Clutch job from BEEP BEEP haha

[Matthew Jeschke]

I need some help... I told my buddy to come over and we'd take care of a few fixes he wanted to do on his 1999 Jeep Wrangler 2.5L cylinder with AX5 transmission and 180k miles. It's a sweet little jeep. Seems he had a few clutches done in the past and they never changed the throw out bearing, it was rattling quite a bit. We dropped the transmission and replaced the following:

• Clutch
• Pressure Plate
• Throw out bearing (new fork / lever to apply force)
• New slave cylinder (note original master cylinder)
• Sanded down old flywheel and reused it.

It's all put back together and we cannot get the Jeep to go into gear.

Here's a few tests we have done:

Static Roll Test (PASS)- Test clutch release: Put transmission in 5th gear, push in clutch pedal, and roll Jeep by hand. Test clutch apply: release clutch pedal and Jeep can no longer be rolled.

Test throw out bearing (FAIL?): put a steering wheel puller in place of slave cylinder. Pushed in the clutch release fork / compressed the pressure plate. Over road the clutch safety switch & started the jeep. Won't let us into gear when jeep is started... although I think my friend gave up. He won't let me push the steering wheel puller in any farther.

Test release clutch release when in in 2nd gear: turn off jeep and put into 2nd gear. Apply parking brake, and push in clutch. Start Jeep. Starts fine. Then slowly release clutch pedal. Jeep stalls and turns off.

Test clutch release for neutral to any gear: turn off Jeep. Put into neutral. Push in clutch & start jeep. Keep clutch in, try to select any gear, transmission won't allow us to enter gear (w/o grinding).

 

[79jasper]

Try starting it in gear, with the brake off. (Level surface)
My guess would be the master may be weak, not supplying enough pressure to fully disengage the clutch.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Is what I am thinking. Trying to convince my buddy to buy a new one :/ It's the only piece of system we haven't replaced. He thinks the new throw out bearing fork / leaver arm is slighly out of spec... However, I believe the slave cylinder is self adjusting. It has a 20 lb spring in it to take up any slack in system and hold it to forks on pressure plate.

 

[exp500]

Looks like you have identified the problem- plus the fact he has killed so many clutches. Can he drive it with a clutch that works? LOL!
Make sure the master/slave are compatible if aftermarket. Compare piston sizes. Look at rebuild kits for sizes if not listed.

 

[George B]

You are 100% sure the system is bled completely?

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Not sure how to be 100 sure but pretty sure...


removed slave, pumped piston about 20 times. cracking bleeder and adding brake fluid.

additionally unbolted master from firewall, tilted it up, tapped on it with screwdriver as slave was bled.

blocked slave cylinder and pushed on clutch pedal and wouldnt move.... too far, assuming there mabe a bad seal between the two circuits in the master.

clutch is just barely rubbing. i can spin the rear tire when clutch is pushed in and jeep is in gear... but i feel the clutch rubbing... is enough rubbing that won't go into 1st or reverse.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Okay so we bought the master cylinder. Bled the system in the truck...

Tested the clutch... WAS VERY SLIGHTLY RUBBING. I could spin a tire about one time before it would stop when in gear and clutch was pressed. In neutral would spin 3 or 4 times.

Pulled the entire hydraulic assembly and bench bled it. Put it back into the the Jeep. Can barely move the tire when in gear and clutch pressed in.

Assuming this is still a hydraulic issue? As we fiddle with the master / slave and bleed things it gets better and worse, cannot quite figure out what we are doing wrong to make it get worse.

I do know this hydraulic system is a SOB to bleed, I can never quite tell if the system has all the air out of it or not. It doesn't have a nipple on it to hook up a clear hose... Most of the videos I watched took the slave and put a clear hose to the reservoir then pumped the system. You could eventually see the air working it's way through and out of the clear tube until it was all fluid. This is actually how I bleed my brakes too.

You can see the system we are working on. The guy in this blog post upgraded to the master / slave setup we have in this jeep.

https://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/...1602-jeep-cherokee-xj-slave-cylinder-upgrade/

 

[Fless]

Is the hydraulic line (hose) in good shape? Could it be flexing or expanding when you depress the clutch pedal, not pushing the slave enough?

 

[George B]

Is the reservoir attached to the master or remote? I had a hydraulic clutch that was sucking air into the line from the reservoir to the master once.

 

[exp500]

Well now, the story has changed some.... How about filling us in on the bellhousing swap. Especially the part where you verified throwout fork and ball position.. Sounds like you better start back at the beginning and verify what parts you have. Measure available stroke on slave, measure available throw on bearing fork, measure installed clearance between throwout bearing and clutch fingers.
You definatly have a parts combination problem,and/or a torn O ring where the 90 fitting hose attaches.
Might work by adding thicker throwout bearing. Might need a different bell housing so ball is in right place. Maybe somewhere in the swap grabbed the wrong part from the pile. Good luck, we will help as you post more.