clutch problem

I replaced the clutch, and slave cylinder on the jeep less than 10,000 miles ago. just recently I have noticed that the clutch wasn't disengaging as much as usual when I would press the pedal. I am pretty sure that this is the slave cylinder going out because its almost exactly what happened when I had to replace the clutch last time. This morning, I get in the jeep to drive off and the clutch wouldn't disengage at all, and I got a grinding noise when I tried to put it into gear.

here are my thoughts, I would appreciate any input on them.

When I replaced the clutch last time, the machine shop I got my parts through machined the flywheel down, I have since heard that this can be a problem? could this lead to a premature failure of the slave cylinder?

During the last clutch replacement I didnt put in a new master cylinder, could it be the master cylinder that failed causing my problems?



Sorry about the long post, thanks for the help.

Certainly could be the master cylinder, or a low quality replacement slave. The flywheel should not enter the equation. BTW, any good repair shop will always change both master and slave with a clutch replacement, so I would follow their example and swap it out.

If the master was going bad I would assume the clutch pedal would be weak. I just went thru all this with my 96, and simply the pedal was getting weak, so I changed the master and slave together.
On the other hand I replaced my clutch around 130k and I had to do it 3, yes, 3 times, I recieved defective clutch kits which was giving me the symptom you described where if i went into neutral at a stop I couldnt get it back into 1st at a light, really annoying. It wasnt disengaging properly etc.

Well, we dont know the jeeps details, year and so on. So the problem somewhat gradually started and now its terrible? Was the pedal not appropriately resistant to your foot?

Thanks for the replies so far guys, I think I am just going to replace the master cylinder and see what happens,

I wrote this in a hurry this morning and apparently I forgot the specs. its:
91 laredo
4 litre
ax15
with the 231 T case

well I first noticed it when I was sitting in line trying to get out of a crowded parking lot, the clutch was all the way in and everything seemed fine, until I let the clutch out just a tad to roll forward and it grabbed a ton more than normal. As in the slightest release of the clutch pedal started to engage the clutch, whereas it normally takes about mid stroke of the pedal to engage. It stayed like this for a while, and then it started getting harder to put into gear after a stop and then this morning when I couldn't even get it into gear with the pedal all the way in. So thats where I sit.

How hard is the master cylinder to change? I think it sounds like my best option now, and even if its not the problem it sounds like I should have done it already anyways.

Also if it does turn out to be the slave cylinder, would it be a problem to replace it without replacing the friction plate? becuase it should have plenty of material on it. When I took the old one to the shop last time the clutch was replaced they said the material was like 90 percent

Thanks for the help, and sorry for the novel.

the 91 has an internal slave so to replace you need to drop/seperate the trans from the engine. i would bleed the system first. on my 89, this is done at the side of the bellhousing where the hydraulic lines for the clutch go to the slave. usually if it a bad slave, it will leak fluid out of the bottom of the bellhousing. if its not leaking than the master may have an internal leak and its not building pressure and the slave cant move the pressure plate. check to see if there is hydraulic fluid(brake fluid) from the clutch master leaking down the rod that connects it to the clutch pedal. if so, the master may have bad internal seals and fluid is leaking past the piston.

"Also if it does turn out to be the slave cylinder, would it be a problem to replace it without replacing the friction plate? becuase it should have plenty of material on it. When I took the old one to the shop last time the clutch was replaced they said the material was like 90 percent"

No problem to reuse friction plate, as long as it's not contaminated by hydraulic fluid.

For some strange and unfathomable reason the engineers at Jeep decided that the flywheel should never be turned, it should be replaced.

Many people here have had success with a turned flywheel, so it must be possible, at least for one time.

Many other people here have had problems, so replacing the flywheel would seem to be the most practical action, particularly if you are doing the job for money.

Many here have posted that installing a Howe larger bore MC has saved them from having to replace the SC.

Do a search for Howe master cylinder.

Good Luck.

:eyes:

Thanks for the help everyone. I have heard of the Howe master cylinder, but have not been able to find any pictures of it, only threads that reference it, or photos that no longer show up in the threads. I could probably figure it out without them, but I would rather get everything figured out before I order the master cylinder. So does anyone have the link to the write up or photos of it?

Thanks for all the help

This should get you started:

http://www.howeperformance.com/

Good luck.