Nowadays use of composites is steadily increasing due to their special properties. Among the composites, aluminum alloys reinforced with carbon fibers are of great importance. This is due to low density of both aluminum and carbon fibers as well as the high tensile strength of the later. In the present study, mechanical and microstructural properties of 2024 aluminum matrix composites reinforced with uncoated and Ni-P coated short carbon fibers were studied. The short carbon fibers used had an average diameter of 7 micrometers and average aspect ratio of 700. Ni-P electroless coating was applied in order to prevent adverse chemical reactions between the carbon fibers and the matrix alloy and also to increase the wettability of the short fibers by the melt. Stir casting method was employed for mixing the molten alloy and the short carbon fibers and for obtaining a uniform distribution of the reinforcements in the aluminum alloy matrix. Then the effect of reinforcement percentage (0, 0.5, 0.75, 1 and 1.25%) and the effect of electroless Ni-P coating on mechanical properties of the cast samples were examined. The results showed that increasing the carbon fiber percentage and using coated reinforcement resulted in increase in the tensile strength, flexural strength and wear resistance and decrease in the friction coefficient of the samples. Tensile and flexural strengths for monolithic samples in comparison to composite sample with 1.25% uncoated and coated carbon fibers were increased from 115 and178 MPa to 228 and 455 MPa and 257 and 539 MPa, respectively. Keywords: Composite, Carbon Fiber, Aluminum, Electroless, Stir Cast, Mechanical properties