Pressing clutch pedal won't disengage clutch - all new parts

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Gormy

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Joined
Nov 8, 2023
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69
Location
Wilmington, NC
Hello,

I'm nearing the end of my scratch build Jeep project and trying to get the final parts done to get it running. When I had it apart I put in a new clutch, pressure plate, pilot bearing and throw out bearing (all Luk brand). I know there are concerns with the plastic Luk TOB, but I assumed if it failed it would be down the road a ways. Also installed a new slave cylinder.

After installing the slave cylinder and pressing the clutch pedal the first time, there was a decent amount of resistance followed by a pop, and then not much resistance. I looked around online and people say that with a brand new clutch, they're sometimes surprised by how easy they are to push, so I hoped it wasn't an issue. Fast forward to today, and it's together enough that I could take it for a spin around my neighborhood, but as I push the clutch pedal (minimal resistance) and try putting it in gear, lo and behold, it grinds and doesn't go into gear.

What happened? Everything is brand new. I took the old clutch, flywheel and TOB off and immediately installed the new ones so that they were all installed the same way. Added the slave cylinder. Fluid is topped off. Did the TOB fail on the first press of the clutch pedal? Something else I'm overlooking?

Thanks!
 
Is the other end of the throwout fork clipped in place with the required clip atop of the pivot ball?

the pop could have been the plastic/nylon strands preventing the slave push rod from fully extending during shipping snapping apart intentionally during the first use.
 
03coloradowrangler said:
Is the other end of the throwout fork clipped in place with the required clip atop of the pivot ball?

the pop could have been the plastic/nylon strands preventing the slave push rod from fully extending during shipping snapping apart intentionally during the first use.
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To the best of my knowledge, yes. But I can't see it now to know for sure. I put it together months ago. Just trying to get it moved for the first time today and no luck.
 
I took the slave cylinder back out again and the clutch fork has a ton of play up and down. I'm not sure what happened to cause that, but it looks like the transmission is coming out. Mother f******. I did all of this while the engine was out of the frame to make it easier, and here I am dropping it in the damn garage now!
 
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Gormy said:
To the best of my knowledge, yes. But I can't see it now to know for sure. I put it together months ago. Just trying to get it moved for the first time today and no luck.
Click to expand...

It's just an assumption, someone else may have some more ideas before you drop the trans.
Do you by chance have access to an inspection camera? I cant remember the tolerances within the bell housing but theres a slim chance you might be able to visually see it before you pull it off again.
 
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Well this is frustrating. All the work to drop the transmission and I don’t see anything wrong. Clip is still on the end of the fork. Throw out bearing didn’t break. Does anyone see anything I’m missing?
 
Wow that's a lot of rust on those splines.

I'd clean everything up just to see if it helps.

I'm not sure if you have grease on the ball pivot or TOB.

How does that TOB feel?

-Mac
 
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I agree with MAC….
Since you have access to the throw out bearing, fork and transmission input shaft splines and sleeve; spend some time and clean up inside the bell housing, the throw out bearing fork and transmission input shaft splines and sleeve. Test spin the TOB feeling for roughness and manually operate the TOB fork and test its operation prior to assembly.
When you ordered the clutch and pressure plate; you did ensure you received the proper parts ?
There was a member recently that installed a clutch assembly and discovered the wrong parts were installed which caused his problems.
 
Last edited:
Your clutch fork is also backwards, the spring slots should be on the right side of fork when looking at it. This might cause the fork and or throw out bearing to not pivot correctly.

Edited to clarify, the clutch fork should spin 180 degrees for it to be installed correctly
 
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This ended up being the slave cylinder. The pop I felt after pushing it the first time and then the lack of resistance ended up being the "cup" (for lack of better terminology) that pushes the pin into the shift fork slid back into the master cylinder a ways, and the pin was no longer pushing out when the clutch pedal was pressed. Even after bleeding it for a while, it barely built up any pressure. Eventually that cup popped back up into place and I could feel the pin start to push out a bit when the clutch was pressed. I mounted it back to the transmission again, but after pushing the pedal it collapsed again inside the slave cylinder. Put another new one on and it worked perfectly. Now I can drive the Jeep and everything shifts as it is supposed to.
 
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Superjay5 said:
Your clutch fork is also backwards, the spring slots should be on the right side of fork when looking at it. This might cause the fork and or throw out bearing to not pivot correctly.

Edited to clarify, the clutch fork should spin 180 degrees for it to be installed correctly
Click to expand...

So this comment isn't correct, or does it work in spite of this comment? Asking for future readers.
 
hear said:
So this comment isn't correct, or does it work in spite of this comment? Asking for future readers.
Click to expand...

Here is a pic of the FSM showing the correct orientation. Also I just went through this same process last week. Taking it apart the spring slots were on the right side looking at it.

Can it work both ways? It might, but my guess is it could cause the springs to fail sooner or maybe cause the throw out bearing to dig into the input retainer more?

IMG_3213.jpeg


IMG_3172.jpeg
 
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