its a drag

my clutch has been dragging for a year or so now,and now ive finally decided to tackle this clutch problem.today I dropped transmission[ax15], and it appears ive got a leak at rear main, although the rear of valve cover also seems to be leaking .not sure which is the culprit yet.Could this be why clutch was not fully releasing? Also a co worker mentioned my syncros are probably shot because of this. how can I know for sure. Tranny shifts smooth with engine off.Thanks for any advice. my xj is a 96 with 4.0 inline.

Is the clutch oil soaked? Might make it drag. You bled the clutch before, right?

Hi.., I often get confused by various terms, i.e., 'drag' when it comes to moving parts. That said, 'slip' is a term often used when clutch plate is contaminated with slippery stuff. That would be apparent going up hill, when although the rpm is correctly steady, the vehicle begins to slow down, i.e., the clutch is slipping, and can't maintain proper road speed to match rpm, often requiring down shifting, perhaps several times in order to crest said hill.

I have had the above issue with an oil soaked clutch plate. Old school remedy is to fix oil leak, and then lay clutch plate on the ground pouring gasoline on it, and tossing a match onto it, and burning off oil.

Somehow, given all the bullet-proof reviews of the AX-15, I would not think your syncros are shot because of a 'rear main seal' oil leak, for your internal transmission parts are all gear oil soaked to begin with. Your symptoms of 'dragging', or perhaps 'slipping'/'slippage' is indicative of an oil soaked clutch plate. Pressure plates with weak springs could also be an issue.

Me.., I'd just replace clutch, and pressure plate 'set' with some heavy duty brand, and also replace clutch slave while transmission is out already, anyways.., and fix the oil leak at the rear of the engine, replacing the RMS, and Valve Cover Gasket.

WinterBeater is giving you a place to consider, i.e., clutch bleeding.., which is to say put everything back together, and bleed it, (if you hadn't already). If that then fails to work, then replace the slave.

If your co-worker suspicions bother you, you could take your tranny to a specialist for a check. Thats akin to a third party diagnosis, allowing them to correctly deal with it, without the guess work so far done clouding up the good intents attempted. Should not be too expensive, couple hundred bucks for labor, plus parts. (if they can't replace clutch/pressure plate, and clutch slave in two hours they are cheating you).

when I say dragging im referring to the clutch not fully disenging and causing undue wear on transmission.Hence the friends suggestion of worn syncros.i haven't pulled disc and plate yet so not sure what to expect. yes I have bled slave several times so whaterver is causing the clutch to not fully disengage has to be in clutch itself. I assume its best to fix rms after tranny is bolted up to support engine

I had to replace the hardline between the master and slave on my AX5, I didn't trim and reflare the line, so it was long. The excess line ended up arcing along the trans tunnel creating an air pocket that would not bleed out....at all....no matter what.

I shortened the line and rebled, problem solved.

Just another avenue to consider.