AX-15 input shaft play

[bajacalal]

So I'm helping my roommate swap his engine and transmission into another XJ from one he rolled. We both have/had 96'es 4wd with a 4.0 and AX-15.

How much play is there supposed to be in the input shaft?

We pulled the engine and transmission apart (he thinks the input shaft seal is leaking) and you can move the input shaft about 1/16" in any direction from center.

Is the bearing bad? On the other hand, I don't see much of a leak.

 

[Jeff in VA]

1/16" sounds o.k.

the couple AX5's I've had in the MJ so far had about that amount of play in them. If there weren't any play, you'd have a much harder time getting the input shaft thru the clutch disc when aligning.

Jeff

 

[lawsoncl]

A little bit of play is normal as the end it supposed to be supposed by the pilot bearing. I have one sitting out in the garage that you can swing the end of the input shaft about 1/4", but that's definitely a bad input bearing.