Okay, first of all... this Jeep has me contemplating suicide. Literally, I want to put a .40 in my head because of it.
The breakdown...
I drive my 31 mile commute to work one morning in my 4.0 5 speed Wrangler behaves like it does any other day. No noises (other than the sound of it slowly rusting), no quirks, problems of any sort mechanically. After my exciting eight hour shift of computers making me want to hang myself, I'm done and head to my trusty Wrangler to drive the 31 mile commute home.
I drive about a mile down the road when I start to realize I'm having difficulty getting into gear. I think perhaps I'm just being lazy with my foot and not pressing the clutch in all the way. I convinced myself that was the issue and the next time I need to shift I'll be more conscious of my footwork. Well, the next time I shift, I press the pedal to the floor and it's still difficult to get into gear. So happens that particular shift was in fact the last shift I was able to perform while the engine was running.
I pulled to the side of the road and fought with the shifter until giving up and shutting it down. Ended up calling my wife to come get me. While I was sitting there in defeat, figured since I could get the transmission in gear while the engine was off I'd try starting it while the Jeep was in gear. Welp, it lunged forward of course, and the starter motor provided me enough speed to get me going until the engine took over. I was in second gear, max speed of 28 mph and no ability to stop as I had no clutch, 30 miles home this way.
I was confused as to what the problem was as I knew throwout bearings exhibit a slow onset of issues, particularly noise as you pressed the clutch pedal. Despite the rapid onset, I figured the throwout bearing is what the was. I took the Jeep to my garage and headed to the nearest Pep Boys for a LUK clutch kit. The clutch kit was opened, but everything was there, and to my surprise, the clutch kit came with a METAL throwout bearing despite the kit saying "Made in Mexico" on the box.
I headed out of the store complete with slide hammer and pilot bearing puller. The next day I started removing everything needed to yank the transmission. Once yanked, I noticed the clutch release fork was missing the clip that holds it on to where it pivots on the ball inside the bellhousing. This caused the fork to just teeter on the transmission input yoke sleeve if you will. I also noticed the clutch was missing a spring (which explains why this thing always shuttered if I didn't ride the clutch).
The installation...
Fine. New stuff anyway. I take the pressure plate off the flywheel. Remove old pilot bearing and install the new one using socket flush with the flywheel. Clean the flywheel, clean the new pressure plate and take the new clutch spring side facing away from engine and install it using the alignment tool. I then bolt on the pressure plate, applying red thread locker to all the bolts and torque it down pretty tight. I then test the alignment by removing the alignment tool and putting it back in. Butter.
Now I move on to the throwout bearing which has seen its better day anyway. I clean the release fork off, light film of grease at the contact points where the throwout bearing meets the fork, light grease at pivot point and slave cylinder contact, light film on bearing face that meets pressure plate and light film on input shaft sleeve where the pilot bearing rides.
Transmission goes in after a 4-hour bout of rockem' sockem' style fighting, during which I almost hung myself, sliced my wrists and setting the thing on fire. Got the transmission in, this time putting in the shroud that wasn't there in the first place (got it from a salvage yard). Installed all the stuff I had to remove, starter, slave, CPS, wiring, driveshafts, crossmember. Had to tap the driver's side nutserts as the threads inside of them turned to powder when I took the bolts out.
I go to start the Jeep and hear a HORRIBLE grinding sound. Transmission wasn't even in gear. As I let the clutch out it got worse and I quickly shut it down. It must have woken up every dog in the neighborhood the sound was so horrid.
So my question is, what the frigg did I do wrong? This isn't my first rodeo...I did a throwout bearing / clutch job on my Mustang with great success.
Here are some pics for yalls enjoyment. I'm aware some bolts are missing on the new pressure plate. This pic was taken halfway through it's attachment. All bolts are installed.
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The breakdown...
I drive my 31 mile commute to work one morning in my 4.0 5 speed Wrangler behaves like it does any other day. No noises (other than the sound of it slowly rusting), no quirks, problems of any sort mechanically. After my exciting eight hour shift of computers making me want to hang myself, I'm done and head to my trusty Wrangler to drive the 31 mile commute home.
I drive about a mile down the road when I start to realize I'm having difficulty getting into gear. I think perhaps I'm just being lazy with my foot and not pressing the clutch in all the way. I convinced myself that was the issue and the next time I need to shift I'll be more conscious of my footwork. Well, the next time I shift, I press the pedal to the floor and it's still difficult to get into gear. So happens that particular shift was in fact the last shift I was able to perform while the engine was running.
I pulled to the side of the road and fought with the shifter until giving up and shutting it down. Ended up calling my wife to come get me. While I was sitting there in defeat, figured since I could get the transmission in gear while the engine was off I'd try starting it while the Jeep was in gear. Welp, it lunged forward of course, and the starter motor provided me enough speed to get me going until the engine took over. I was in second gear, max speed of 28 mph and no ability to stop as I had no clutch, 30 miles home this way.
I was confused as to what the problem was as I knew throwout bearings exhibit a slow onset of issues, particularly noise as you pressed the clutch pedal. Despite the rapid onset, I figured the throwout bearing is what the was. I took the Jeep to my garage and headed to the nearest Pep Boys for a LUK clutch kit. The clutch kit was opened, but everything was there, and to my surprise, the clutch kit came with a METAL throwout bearing despite the kit saying "Made in Mexico" on the box.
I headed out of the store complete with slide hammer and pilot bearing puller. The next day I started removing everything needed to yank the transmission. Once yanked, I noticed the clutch release fork was missing the clip that holds it on to where it pivots on the ball inside the bellhousing. This caused the fork to just teeter on the transmission input yoke sleeve if you will. I also noticed the clutch was missing a spring (which explains why this thing always shuttered if I didn't ride the clutch).
The installation...
Fine. New stuff anyway. I take the pressure plate off the flywheel. Remove old pilot bearing and install the new one using socket flush with the flywheel. Clean the flywheel, clean the new pressure plate and take the new clutch spring side facing away from engine and install it using the alignment tool. I then bolt on the pressure plate, applying red thread locker to all the bolts and torque it down pretty tight. I then test the alignment by removing the alignment tool and putting it back in. Butter.
Now I move on to the throwout bearing which has seen its better day anyway. I clean the release fork off, light film of grease at the contact points where the throwout bearing meets the fork, light grease at pivot point and slave cylinder contact, light film on bearing face that meets pressure plate and light film on input shaft sleeve where the pilot bearing rides.
Transmission goes in after a 4-hour bout of rockem' sockem' style fighting, during which I almost hung myself, sliced my wrists and setting the thing on fire. Got the transmission in, this time putting in the shroud that wasn't there in the first place (got it from a salvage yard). Installed all the stuff I had to remove, starter, slave, CPS, wiring, driveshafts, crossmember. Had to tap the driver's side nutserts as the threads inside of them turned to powder when I took the bolts out.
I go to start the Jeep and hear a HORRIBLE grinding sound. Transmission wasn't even in gear. As I let the clutch out it got worse and I quickly shut it down. It must have woken up every dog in the neighborhood the sound was so horrid.
So my question is, what the frigg did I do wrong? This isn't my first rodeo...I did a throwout bearing / clutch job on my Mustang with great success.
Here are some pics for yalls enjoyment. I'm aware some bolts are missing on the new pressure plate. This pic was taken halfway through it's attachment. All bolts are installed.
