switch, to deal with like on a auto for a 'no start' condition.
They generally last longer if maintained and are less prone to breakage or overheating.

Con:
Hydraulic slave cylinder, though in the newer 97+ it is on the outside which makes it easier to change w/o having to drop the tranny and TC.

Personal: It is all that I have ever owned cept for a highly customized van I built back in 76, generally don't even consider an auto tranny when looking, in fact when buying off the lot I eliminate autos on the first walk thru...

This of course is always a hot debate, but here's my opinion. For a daily driver that doesn't see much off-road use I absolutely go for a manual (as in my car). Better control, less brake wear, and better mileage. For off-road use I actually prefer the auto, even though when I was looking for my XJ I swore it had to be a manual. I wound up with an auto and found it to be a good mate to the HO 4.0. Some advantages are of course not having to shift when you're trying to pay attention to more important things like rocks and trees, and less torque spikes to the drivetrain, and no clutch to wear out. As for durability the AW4 in my '91 (and in a 2001) has never been apart after 300,000km. At least half of that has been severe use. Even an accidental shift into reverse at 75mph+ had no negative effects other than scrambling the shift points until the next time I started it up. THis locked up both rear wheels for 50+feet until the engine stalled! I think the AW4 has honestly got to be one of the most reliable autoboxs out there and this is coming from somebody who's only other auto experience has been with the famous mopar 727 t-flite, which has blown up on us. Also the manual in my car currently needs a second gear synchro, $1300 just for parts and not something you do in your driveway.
that's just my 2 cents worth,
Tony

Most of the points have been covered except for, with a manual you can use compression braking for a long down hill decent.
But this all can be argued at lenght with no winner. In short get which ever you like best. You really only have to please your self. I've had both types of trannies in off roaders and when I'm looking for a vehicle i just look for the best vehicle that I can find for the amount of money I have to spend.

$1300 for parts? What car do you have, a Ferrari?

I'm a big manual transmission fan. My first vehicle was a 78 Cherokee (full size) with the 360 and a T18. It would crawl everywhere in high range without ever touching the gas (6.34:1 first gear). One night the clutch linkage fell off somewhere on the road, and I drove the Jeep without clutch for three months. I could even parallel park the thing with no clutch
The only times I had to stop the engine is when I had to stop, but if I saw a red light, I would double clutch into first gear and crawl towards the light unit it turned green. The starter got a pretty workout in those three months.

In my limited experience off road (CT is terrible in that regard), the control a manual gives you descending hills is priceless. I suppose it all goes down to preference...

In my opinion the only good parts of the auto are:
-better diff gears
-trimming and pounding of wheel wells wont get in the way of the clutch pedal
-Comfort for rides to the grocery store
I personally drive a '92 cherokee 4x4 5spd and have had no problems for 165,000 with the maunal (replaced the clutch at 90,000)
i like the 5spd because:
-5 gears VS 4 means better gass mileage (and less weight)
-no need for trany cooler
-no need for dumb Jiffy Lube guys to replace trans fluid w/ something other than Dextron ||| Mercon
-can start w/o pushing in clutch [being in "park"] (even if its in gear, the starter will push the car)
-Pride
-low first gear (again 5 gears vs 4)
-keeps my dumb friends from asking to drive off road (and killing ym car)
-control, control, control
-Can work on the trans myself (with my dad's help) {ive never needed to, but we could rebuild it}
-Can use the clutch as a gear for slow rock crawling w/o new gears anywhere (not sugested, but sometimes needed)

though, that is just my slant... others like the auto because they can just put it into 4 low and use the gas and breaks all day long, comfort, and EZ to drive


good luck with your
Just
Empty
Every
Pocket

Well I just swapped in the manual into one that was equiped with auto cause I just prefer manual. From a lot of what has been said here, quite a few items are a personal preference. You can make an auto behave like a manual with enough time parts and $$ (from what I understand there is a kit that works very well with the newer autos).

Anyways, if you get the right gearing you won't even have to worry about a hand throttle as it will be walking itself over rocks.

Oh and yeah, whoever said that auto's come with better gears... come on, if you plan on wheeling it and lifting it, how long will those stock gears stay in there?

no, it not a ferrari, it just thinks it is! It's a neon with a NVG-T350, first and second gear syncro's are only available as a complete output shaft. Only available from the stealer at $1300. I'm picking up a whole used tranny for less than half that.

