Contaminated clutch?

[Northwood]

Alright fellas, looking for some insight before I pull my tranny Again.

7500 miles ago, I pulled the tranny to replace a noisy throw out bearing. Since I was in there and didn't want to do it again anytime soon, I went ahead and replaced the clutch with a luk, pilot bearing and return spring as well.

At the time I knew I had either a valve cover gasket or rms leak (or both), very slight. Maybe a quarter sized drip after parking, and it would never leak anymore, no matter how long it sat. The inside of the bell housing was a little oily, but the clutch and flywheel were clean so I decided not to mess with the RMS when I was in there after reading the chances that it would just leak again anyway.

Well, 7000 trouble free miles later, and all of a sudden I start to get clutch chatter in first gear, Only When Hot. Shakes the whole jeep, sounds terrible, makes me look like a dumbass, not to mention what its doing to the rest of my driveline. Yeah, awesome. Drives perfectly fine every morning to and from work, about 15 miles, but after 20-25 minutes of driving (city or highway) the chatter begins and doesn't stop until the engine cools completely.

So, I replaced the valve cover gasket and ccv system a few hundred miles ago, no more leaks from there, but the rms still leaks slightly, a drip or two down the bellhousing inspection cover. Still chatters when hot, seems a little better but I attribute that to me learning to combat the chatter a little better by driving a certain way.

So, do I replace RMS and oil pan gasket and wait to see if the oil will burn off of the clutch and flywheel (I doubt it will but maybe worth a shot). Or jump right in for the clutch, flywheel, rms and oil pan gasket all at once? Or am I overlooking some other possibility?

Any insight, helpful thoughts, words of wisdom, or hugs welcome. Or a link to a flywheel as I'm having trouble finding one.
Thanks

05 LJ w/ NSG370

Whew, I'm out of breath

 

[Chris]

Well, if you ask me, I would probably replace the rear main seal first and then wait to see if it goes away after X amount of miles. It may, or it may not, depending on how soaked in oil the clutch is.

This is really a crapshoot though, because part of me is tempted to tell you just to replace the clutch and do the rear main seal at the same time.

You can get a new OE flywheel for $181 here:
https://www.wermopar.com/oem-parts/...yJnk9MjAwNSZ0PXVubGltaXRlZCZlPTQtMGwtbDYtZ2Fz

 

[Northwood]

Well, if you ask me, I would probably replace the rear main seal first and then wait to see if it goes away after X amount of miles. It may, or it may not, depending on how soaked in oil the clutch is.

This is really a crapshoot though, because part of me is tempted to tell you just to replace the clutch and do the rear main seal at the same time.

You can get a new OE flywheel for $181 here:
https://www.wermopar.com/oem-parts/...yJnk9MjAwNSZ0PXVubGltaXRlZCZlPTQtMGwtbDYtZ2Fz

Yeah, I've been going back and forth for a while now too. Many things would be made easier by doing it all at once, but then I go back to hoping the rms will cure my problems on it's own. If it were summer I'd probably just do it all, but I think I'll give the rms a shot and do the rest when it warms up, if need be. Really wishing I had done it 1000 miles ago when I changed my oil...
Thanks for the link. Good to know, if I go that route later on.

 

[Chris]

I've heard stories of clutches being lightly contaminated with oil and recovering from it. However, I've also heard of ones that were soaked in oil to the point of no return.

It's a tough decision, no doubt.

 

[Northwood]

I've heard stories of clutches being lightly contaminated with oil and recovering from it. However, I've also heard of ones that were soaked in oil to the point of no return.

It's a tough decision, no doubt.

Fingers crossed :eyepop: now I've got to decide on oil since Jerry convinced me I'm wasting my Benjamins on amsoil lol

 

[Chris]

You are wasting your Benjamins on Amsoil, haha! Waste it on something else, like a new flywheel

 

[Northwood]

You are wasting your Benjamins on Amsoil, haha! Waste it on something else, like a new flywheel

If I do end up needing a new flywheel and it turns out to be a waste, I'll be extraordinarily pissed :BangHead:

 

[Northwood]

Still having a hard time with the "all oil is good enough" mentality which has stopped me from walking into the store to see if I remember how to eenie meenie miney moe

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Fingers crossed :eyepop: now I've got to decide on oil since Jerry convinced me I'm wasting my Benjamins on amsoil lol

Valvoline, Havoline, Castrol, Shell, Mobil, Chevron, Pennzoil, or Quaker State would make my engine happy. I'd run any of them though force of habit has me usually reaching for Valvoline.

