Can a leak cause clutch slippage?

My '94 5-speed experienced a clutch slip in third and fourth gear when I was heading out camping with the family earlier this week. It wasn't leaking before but I noticed a very small leak dripping from the front of the transmission (bellhousing, just where it joins the motor) when we got back. The Jeep ran a bit hot yesterday so that might have caused a slow leak to get worse...

Anyhow, do I need a new clutch or is the leak possibly getting in there and causing slippage (which isn't that bad really - didn't cause problems for the whole trip).

Any help appreciated,
R.

Oil on a clutch disc does exactly the opposite. It will cause the clutch to grab very hard and very sudden.

Clutch contamination will defintely cause a slip - problem is, you can't CLEAN a clutch friction disc - you just CHANGE the thing.

As long as there are no "hot spots" on the cover or flywheel, you should be fine. Any glazing (provided there is no discolouration under it) can be stripped off with Scotch-Brite or crocus cloth.

Make sure you attend to the source of the leak before reassembly - is it the rear main, the transmission input seal, or the valve cover rear? All are possibles, and the valve cover leak is more common than any of us will admit to...

5-90

Disassembly probably needed no matter what so will look at replacing the clutch if there's not a lot of friction material left. Good to know that I may not have to though. FWIW, the leak has gone away today and I'm thinking it's due to no highway-driving/hot weather combo. Valve cover does sweat a bit but will look closer...heat would probably affect any number of seals.

Cheers,
R.