Exploded clutch disc?

Cudabnu

Cudabnu

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 24, 2018
Messages
135
Location
Ventura CA 93003
My buddy has a 01 6cyl 5spd, his son says he was driving and heard a pop, then the jeep wouldn't move. Had it towed home. You can push in on the clutch and put into any gear, but you release the clutch and nothing happens, no squealing, no burnt clutch smell, nothing. Tried putting the transfer case in 2wd, 4wd hi, 4wd low, same result. I do see a bunch a dark fibery material on the top of the tranny, and poking out of the sensor grommet on the top left of the bell housing, and some came out of the bottom between the plate and the bell housing. I've fried a clutch before, and the car would at least shudder or try to move a little, but you could smell it! This one has me stumped. And suggestions? Drive shafts and u joint are all connected. Probably going to drop the tranny and transfer case this weekend.
 
Never heard of a clutch disc exploding like that. But anything's possible.

The only way to know for sure is to pull the tranny.
 
It is possible that you just lost all of the friction material. If you did, that would act like the clutch pedal was always on. If all of it came off at once it could stick out the orifices. You not smelling it has me baffled a bit, but maybe you have a head cold? I mean it is possible big chucks came off, so it didn't actually burn, or it got hot and cooled down really quick since the TJ wouldn't move anymore. I have seen weirder stuff. As @Boinked mentioned you are going to have to pull the trans, and see what is in there.
 
Seeing a bit of clutch material, but no big chunks, more like fiberglass hairs, not enough to say "man the clutch disc exploded" but enought so say hmmmm. Maybe something came off inside and shredded the disc? We're going to pull it this weekend.

It has me stumped, never seen anything like this, especially without the lovely aroma of burnt clutch!
 
Cudabnu said:
Seeing a bit of clutch material, but no big chunks, more like fiberglass hairs, not enough to say "man the clutch disc exploded" but enought so say hmmmm. Maybe something came off inside and shredded the disc? We're going to pull it this weekend.

It has me stumped, never seen anything like this, especially without the lovely aroma of burnt clutch!
Click to expand...
I've seen several exploded clutch discs in various vehicles. What you have going on is someone's kid telling pop stories about what happened. ;) Across the board, all the exploded discs I've seen had one thing in common, someone doing something they should not have been doing. Generally it involves low engine RPM and high vehicle speed or low vehicle speed and high RPM and a clutch dump. One was towing a truck with bad brakes, driver got scared, shifted the truck into gear and dumped the clutch to assist the brakes, clutch disc exploded.

Guy bet that he could win a drag race and not use first or second gear, did a test run taking off in third. Dumped the clutch, blew the disc.

As a minor aside- I built a nice TJ for a friend. He found an Unlimited and sold the TJ. New owner calls me a few days later and says that the parking brake isn't working and the anchor pin is broken that the shoes rest on and all the parts inside are wadded up. Is that something I will fix under warranty since I supplied the axle to go under the rig?

I have to drag it out of him but finally he tells me that his kid did take it for a spin on some dirt to see how the 4 wheel drive worked, alone, unsupervised. I tell him to explain to the kid to not drive off in 4 low with the parking brake applied hard. Oh, he would never do that and I asked him. He said all he did was put it in 4 low and toodle around a bit.

Please explain to him that you can't drive off in low with the parking brake applied since it rips the anchor pin off and wads up all the parts inside.

He's a good kid and he would never do that or lie to me about doing that. Okay, believe what you want but the only way to have happen what you are dealing with is to drive off in 4 low with the brake applied hard. I know, I've done it and fixed it several times.

You're kind of an asshole. Yeah, but in this case, I'm an asshole that isn't wrong. CLICK.
 
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Cudabnu said:
his son says he was driving and heard a pop, then the jeep wouldn't move.
Click to expand...

Haha, that's the problem right there. I can guarantee there is more to the story than you're being told. Particularly if his son is younger (i.e. 16-25 or somewhere in that age range).

I managed to do the same thing to a clutch (explode it) when I was 16. We were all young and dumb once. ;)
 
Oh, he has no doubt his son did something wrong. But rest assured his son will be helping with the removal and installation while we sit back and watch and point at what to do next!
 
I exploded my clutch into hundreds of pieces, this is how: was in 4Low, first gear going down a hill. Disengaged clutch, and started free rolling down the hill about 15MPH while my foot was on the clutch.. master cylinder gave out and suddenly engaged my clutch while idling in 4low, 1st gear, rolling at 15mph!!!!! Clutch was in hundreds of pieces when I pulled the trans lol So this kid isn't telling the full story!
 
Ok, to bring closure to this, we removed the tranny and transfer case. The pressure plate side of the disc was completely gone and shredded all over the place. The Flywheel side was super thin, pressure plate itself look fine, no burn/overheating signs.
New Luk clutch kit, and all is well (except my back!)
 
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