• Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Slave, Master or Clutch?

B

BlueMJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
NY
Recently I noticed my clutch getting soft and closer to the floor. It's been rather cold (near & below 0 for the most part)

Yesterday I lost it completely on the way to get an alignment. While on the rack, I checked for fluid loss in the inside of the cab, under the MC, at the bellhousing...nothing. Fluid inside the MC was full too. When I pulled the truck off the rack, half the cutch was back and stayed up until I got home. Today, I have no clutch again.

87 MJ, 2.5 5 spd

Clutch is about 2.5 yrs old (slave too) LUCAS parts, installed professionally
MC is a bit newer, remanned from NAPA I believe.

I had this problem regularly about 1-1.5 yrs ago, the shop told something didn't seal right and made me pay $200+ in labor for a monkey to stomp on the clutch pedal until it "miracously" seated itself. (they also pressure bled the system) I have manually bled not long after the shop "fixed" it too and that held until yesterday.

It has operated fine until this recent spell of bitter cold weather.

Any ideas?
 
I had this problem recently. The first time my clutch pedal started going soft, it was the slave, the second time it was the clutch master cylinder. The differences in the two going out are:

Slave - Fluid under vehicle, MC loses fluid, soft pedal

Master Cylinder - No fluid under vehicle, no fluid loss, soft pedal. Also, look for fluid inside the cab, but its not always present.

Its a pretty simple job. And the parts not very expensive. A cheapy at AutoZone ran me about $60. Good Luck.

90red
 
90red is right on. More than likely your master. Had same problem and got a new master at autozone. First one turned out to be defective and let air enter. Took it off and autozone replaced it, no hassle. I think they just guarantee them for 90 days though. Second one solved problem.
 
BlueMJ said:
MC presented no fluid loss...interesting

Thanks for the info
Click to expand...


The reason I say no fluid loss is that the MC didnt show any fluid loss. But there was a drop of fluid on my left shoe every couple of weeks. Pissed me off, brand new shoes stained by the fluid. Lucky for me I caught it before it started leaking badly into the cab and onto the fuse box. My uncle owned the vehicle before me and had put 3 MC's on the truck before I put the fourth one on. He said when they went out on him, he would push in the clutch pedal and get nothing at all with the MC still full of fluid. I guess maybe I should bite the bullet and buy one from the dealer........Nahhh! And yes the warranty from AutoZone is only for 3 months.

90red
 
I have replaced this MC 2x's and rebuilt one of em....I thought this last MC was a NAPA remmaned, but I could be mistaken...I'll toss another MC on and see what it does.

Thanks
 
BlueMJ: You might try taking the line off the master and installing a plug, before you go to the trouble of taking the master off. Install plug and crack the plug to bleed while someone depresses pedal. Then tighten plug and push and hold down clutch petal and see if it bleeds down.. Just a thought. If it is holding pressure, it should be rock hard with no movement. Still think its your master though if no leaks underneath and no visible fluid loss. Check your floorboard underneath your clutch pedal. Don
 
I'm pretty sure it's the Master now...toady absolutely NO clutch...I put heat on the MC to see if that thawed out the seals....as sitting in a heated garage the other by brought the clutch back a bit...

I'm tired of doing this repair..this'll be MC #3 + 1 rebuild within 3-4 years and a grand total of maybe 30k miles. Any suggestions as to WHERE to get a quality MC...the current MC is an Auto Zone special , not a NAPA like I thought.

Any upgrades to the MC that are worthwhile?
 
BlueMJ said:
I'm pretty sure it's the Master now...toady absolutely NO clutch...I put heat on the MC to see if that thawed out the seals....as sitting in a heated garage the other by brought the clutch back a bit...

I'm tired of doing this repair..this'll be MC #3 + 1 rebuild within 3-4 years and a grand total of maybe 30k miles. Any suggestions as to WHERE to get a quality MC...the current MC is an Auto Zone special , not a NAPA like I thought.

Any upgrades to the MC that are worthwhile?
Click to expand...

Cant get any better than the dealer. But you will pay a good amount of money for.

90red
 
NAPA remanned :$76.98 (in stock)
NAPA rebuild kit: $37.00 (be here tomorrow)

MOPAR from dealer: $170 (brand new and in stock strangely enough)

Which should I choose...I'm leaning towards the NAPA right now for budgetary reasons.
 
BlueMJ: On this forum or another jeep forum, I read a reply from someone that the aftermarket Master Cylinders had a extremely large failure rate. He claimed up in the 90% or better bracket. Don't seem reasonable, but the first one I bought at Autozone was no good. The next one has been working fine so far, but who knows. I know that if this one goes out again, I will bite the bullet and get one from the dealer. Has to be a better warranty than you get from Autozone (3 months). If you have had that much trouble, I would opt for the Master from the dealer, even though it is quite expensive.Just my 2 cents worth...Don
 
BlueMJ: I found that thread I was talking about,if you want to read it. It was my own thread..ha ha..losing my memory. The reply I refer to is by Yuccaman. If you run a search and type in "Hydraulic Clutch Problem" It should take you to my post and then check out what Yuccaman has to say. HTH Don
 
Thanks rattler...

I think i'll opt for the NAPA unit...for now...hopefully IF it goes again I'll be able to afford a MOPAR. Right now MOPAR really isn't financially feasible. I'll see what I can as far as warranty fomr NAPA, I know the shop owner and will relay this problem to him and see what he'll do.
 
rattler43 said:
BlueMJ: On this forum or another jeep forum, I read a reply from someone that the aftermarket Master Cylinders had a extremely large failure rate. He claimed up in the 90% or better bracket. Don't seem reasonable, but the first one I bought at Autozone was no good. The next one has been working fine so far, but who knows. I know that if this one goes out again, I will bite the bullet and get one from the dealer. Has to be a better warranty than you get from Autozone (3 months). If you have had that much trouble, I would opt for the Master from the dealer, even though it is quite expensive.Just my 2 cents worth...Don
Click to expand...

This is a timely thread. I replaced my MC about a year ago with one from Autozone. The factory unit managed to go about 240,000 miles while the Autozone unit crapped out two weeks ago. Bought another one and it didn't work at all. Once it warms up a bit, I'll return it and try again. It was less than 20 degrees outside both times it happened.
 
Yea, the first 2 went in warm weather...this one during the 2nd coldest spell of the winter...and after a 11" snow fall.
 
Fawking NAPA (TruStop remmaned)MC is 1/2" LONGER than the original. Doesnt let my clutch pedal release all the way and provide enough travel to disengage the flywheel.

Yes, it is bled properly. I noticed when I attached the pedal to the plunger it dropped my pedal, I figured I'd get it back to the righ height during bleeding...but nope.

Anyone????
 
I am taking them both (old & new) in whenever the snow breaks...I've been getting pounded here in Central NY and just couldn't get to NAPA today.

Was just wondering if anyone else ran into this problem...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

3
Clutch Master Cylinder correct install?
Replies
0
Views
911
318SixPack
3
L
ax15 master, air, or slave?
Replies
13
Views
2K
ljobbins
L
J
what clutch master cylinder/ slave setup in ax 15 swap
Replies
4
Views
5K
mayub78
M
C
1999 XJ 4 door lifted on 35s with Dana 44s & extras – under 76K miles
Replies
5
Views
5K
Gjeep
G
A
1996 2 Door XJ, very clean, tons of recent work.
Replies
1
Views
279
Atl-Atl
A
Back
Top