MJ with YJ tranny/clutch...??

I have an '86 MJ with a '94 YJ 2.5L and an AX-5 also from a YJ.

I'm running the AX-5 external slave but am having some difficulty with the clutch...it doesn't disengage quite far enough.

It seems there's not enough throw with the stock clutch pedal (stock for the '86 MJ). It will disengage and I can shift gears...BUT when I release the clutch pedal it grabs way to quickly...I just BARELY let it out and it's pretty much fully engaged.

Anyone done a similar setup...if so what have you done to remedy this??

I have the same problem with an '87 4.0L MJ that's completely stock -- with the Peugeot tranny and internal slave. Gets worse when it gets hot. Conversely, I have an '88 MJ that I bought with a YJ tranny in it and that one shifts just fine.

Don't know what to tell you.

is the MC full?
is the bleeder tight?
is the slave new?
is the hose that connects the MC to the slave warped or heated or anything like that?


i had this issue, swaped the master and changed the fluid, and it still happens form time to time, but i dont want to pull the tranny off (ax-15 with internal slave)
maybe flush the fluid?

If its getting worse when hot you may have air or water colleced in the slave. Also, in neutral, pump the clutch a bit, full length of range and just pumping it 2 inches from the floor and back to the floor. Seems like the piston needs to go farther out (adjusting?) sometimes with external slaves. So you could try that and bleed it properly, also check for a rubber tube or mstr/slv cyl. part so the pressure doesn't go to the clutch. If the pedal is also stiff and doesn't disengage the clutch, something is kinked/binding, pilot bearing is unlubricated or the throwout fork is broken.

We bled it.

No kinks in the line.

MC is full.

Pedal has about as much pressure as I'd expect...the rod is just not being pushed in far enough...it is disengaging the clutch...but just barely.

I just need to figure out how to make the pedal push the rod further in.

043500 said:

We bled it.

No kinks in the line.

MC is full.

Pedal has about as much pressure as I'd expect...the rod is just not being pushed in far enough...it is disengaging the clutch...but just barely.

I just need to figure out how to make the pedal push the rod further in.

Click to expand...

The little plastic plug IS on the end of the Slave pushrod.......right?

If not, there is the missing 1/4 inch of freeplay.

Howes makes a great clutch master cylinder. Stock is .75" so I went with a .875 bore. I fab'd the linkage and it worked sweet.


I just got a coupler nut, took the existing linkage cut it down, stuck it in one end of the coupler nut and brazed it. The cylinder runs something like $50 and has a stainless steel liner and can be rebuilt. It sure is nice being able to adjust the linkage. I did it because I resurfaced the flywheel and if you do that, you need to either shim the slave or add volume to the master cylinder.