Heavy clutch

Went wheeling/camping this past weekend and to get to our 2 sites required some deep water crossings (water was over the headlights). The problem now is that the clutch has become VERY heavy (hard to engage and disengage smoothly). any thoughts? Just as an aside I had to modify the airbox on the trail to make sure I didnt suck water... but it worked.

The truck is a 1995 XJ 4.0 HO with a 5 speed of course

The clutch is typically composed of an organic material which will react, to some degree, if immersed in water similar to the manner your brakes react when wet. There is very little clearance between the clutch and flywheel hence the difficulty you feel when trying to engage first/reverse. Give it a few days to dry out and it should return to normal.

However, the clutch is also hydraulically-activated using brake fluid. As you know, brake fluid is very prone to absorbing water, so you really need to bleed not only the brakes but the clutch to make sure they aren't contaminated.

exactly what yucca man said, hydrolic clutch = fluid that you dont want water in. the resivor is by the breaks master cylender. Broke a line once... fun stuff

at least you can shift and start teh car (no neutral safety switch) with out a clutch if you have to.

woo woo!

thanks guys. have to see if I sucked water into the system somwhere... although I dont think I was deep enough for water to reach the reservoir..... should be sealed right so how would water get in there?

Remember that you're not just talking about the resrvoir, which is attached to the master cylinder. There's also a slave cylinder in the bellhousing that is often the source of leaks. You didn't happen to actually press the clutch while you were in the water did you??

Yucca-Man said:

Remember that you're not just talking about the resrvoir, which is attached to the master cylinder. There's also a slave cylinder in the bellhousing that is often the source of leaks. You didn't happen to actually press the clutch while you were in the water did you??

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Absolutely did... didnt have much choice on that though. I was out at lunch looking at it.... how do you bleed the darned thing anyways? Mu toyota was pretty straight forward but I dont even see bleeder screws on this one.

Well, I'd say it's pretty definite that you have water in the line then. The slave cylinders often leak minute amounts that are vaporized/lost in the bellhousing and underbody, but when they are immersed in water the same leak becomes a suction for water.

As for bleeding the clutch...I'd say consult the FSM. I never did mine when I had a 5-speed 89 and now that I've got the 96 I don't really pay attention to that as much. I'd recommend putting up a new thread specifically asking about bleeding the clutch if a search doesn't bring any results.