New To XJ's (And This Forum) - Clutch Question

Quick introduction... My name is Rick, I'm 23, I live in Collegeville / West Chester, PA. I typically go by GhostDakota or PAFirefighter11 on most the boards. I am also a member of BMJA (Blue Mountain Jeep Alliance), and too many forums to list. I have had a YJ now for over 2 years. I currently have 4 vehicles, including a '92 Dodge Dakota, '82 Honda CB750SC Bike, '90 YJ and new to the family.. a '91 XJ. The YJ was real nice at one point, but I pulled the motor, trans, etc., and it went down hill from there. It's got a 4" RE SD lift, 33x12.50x15" Mud Rovers, no sway or track bars, flat fendered, etc., etc. But it's for sale.. the rolling chasis at least. The XJ is stock, minus some sort of grille guard and a 3" Black Diamond AAL and a 44 (not yet installed).

Quick pics for those interested:









And of the XJ at the Jeep show.. entered the Dirtiest Jeep category:




Okay, so now to my problem :-D ....

On the way to work yesterday my clutch pedal basically lost all resistance and I couldn't shift. After lots of struggling, and eventually getting into 1st gear I drove about 1 1/2 miles at 35-30 MPH in 1st... at 4800 RPM (redline of 5200). Right before I pulled into work it started to overheat and spew coolant out the overflow bottle .. overflow. Anyway, finally got it parked in the lot with the other rigs. Now how do I bleed the clutch on this thing? I didn't lose any clutch fluid, just pressure. I checked the rubber "nipple" thing and it seems to be fine. I couldn't find a bleeder valve like on a brake system anywhere under the truck... is it that fitting I saw on the line? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

I think the 91 still had the internal (to the Bell housing) clutch slave. If that’s the case you will need to pull the tranny and replace it. If it were me I would find the parts and swap it to external while I was at it. If I’m wrong about the year they switched to external and you are lucky there should be a slave cylinder on the driver side of the bell and it has a hex bleed screw just on top of where the hose comes in.

By the way I drove my jeep with no clutch of 6 months. Start it in gear and use the throttle to take the pressure off the gears so you can shift. If you match the speed of the tranny with engine it will go right in.

Bronco said:

I think the 91 still had the internal (to the Bell housing) clutch slave. If that’s the case you will need to pull the tranny and replace it. If it were me I would find the parts and swap it to external while I was at it. If I’m wrong about the year they switched to external and you are lucky there should be a slave cylinder on the driver side of the bell and it has a hex bleed screw just on top of where the hose comes in.

By the way I drove my jeep with no clutch of 6 months. Start it in gear and use the throttle to take the pressure off the gears so you can shift. If you match the speed of the tranny with engine it will go right in.

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From researching into Crown's parts and what not it looks as though it's separate for 91-93. However, I could be off. I was hoping someone here had a '91 with the 4.0L and AX-15 and could tell me what setup their rig had.

I completely forgot about shifting like that! Thanks a lot!

In your first post you didn't mention what engine the XJ has. In your follow-up you said 4.0L. Are you guessing that you have an AX-5 tranny, or do you have a 4-cylinder? The AX-5 was not used with the 4.0L engine.

I'm not certain about the '91 4-cyl but it was my understanding that all '91s have the internal slave/release bearing. That could be your problem. It could also be the line between the master and slave. It's metal on each end, with the section of rubber flex hose in the center. The flex hose ages and can crack, allowing the pressure to go away -- sometimes gradually, and sometimes dramatically.

Don't go buying any parts or dropping the tranny until you have confirmed which part it is that failed. You need to check the master, the hose, and the slave. (If the slave failed, you should have fluid dripping out of the bottom of the bell housing.)

Eagle said:

In your first post you didn't mention what engine the XJ has. In your follow-up you said 4.0L. Are you guessing that you have an AX-5 tranny, or do you have a 4-cylinder? The AX-5 was not used with the 4.0L engine.

I'm not certain about the '91 4-cyl but it was my understanding that all '91s have the internal slave/release bearing. That could be your problem. It could also be the line between the master and slave. It's metal on each end, with the section of rubber flex hose in the center. The flex hose ages and can crack, allowing the pressure to go away -- sometimes gradually, and sometimes dramatically.

Don't go buying any parts or dropping the tranny until you have confirmed which part it is that failed. You need to check the master, the hose, and the slave. (If the slave failed, you should have fluid dripping out of the bottom of the bell housing.)

Click to expand...

I missed a 1 in there.. trust me.. I know Jeeps! haha.. my YJ has the AX5 and the XJ has the AX15.

Basically I haven't seen any leaking fluid. The fluid level remains constant as well, so it's not leaking anywhere? I am thinking I just need to bleed the system and see what happens. If it goes again, there's obviously somewhere in the line or system that air is entering, but fluid is not exiting.

Ghost Dakota,

Your '91 XJ has an internal slave cylinder/throwout bearing that is attached by hydraulic line to the clutch master cylinder mounted on the firewall driver's side. If you look under the vehicle on the driver's side of the bellhousing, you'll see the line and a shorter line that ends with bleeder nipple. Use a 1/4" flare nut wrench to avoid stripping it (trust me). Bleed the system and see if pressure returns. If not, and no fluid is visible, your clutch master might be bad. If you see fluid leak at the bellhousing, then your insternal slave cylinder is bad. To change it you must remove the AX-15. A search here will give you lots of useful info on that job. Good luck.

Okay, engine/trans swap it is heh. thanks!

otto said:

Ghost Dakota,

Your '91 XJ has an internal slave cylinder/throwout bearing that is attached by hydraulic line to the clutch master cylinder mounted on the firewall driver's side. If you look under the vehicle on the driver's side of the bellhousing, you'll see the line and a shorter line that ends with bleeder nipple. Use a 1/4" flare nut wrench to avoid stripping it (trust me). Bleed the system and see if pressure returns. If not, and no fluid is visible, your clutch master might be bad. If you see fluid leak at the bellhousing, then your insternal slave cylinder is bad. To change it you must remove the AX-15. A search here will give you lots of useful info on that job. Good luck.

Click to expand...

Hi...I've been lurking soaking up some tech info on swapping my '92 XJ 6-Cyl AX-15 from internal to external. I'm getting ready to button it all up, but don't know if everything is there and in the right place.
Here's a pic of the setup. (new bellhousing, clutch fork, with spring retainer, and throwout bearing. The T.O. Bearing has a spring clip on each side, that I assume holds the fork in place. Is this how it's supposed to mount? or do the slots go on the same side as the pivot ball???


Also, is there anything that holds the end of the slave cylinder shaft into the clutch fork? Next is the bearing and fork, does this look right?


I'm also having trouble getting the pilot bearing out to replace it. It seems like there's a large flat washer holding it in, and the FSM says to use an internal puller or sumthing. How do I get it out?


Also...shouldn't there be a return spring or something?
Thanks for yer help

merry christmas