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bobdavis

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Everything posted by bobdavis

  1. Just an update to this thread. My son was driving the Jeep last weekend and explained that the clutch felt like it popped when he pressed the pedal. Immediately afterwards, he had trouble building pressure in the pedal. He eventually got it going and able to shift enough to get home. When I looked at it, the pedal would now go all to the floor(the pedal previously stopped an inch from the floor), and the pedal seemed to have good pressure. I looked at the master cylinder, there was fluid out of the bleed hole in the top of the lid that looked to have sprayed on the underside of the hood. The jeep now shifts better than ever, the pedal goes all the way to the floor. I’m thinking maybe there was an air bubble in the line that even though I bled the system multiple times took a while to work it’s way out. Anyway, I’m happy with how the transmission feels now, the downshift from 3 to 2 is a little rough, but it’s manageable and the rest of the shifts are really smooth. Thanks for all your help and advice, I’m hoping this will be the end of this chapter for the Jeep. Have a great day.
  2. Moses - I wanted to give you an update. After reinstalling the transmission and watching the master/slave cylinder function during depressing and releasing the pedal, I am relatively convinced that the slave is functioning correctly and engaging/disengaging the clutch correctly. I have been driving the Jeep the past week, and it has been getting better each time. The 1st/2nd gear shifts are still a little harder/clunkier than the other gears, but it will shift up and down into them consistently. Previously, I couldn’t get into 1st or 2nd gear on a regular basis. So, I’m thinking it was either the input shaft binding on the pilot bushing or the synchros needing to wear in a little. It seems to improve more every time I drive it, I’m hoping this trend continues. If it does not improve or gets worse, I think I’ll have to open the transmission up again and look at the 1/2 synchro. Thanks for all your help with this, I greatly appreciate it. Bob
  3. Moses - I used the YJ clutch pedal in order to gain the stud that the eye on the master cylinder pushrod installs onto. The CJ clutch pedal had a hole for the clutch linkage rod to attach to. Rather than fabricate a mounting stud on the CJ pedal, I purchased the YJ pedal assembly, removed the pedal from the pedal box, and installed it onto my existing pedal mount. It fit up well, and after removing the MC pushrod from the pedal and moving the master cylinder through its full range of motion, I don’t think the pedal is limiting either compression or rebound. But I will recheck all of this prior to making the fixture for the slave cylinder to see if I can get the clutch to disengage. I will report back after I check these issues. Thank you.
  4. Moses - Yes, the total movement of the clutch fork is 1/4 inch without the slave in place, from the throwout just touching the clutch fingers to the arm fully retracted in the slave cylinder access port. I’m not sure if I can get any more travel out of the master cylinder. I tried disconnecting the master cylinder rod from the pedal to see if the rod will either extend or contract any further and it didn’t seem to. The clutch pedal is out of a YJ wrangler and doesn’t seem to have a bump stop. When the pedal is disconnected from the master cylinder, the pedal can swing all the way to the bottom of the dash without resistance, so I don’t think there is a physical limitation holding the pedal from retracting the pushrod fully from the master cylinder. I wonder if there are any adjustable pushrods for the master cylinder and/or slave cylinder so that I can play with slightly longer pushrods?
  5. Moses - Thank you for the detailed reply. I will answer a couple of the questions you posed. I used a bell housing from a 1995 wrangler that I bought from an online jeep wrecking yard. That bell housing came with the pivot ball and release bearing arm, so I think all of these are a matched set. I will make up the fixture you described, but I already took a measurement of free play in the clutch fork with the slave removed, it measured at 1/4 inch. I’m not sure what this should be though. I will do as you described and see how the transmission shifts with the fixture in place disengaging the clutch. It does make sense that the slave rod is not extending far enough to fully disengage the clutch, as none of the 3 slave cylinders I have installed have broken the plastic straps that retain the pushrod in the slave have broken when applying the clutch. I checked the master cylinder piston travel and the pedal appears to be fully extending and retracting the piston on pushing the pedal, so I don’t think the issue is there. Thanks for your continued suggestions, I will keep you posted on my results.
  6. Moses - After a couple of weeks away on other projects, I pulled the transmission out of the Jeep. I checked the pilot bushing for signs of uneven wear or misalignment, removed and reinstalled the flywheel, clutch plate, and clutch housing. I rechecked all of these for trueness with run out gauge, rechecked clutch alignment, and all torque specs double checked. The throwout bearing and arm were removed and inspected and look good. I installed the missing locating dowel in the block and reinstalled the transmission, making sure the input engaged the pilot passively and without binding. All went in smoothly, but I’m still having the same issue shifting into 1st and 2nd. I’m going to spend some more time looking at the clutch master and slave to make sure they are extending their full travel. The clutch pedal is stopping about 1 inch from the floor, I assume that this is because the piston in the master if bottoming out, but I am going to disengage the arm from the pedal and check the travel of the pushrod again. I’m also wondering if the pivot ball on the throwout arm can be threaded out or a washer placed under it to extend the pivot, which would push out the throwout bearing slightly further. Any other suggestions on where to look are appreciated. Thanks for your help as always.
