clutch gone '94 sport

[Dawala]

I had my clutch replaced about a year ago after i smoked it, and it worked fine until about 6 months ago, when I noticed it was hard to shift into gear. I checked the master cylinder and topped it off since it was low. Since then I have had to top it off at least 1-2 times every couple of weeks when I noticed it was getting hard to put into gear. Now I can't shift it into gear at all and the master cylinder is still full. I am trying to avoid the rip-off factor from going to a repair shop, or worse yet, the dealer. I've been told over the phone that if the slave cylinder is leaking, the transmission has to be taken apart to replace, which can cost up to $600. Since I don't know a whole lot about working on clutches, trannies, etc..., could someone please tell me what I could look for before I take it to a repair shop? Could it be there is air in the system from adding fluid to it all the time, or would the air come up to the master cylinder and it show up as a low level? If this is the case, how much of a pain is it to bleed the system? Also, is there a way to check any part of the clutch hydraulic system to see where the problem may be? Anybody's help on this is greatly (read $$$!) appreciated. BTW, it's a '94 sport 2WD with 104k. Thanks!

 

[Weatherman]

OK, here is a basic run-down of the clutch hydraulic system.

reservoir
|
|
master cylinder
|
|_ slave cylinder

The master cylinder is a plastic cylinder mounted in the firewall somewhat below the clutch pedal. The slave cylinder is in the transmission, so to speak. Master cylinder is fairly easy to change, however the transmission must be removed to change the slave cylinder. A Haynes or Chilton's manual will explain the steps in detail.

Bleeding the system is not too much of a problem. I would think it best to read through a repair manual first and familiarize yourself with the system. In my opinion though, if you must constantly add fluid to it, one of the two cylinders must be leaking. Unfortunately, in my experience, it is very hard to tell which cylinder is the problem.

 

[slow-demon]

Did you have the slave cylinder replaced when you had the clutch replaced. If not you should have. They just probably replaced the clutch components and the throwout bearing. If you see brake fluid leaking between the the engine and transmission then you know that the slave cylinder is leaking.

 

[Kris Guilbeaux]

Dont feel bad this happened to me too. I dropped the tranny in my 92 Navajo at about 78K for clutch and the slave cylinder looked fine so I did not replace. At about 83K the slave started leaking it is not hard to replace but, Instead I put some stop leak stuff in clutch (bad idea). AT 85K the Master cylinder dropped the clutch to the floor while driving. THe clutch system likes to go out all around the same time, but dose not tell you it is about to go out...



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Kris Guilbeaux
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http://www.tisd.net/~guilbeau/explorer.html

 

[felsmann]

Dawala,
so what was the veredict? I have the same sympthoms in my 97 Sport 4x4 with 80K, but this started at about 65K. I added fluid and it helped a bit after a few days, but it has not gotten much better. I changed the trany fluid for synthetics and the shifting got softer, but 1st and reverse are still the same.

Hopefuly you can add to my list of possible solutions.

Thanks!



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Juan Felsmann
'97 Sport 4WD
Warrior Twist