Dragging clutch

I've been getting this issue for about a week now, and have been searching my butt off all over to try and track it down with not much luck. What's going on is the clutch isn't disengaging when I first start it up, and even sometimes when it sits and idles for a little bit in neutral. There was a lot of play in the pedal, so I adjusted it up to no avail. I can't get my inspection cover off from inside easily (thanks shoddy floor repair!) so I've been taking the clevis off, adjusting it, then putting the pin back in. I tightened it up more last night, as tight as I could get it and still get the pin back in. I'll have to remeasure, but it's about 3/4" free play in the pedal.

Here's where I'm getting stuck: The jeep worked fine when I got it in early January. No issues, drove beautifully. Every thread seems to refer to jeeps that have sat for a while. I put it in low range, stand on the brakes and crank it, it will fire, drive through the brakes, and keep moving until I shut it down. If I put the t-case in neutral and play with it for a bit, randomly it will all the sudden free up and I'll be able to jump back and forth from 1st to neutral with no grinding. Slip the tcase into gear, and off I go with the clutch engaging nice and smooth at about 3/4 of the way out. No pops or squeals or ANY noise at all, only way I can tell it's freed up is the 1st-reverse shift. Sometimes I can go into low and push on 2nd and it after a few seconds it will free up and slip in, but I really hate doing that to the sycnro, especially since it seems no more reliable then my neutral method.

Pilot bushing? Wouldn't I be getting awful noise when it freed up if that was the case? Oil on the disk? Right now I'm really after things to dry without doing the deed and going inside. I've got a camping trip in a month and after that she can go down for a bit. I don't want to pull it down right now and see I need a new clutch kit and a rear main and a pilot bushing and a tranny rebuild and....

 

i had a pilot bearing freeze up in a subaru once and it did that same thing.

 

Pilot or throw-out bearing?

 

All stock, F134, T90C and stock linkage. I've run across the frozen pilots before, but it always made noise. This thing gets nothing. The joint for the bellcrank on the t-case looks a bit sloppy, but would that be intermittent like this?

 

Maybe the pilot, but think the first thing I would do is try to isolate external (linkage) from internal. Rig a come-along or bar clamp/pipe clamp to the throw out arm and pull it back to its travel limit. If the clutch disengages work on the linkage. Otherwise, you will be removing the trans to fix.

I have never had a pilot bushing in a Jeep cause the clutch not to disengage. A very loose pilot will usually cause vibration and take out the needles on the main shaft and or the input shaft bearing but the clutch still works.

 

My guess would be a problem with the carrier the t/o brg is pressed onto and/or wear in the front bearing retainer.
The bearing retainer could be worn, not letting the carrier slide smoothly; or the ears on the carrier where the t/o fork pushes are worn, or the fork is worn....or all of the above.
Is it possible for you to remove the floor cover, remove the inspection cover from the bellhousing, and peer down inside ?

 

I'll have to give that a shot. Are the linkage parts available still? I haven't been able to find them, but I didn't search very hard yet either. If not, time to rig up something different me thinks.

I'm thinking that I might be time ahead pulling the motor rather then the tranny/t-case, but it would be nice to get all the gunk off of the T90/D18.

Unfortunately, the PO did a pretty shoddy floor repair, so the floor cover is tack welded/riveted/rusty screwed in a number of spots. If eliminating the linkage from the equation doesn't do it, I think that's my next step. I don't like pulling heavy cast iron drivetrain parts if I don't need to.

 

My experience is that pulling the trans/t-case is much easier than pulling the engine. Way fewer things to disconnect and a lot easier to get the pilot lined for reassembly. A transmission jack makes it a piece of cake but even a rolling floor jack will get the job done. Or if you are young and strong, just muscle it in. Have used all three but the latter is no longer an optionR)

 

Yeah, I've done the muscle it thing a few times, but that's on newer stuff that is mostly aluminum...haha! I'm sure not getting younger either...

 

Well, not a good night of wrenching. Unhooked the clevis so I could tie a rope around it and pull it back with the come along. Rope snapped and with the shock the cable came off the release fork. Figured what the heck, might as well get the tunnel cover off. All but three of the bolts came out nice once I pealed back the layers of shoddy floor repair. Got two of those out with brute force and lack of regard for vintage sheet metal (hope he forgives me!). One is not cooperating. Hopefully tomorrow or this weekend she'll come right off and I can get down to business. I've got a certified mess of floor in the aftermath that I need to get serviceable by the April 20th for a camping trip. There is plenty of good metal to fasten to, so I'll just rivet in some sheet metal for now and throw on some spray paint. Hopefully once I get the cover off it is something simple, fingers crossed!

 

The option I have now is one of those Harbour Freight 1500 lb motorcycle lifts. One of them only has two positions, All the way up! or All the way down!

You can get them that have 4 different locking positions. The platform stays level as you run the lift up. They will handle a full dress Goldwing or Harley. So a tranny/tc combo shouldn't over tax them at all.

 

I had this similar issue with my 69. Sometimes the clutch would work and other times just grinded. I had to readjust the clutch every few days, turned out that the cable had frayed inside the casing where I couldnt see it and the cable kept stretching. I had mine tightend all the way up as well then one day the swedge at the clevis pulled off.

 

Is there a trick to getting the ball end of the cable hooked back up? I'm hoping I can see it all better with the tunnel cover off.

 

another problem i had with my jeep, the farthest front linkage attachment tab, located on the pedel , cracked and everytime i tightened the linkage cable it would just bend and loosen up again.

 

Well, I think I found it. Pulled the inspection cover and it appears to be a new clutch in there. When I push the pedal, it just didn't seem to be throwing far enough, so back to linkage. I pulled all the old stuff out and here,s the state of things:

















The cable actually looks serviceable so I'm thinking ball studs, link, and z tube and I'll be in business.

 

those linkage connecting rods wear out real fast, i replaced mine with heim joints and stainless all thread from McMaster carr have'nt had a weaqr problem since.

 

I'm actually thinking about making up an adjustable rod with these shielded ball joints. I'll use a left hand and a right hand and thread a shaft so that I can adjust it easily. I'm on a time crunch right now so I'm ordering up all the parts from midwest military, e-mailed him today and already got a response back that he's going to have everything shipped out tomorrow. I might chop the ends off the link rod and thread it to match those ball joint ends. I like these better than heim joints.

 

Could someone with a service manual tell me what the "proper" way to remove and install the Z tube is? I took the bracket at the frame loose and just pulled it back until the ball popped out. Didn't feel like the right way, and don't know that it'll go back in that way with new non-worn out parts. Are you supposed to take the transmission mount loose or something?

 

Hey, if you need help this coming summer, I'm in Nelson, WI, just down the road from you. We are currently in Prescott, AZ till end of April, and are going back to Wisconnie then. I have a 10,000# BenPak lift and a big tranny lift for my projects, you are welcome to use them. Dave.