  7. Moses - Thank you again for the thoughtful reply. I used Redline Mt-90 as a lubricant after the rebuild. It seemed a popular choice on several jeep forums. I will go through your checklist and see if I can see any possible issues. The only thing I can think of at this time is the release arm mounting. It appears that it is symmetrical, but I'm not sure if there's one end that should mount on the pivot side and one on the slave side? The throwout bearing is the one that came with the LUk clutch kit that also included the clutch disk , alignment tool, and clutch housing. All of these were for a 1995 wrangler. The other thing I noticed on removal of the transmission is that the engine block only had one of the transmission mounting dowels. I looked at the old transmission I removed and the dowel stayed in that bellhousing when I removed it. I though that the mounting bolts would align the bellhousing to the engine when tightened, but maybe not having both dowels allowed the transmission to be slightly off, causing either binding in the pilot or clutch/flywheel? Thanks again and have a great day.
  8. Moses - I pulled the transmission out today. Unfortunately, everything looked good with the pilot bushing. The input shaft slid out of the bushing freely, there was no evidence of nicks, gouges, or other distortion on the ID or outside flange of the pilot bushing. I tried installing the clutch installation tool in the bushing and it slid in and out freely as well. I don't think the bushing is the problem. However, I'm running out of options. Also, the clutch disk was installed facing the correct direction. I'm thinking maybe installing a new pilot bushing just in case. I am also wondering if I should try a slightly thicker throwout bearing. I did try the clutch engagement test with the transmission in third gear. I could feel the clutch engaging after letting up the pedal about 2-3 inches. I'd like to avoid having to pull the transmission out again, but hate to just throw different parts at this without a clear diagnosis. Any thoughts? Sorry to take up so much of your time, but I appreciate your efforts.
  9. Moses - The pilot has a bronze oilite bushing. I soaked it overnight it oil prior to install. I will do the test in third gear as you described to make sure the stack height is correct. I agree with you though, all the clutch parts were new and specd for the 1995. It does have a new flywheel for the 4.2, but my understanding was the only difference between the 4.0 and 4.2 flywheel is the reluctor wheel. Assuming all is good with the engagement of the throwout and arm assembly, I’m going to pull the transmission and check the pilot for burs or damage from installation. I have spent too much time on the rebuild of the transmission and transfer case to leave anything to chance at this point. Thanks for your help, I’ll let you know how it turns out when I get the transmission out to inspect things.
  10. Well, I got the new profiled master/slave combo installed tonight. Unfortunately, it did not seem to help. I’m thinking it might be the pilot bushing dragging. When I downshift, there is a brief, high pitched squeal coming from the front of the transmission. I’m wondering if that could be the bushing binding on the input shaft instead of spinning freely. If it is the bushing, is there a chance it will get better over time as the bronze wears, or is this a recipe for disaster. I know that the bushing fit the input shaft well prior to installation, so I’m wondering if I need to replace the bushing or just remove and check it for burs or damaged areas from installation. Finally, if I pull the transmission, I want to make sure the bearing throw is sufficient to disengage the clutch, are there any references on this subject that you know of? I think I saw an adjustable throwout bearing at either Novak or AA, is something like that necessary to increase the stack height or is there some type of shim that can be put in place? Any help is greatly appreciated.
  11. Moses - That is correct, I am using a 4.2 block with a bellhousing and spacer plate from a 4.0. To tell the truth, I did not think about stack height for the throw out bearing, so I never took any measurements for this. I did have an issue with the original pilot bushing (It was a larger diameter one that engaged the larger outside hole on the crank). The splines of the input shaft were impacting the pilot bushing when I fully installed the transmission. There were imprints on the bushing from the splines. I removed that bushing and found a smaller one that would engage the deeper, smaller bore in the crank. I confirmed this bushing fit the input shaft prior to installation, it fit passively but snugly. It is definitely possible that the bushing was damaged during install or is somehow binding now. I’m going to swap out the master/slave this week and hope it’s as simple as a bad or incompletely bled slave cylinder. If no joy, I will start uninstalling the transmission to have a look at the throwout, shift arm, and pilot bushing. I’ll let you know what I find. Thanks a bunch for all the help. I followed your video on rebuilding the AX 15 and found it very helpful, so I doubt there is an internal issue with the trans.
  12. Moses - Thanks for the quick and thoughtful reply. The master and slave cylinders are new Luk units spec’d for a 1995 wrangler with a braided stainless line and adapters from Novak conversions to make the connections. I used a brake pedal from a YJ to mount the master cylinder shaft, so I think the pedal travel should be correct. I have bled the unit several times, both by pedal pressure and by reverse bleeding with the slave off the transmission. There is a bit of a “whooshing” sound coming from the slave cylinder when pressing the clutch pedal in. I’m not sure if this is normal or indicative of possible air in the line. As a last ditch effort to rule out the slave/master as the source, I have ordered an all in one pre-bled system that should arrive this week. I guess once I mount that, if there is still an issue, I will pull the transmission to check the throw out bearing, clutch mounting, and arm functioning again. Thanks again for the help, it is much appreciated.
  13. I recently rebuilt an AX 15 to swap into my CJ with a Dana 300. I swapped it from internal to external slave and replaced all synchros, bearings, etc. Since reinstalling, it is very difficult to shift into 1st and 2nd gear when running. I can shift back into 1st when I come to complete stop and return the transmission to neutral first. I can shift from 1st to second and 3rd to second if I do a combination of double clutching and rev matching. All other gears shift well, and the transmission will shift through all gears when parked. I'm trying to decide if it's a clutch issue or if I need to pull out the transmission and take a look at the 1st/2nd gear synchros. The only reason I think it may be a clutch not engaging/disengaging fully is that the white strap that retains the pushrod on the slave has not broken loose after using it, leading me to believe that maybe the clutch isn't fully engaging.
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