 

[Northwood]

Valvoline, Havoline, Castrol, Shell, Mobil, Chevron, Pennzoil, or Quaker State would make my engine happy. I'd run any of them though force of habit has me usually reaching for Valvoline.

Any of their synthetics better than the others? Will be going synthetic as it gets rather cold here

 

[bobthetj03]

Did you replace the flywheel when you replaced the clutch? My RMS has leaked from the day I bought the jeep and that was 100k miles ago, so I'm not sure that is your problem. I don't know about prior 03 models, but when I replaced my clutch about 15k miles ago, they recommended not to re-use the flywheel.

 

[Northwood]

Did you replace the flywheel when you replaced the clutch? My RMS has leaked from the day I bought the jeep and that was 100k miles ago, so I'm not sure that is your problem. I don't know about prior 03 models, but when I replaced my clutch about 15k miles ago, they recommended not to re-use the flywheel.

I did not. Just cleaned it up and hit it with some emery cloth for a good while in small circles, which was suggested all across the interwebs. Seemed nobody was replacing their flywheels that I came across. One would think that if the flywheel was the problem it would have caused issues from day one not 7000 miles later and only when hot? However I had had the same thought that there are a hundred posts of rms leaks and maybe one or two that mention clutch contamination. One would think it would be more prevalent. This is exactly the reason I created the thread is to get different input. And your thoughts were exactly the ones i was having pushing me to just do it all at once including the flywheel

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Any of their synthetics better than the others? Will be going synthetic as it gets rather cold here

Any of their synthetics would be fine if it gets that cold there. No need to pay big $$$ for a synthetic, you could even just go with a 5W-30 blend for the coldest time of the year.

 

[Northwood]

Any of their synthetics would be fine if it gets that cold there. No need to pay big $$$ for a synthetic, you could even just go with a 5W-30 blend for the coldest time of the year.

I spend many a weekend in Northern Minnesota, where I'm from, and it is colder than shit there during the winter. Here in Iowa, it's probably right on the line where 5w30 is beneficial but I've always switched to that in winter time, as well as running synthetic, so I kept doing it after moving here. I wonder if my rms is leaking so little that switching to conventional might stop it? Although I suspect you're going to tell me that synthetics leaking more than conventional is a myth also lol

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Synthetics did used to leak more than conventional motor oils but no more. The manufacturers took care of that with a change to the additive formula to keep the seals tight.

 

[Northwood]

Synthetics did used to leak more than conventional motor oils but no more. The manufacturers took care of that with a change to the additive formula to keep the seals tight.

Good to know. Any wisdom to impart on my clutch issue? I believe you are one of the many who have replaced their clutch and reused the flywheel. Think I'm on the right track with the rms?

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Yes I replaced my previous TJ's clutch and re-used the flywheel as is. But I just don't have a clue on your shuddering which is why I didn't offer an opinion on it. I'd have to be able to drive it to even have a chance of coming up with anything. Sorry.

 

[Northwood]

That makes me feel much worse lol.
No worries, I will continue down my current path for now

 

[Northwood]

Is there any possibility this could be a pinion angle issue? My pinion angle is about 2.7 degrees off. Metalcloak rear upper double adjustable control arms won't adjust short enough to roll the pinion down to where it needs to be without adjustable lowers. I've never had, nor do I currently have any vibrations on the highway or while accelerating and I have no explanation as to why the shudder would only occur when hot or why it would start out of nowhere(maybe control arm bushings getting warm enough and allowing axle to roll just enough under torque?)

Just thinking out loud here. Any thoughts?

2.5 degree measurement is taken at the flat spots behind the rear diff which is perpendicular to the pinion angle and should be equal to angle of the t-case output since I do not have a double cardan drive shaft.

 

[Northwood]

Did you replace the flywheel when you replaced the clutch? My RMS has leaked from the day I bought the jeep and that was 100k miles ago, so I'm not sure that is your problem. I don't know about prior 03 models, but when I replaced my clutch about 15k miles ago, they recommended not to re-use the flywheel.

I belive I saw on another thread when you did your clutch and flywheel you used the luk flywheel? Is this the one? Amazon says it doesn't fit, but it's recommended with the clutch and throw out bearing that do fit. Their vehicle fitment isn't always the best.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003K0XO64/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Otherwise the Mopar version is $242, which stings the wallet a tad more

Edit: 05-06 uses a different flywheel, Mopar PN 53010630AB for anyone reading this in the future