Clutch stuck engaged

Roxanne01TJ

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Myrtle Beach
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soooo backstory. My Jeep say in this here mud for about 3 hours before it was pulled out. I left it idling in neutral because I was afraid to shut it off. After about 30 minutes of being submerged, the the tires would not spin at all. And I also realized that I could put the Jeep in gear without putting the clutch in. The clutch pedal comes back up when I press it down. And if I put it in any gear and let go of the clutch it just idles there. So my question is: is the clutch actually stuck engaged? I had a leak coming from my slave cylinder before I took it out, so I would be surprised if water got into the system. I tried pumping the the clutch and that didn’t work. What should I do to fix this? I want to avoid pulling the tranny to get to the clutch because the clutch is brand new. Please help!
 
If you can shift into any gears while engine is idling then I would check the transfer case shifter to make sure it's not in between 2wd/4wd positions.
 
I am sure you know this already.... but it is recommended to not operate the clutch when submerged in mud...
When the clutch is engage/released there is now mud between the pressure plate and clutch disc and flywheel.
As for why the clutch feels like its not operating.... it could be the slave cylinder as you stated OR it could be the clutch assembly has a lot of mud on it....
You may find that you need to remove the transmission to do a clutch inspection and possibly replace the clutch parts....
 
touch up. Only way to do it right now is to pull the clutch. It is packed with mud between the flywheel and pressure plate gunking up the clutch disk itself. Probably pressure plate springs are full of crap too. And if the bearing is old then that probably has mud in it. Only solution is to pull it all out, clean everything. Really clean. Including pilot bearing. Then replace the clutch, plate, and bearings. Put in a new hydraulics while in there. But be certain the bell housing, and behind the flywheel is spotless. Take a good look at the RMS while in there. Mud can get pressed into everything. Especially if you kept it all spinning in the goo.
 
I am sure you know this already.... but it is recommended to not operate the clutch when submerged in mud...
When the clutch is engage/released there is now mud between the pressure plate and clutch disc and flywheel.
As for why the clutch feels like its not operating.... it could be the slave cylinder as you stated OR it could be the clutch assembly has a lot of mud on it....
You may find that you need to remove the transmission to do a clutch inspection and possibly replace the clutch parts....
Actually I did not know that.
 
touch up. Only way to do it right now is to pull the clutch. It is packed with mud between the flywheel and pressure plate gunking up the clutch disk itself. Probably pressure plate springs are full of crap too. And if the bearing is old then that probably has mud in it. Only solution is to pull it all out, clean everything. Really clean. Including pilot bearing. Then replace the clutch, plate, and bearings. Put in a new hydraulics while in there. But be certain the bell housing, and behind the flywheel is spotless. Take a good look at the RMS while in there. Mud can get pressed into everything. Especially if you kept it all spinning in the goo.
I’m probably just gonna take the flex plate off and inspect the clutch from there. I’m trying to see if I can fix this without pulling the tranny. I know for sure that I need a new slave cylinder so that will be the first thing I install. If it doesn’t work from there ill just suck it up and pull the tranny again. That’s a brand new clutch too 😐
 
Before I pulled it apart I'd be really sure it was in 2wd, if the transfer case linkage was damaged and put it in neutral this is what would happen. Can you shift into 4wd?

I'd also probably try to flush the bellhousing with water first. If you have an NV3550 I think there is a vent at the rear of the housing right where the transmission is bolted. It'll be tight. Worst case flush it from there before you pull it apart. I don't think there's a vent in the housing for the transmission itself, maybe somebody else can confirm this wont get water in the trans.
 
IF you decide to flush the inside of the bell housing and clutch assembly to see if this helps; you can remove the starter and slave cylinder and use a pressurize flexible wand to rinse the insides and clutch assembly. Then install the new slave cylinder and operate the clutch flushing from the starter side.
Since the clutch is new; hopefully this rinsing will be enough for the clutch assembly to function properly.
 
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IF you decide to flush the inside of the bell housing and clutch assembly to see if this helps; you can remove the starter and slave cylinder and use a pressurize flexible wand to rinse the insides and clutch assembly. Then install the new slave cylinder and operate the clutch flushing from the starter side.
Since the clutch is new; hopefully this rinsing will be enough for the clutch assembly to function properly.
I got the slave cylinder removed. Should the clutch still be stuck engaged? Because it for sure is.
 
No it shouldn't still be stuck. Now you know it ain't the slave cylinder.
God damnit, we’ll my slave cylinder was leaking anyway so I’m glad I got a new one. Now it’s time to pull the flex plate and see if I can clean it from there. If not I’ll pull the trans. Thank you
 
I’m probably just gonna take the flex plate off and inspect the clutch from there. I’m trying to see if I can fix this without pulling the tranny. I know for sure that I need a new slave cylinder so that will be the first thing I install. If it doesn’t work from there ill just suck it up and pull the tranny again. That’s a brand new clutch too 😐


WAS............ :rolleyes: sorry to hear, that's such a pain in the ass !!!
 
I got the slave cylinder removed. Should the clutch still be stuck engaged? Because it for sure is.
Not sure what your asking. The slave cylinder is what disengages the clutch. If you remove it how would the clutch disengage?
 
I got the slave cylinder removed. Should the clutch still be stuck engaged? Because it for sure is.

The slave cylinder shaft extends and presses against the pivot arm that has the throw out bearing clipped to it. The throw out bearing pushes against the fingers on the pressure plate that moves the clutch disc away so it no longer transfer circular motion between the flywheel and the pressure plate.
The clutch is always transferring motion when the slave cylinder shaft is not extended; it's just the transmission may or may not be in gear.
The clutch may not be able to slide on the transmission input splines or the pressure plate fingers are jammed.
 
is the clutch actually stuck engaged?

A little confused, if the clutciwas stuck engaged, with the engine running, you would not be able to put it in any gear without a lot of grinding.

The tcase shifter is in 2H

Might want to crawl under there and confirm that the transfer case is not in neutral, because what your describing really seams like there is a x-fer case and/or input/output shaft problem with the transmission.
 
A little confused, if the clutciwas stuck engaged, with the engine running, you would not be able to put it in any gear without a lot of grinding.
In this case engaged is taken to mean that the clutch is pressed down or in use. It can be confusing and I'm not saying it is correct one way or another but try to just read about what's happening and figure it out.
 
I got the slave cylinder removed. Should the clutch still be stuck engaged? Because it for sure is.

This make me think the clutch is engaged to the flywheel, or is he saying it is stuck disengaged from the flywheel?