Back to the point though who says you can't manually select a lower gear in an auto for control on hill descent? Seems to work fine with mine. I definetly agree with the point of not having dumb friends asking to drive your Jeep 'cause they can't drive a standard. I let one of those friends drive my auto and he pitched it off the road over a bank into some car sized rocks, over $5000 damage to my XJ just five months after I got it. It's never been quite the same. As for the driving with no clutch, I did it a number of times in my MJ which had a tendency to get air in the hydraulic lines any time you took it on the highway for long periods of time.

in a manual it is much harder to drive and eat than it is in an auto, something to keep in mind

ramsey

Once you learn to drive a manual, you can't even remeber its there, becasue you don't have to think about it. I woulndl't get one if you live on the city though. My uncle has knee problems now becasue he drove a manual for about 15 years in the city. Something to think about...

has it actually been confirmed by a dr that thats the cause of his knee problems? just curious because it sounds a little strange

tchase said:

Back to the point though who says you can't manually select a lower gear in an auto for control on hill descent? Seems to work fine with mine.

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Depending on the year your XJ is the manual lockout mod for lower gears is more or less involved.

Ramsey said:

in a manual it is much harder to drive and eat than it is in an auto, something to keep in mind

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Well what does that tell you? Half the accidents I see on the freeways (the smaller fender benders at least) are caused by a people with a big mac or a whopper on their shirt. I wonder what were they doing while driving their automatic

St3mpy said:

Once you learn to drive a manual, you can't even remeber its there, becasue you don't have to think about it.

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I agree. It's an automatic reflex.

I woulndl't get one if you live on the city though. My uncle has knee problems now becasue he drove a manual for about 15 years in the city. Something to think about...

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I seriously doubt it. He might have had some other problems which got amplified by driving the stick shift, but I doubt that the actual process of pressing the clutch in and out caused knee problems. Because what about the other knee? It works same amount (if not more) when you push on gas and brake.

In my former life... I had to pound my clutch pedal in my souped up Mustang... that took a very strong leg or you aint gonna go nowhere. That was a workout, especially when I had no a/c working in the hot florida muggy heat. :gee:

As far as the comments about driving a stick in traffic. I can also vouch for the fact that it sucks, but you do get used to it unless its really bad traffic. I just use second gear alot as long as the traffic isnt at a complete stand still. I have an auto because I got really tired of driving a stick in traffic, but now i really miss having a 5 speed sometimes.

Another thing to consider is that its going to be really tough to find a 5 speed 2001. Also, the AW4 auto is a very stout transmission.

Atl XJ said:

As far as the comments about driving a stick in traffic. I can also vouch for the fact that it sucks, but you do get used to it unless its really bad traffic. I just use second gear alot as long as the traffic isnt at a complete stand still. I have an auto because I got really tired of driving a stick in traffic, but now i really miss having a 5 speed sometimes.

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Agreed. I've owned approximately 30 cars, and only three of them have been automatics. If you're used to a manual gearchange, the 'automatics are easier in traffic' argument doesn't really hold water - working a clutch is a natural thing to do in that situation, so you don't really notice it. And to be honest, I *have* to drive my car sometimes just to not be behind the wheel of an auto. Not that the AW4 is a bad transmission, but I just don't like having two pedals under my feet if I want to *drive*.

Another thing to consider is that its going to be really tough to find a 5 speed 2001. Also, the AW4 auto is a very stout transmission.

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Yup, this is exactly the problem I found when shopping for mine. My original spec was for a 2-door, 4WD, 5-speed, 6-cylinder XJ. After finding it increasingly difficult to find this spec anywhere within a 250-mile radius, I settled for a more orthodox 4-door, 4WD, 6-cylinder auto. Quite frankly, the 4.0 pumps out enough torque that the autobox isn't a hindrance to progress, a major plus in my book. Further, having also owned other manual-transmission 4WD vehicles in the past, there are situations where only having to operate two pedals rather than three is a definite advantage - yes, you can go to hand controls on a manual, but unless you really need the ability to slip a clutch it's probably a moot point.

The only real argument I can make in favour of a manual in an XJ right now is based on gas prices - given that the manual has approximately 10% better EPA fuel mileage over the AW4 (17mpg city vs. 15mpg, 22mpg highway vs. 20mpg), this is a 2-gallon-per-tank saving over the autobox. As I'm driving around 400-500 miles per week, I'd end up saving about three quarters of the cost of a tank of gas per month based on these numbers. Not a lot, but every bit helps. Just something to consider.

casm said:

Yup, this is exactly the problem I found when shopping for mine. My original spec was for a 2-door, 4WD, 5-speed, 6-cylinder XJ.

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Yeah you do have a point there. When I bought my 98 I got it brand new at the dealership and even the dealer was surprised that they had it. IIRC it was a custom order that got cancelled at the last moment. Anyways I was so happy to see a 4.0 with manual tranny and 4wd that I got it without even taking a test drive (I had an 86 already so I knew what I'm getting myself into more or less).
In any case, if you open up the year range you should not have too much trouble finding one with a manual transmission should you choose to go that route.