Sticky Clutch Pedal

nathanotis

nathanotis

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 26, 2019
Messages
478
Location
Colorado Springs
2004 TJ Rubi. 57k miles (New to me)

My clutch pedal travel is sticky and makes launching smoothly from a stop almost impossible as it grabs and sticks during the critical point of engagement and power transfer. It's not making any noise at all.

Inside the cab I've lubricated the 2 pivot points I can see at the clutch pedal using a white spray lithium grease. The clutch position sensor moves freely and I've cleaned and lubed the push rod that goes through the firewall to the master cylinder. I have a new bushing for the push rod/pedal connection, but since it's not a bearing, I don't think that's the cause of the sticky travel.

Under the Jeep, I've pulled the starter and liberally sprayed the end of the clutch fork with the same white lithium spray. Obviously I can't remove the clutch fork to get under it to that pivot point, where I *think* the root of the problem is, but I was *hoping* enough lube would migrate to where it needs to be. I'm thinking about removing the slave cylinder and spraying the contact point in there as well.

Still sticks. Very frustrating.

I have a complete master/slave assembly on the way, but besides the stickyness, the clutch performs well.

I don't want to take everything apart to remove the clutch fork if I can avoid it. Anything I'm missing that could also be the cause of the sticky pedal movement?
 
nathanotis said:
2004 TJ Rubi. 57k miles (New to me)

My clutch pedal travel is sticky and makes launching smoothly from a stop almost impossible as it grabs and sticks during the critical point of engagement and power transfer. It's not making any noise at all.

Inside the cab I've lubricated the 2 pivot points I can see at the clutch pedal using a white spray lithium grease. The clutch position sensor moves freely and I've cleaned and lubed the push rod that goes through the firewall to the master cylinder. I have a new bushing for the push rod/pedal connection, but since it's not a bearing, I don't think that's the cause of the sticky travel.

Under the Jeep, I've pulled the starter and liberally sprayed the end of the clutch fork with the same white lithium spray. Obviously I can't remove the clutch fork to get under it to that pivot point, where I *think* the root of the problem is, but I was *hoping* enough lube would migrate to where it needs to be. I'm thinking about removing the slave cylinder and spraying the contact point in there as well.

Still sticks. Very frustrating.

I have a complete master/slave assembly on the way, but besides the stickyness, the clutch performs well.

I don't want to take everything apart to remove the clutch fork if I can avoid it. Anything I'm missing that could also be the cause of the sticky pedal movement?
Click to expand...
Great example of less isn't always more.
An 18 year old piece with only 57k got stale.

How long have you owned it now?

It desperately needs driven!!

May i ask what slave did you order?
 
Rubicon88 said:
Great example of less isn't always more.
An 18 year old piece with only 57k got stale.

How long have you owned it now?

It desperately needs driven!!

May i ask what slave did you order?
Click to expand...
That point isn't lost on me.

Had it about 2 months now. Daily driven. Probably put 1000 miles on it in that time.

Will report back on the slave assembly. It was ordered through work (Automotive repair) and I don't have access to the part number.
 
As promised: the slave assembly is a LUK model from NAPA (74032)

I drove a little this weekend and noted that the stickiness cleared up a little, but it isn't gone completely. I attributed this to the grease I sprayed *close* to the problem area on Friday migrating to the proper location, but not in a large enough concentration to resolve the issue. It also seems to catch more when it's warm as opposed to when it's cold. I'm going to try lubing the pivot points again in the hopes that I don't have to swap out the slave assembly.
 
nathanotis said:
As promised: the slave assembly is a LUK model from NAPA (74032)

I drove a little this weekend and noted that the stickiness cleared up a little, but it isn't gone completely. I attributed this to the grease I sprayed *close* to the problem area on Friday migrating to the proper location, but not in a large enough concentration to resolve the issue. It also seems to catch more when it's warm as opposed to when it's cold. I'm going to try lubing the pivot points again in the hopes that I don't have to swap out the slave assembly.
Click to expand...

Did you ever track down the culprit? I'm having the same issue after a complete clutch job including new master/slave. I also shot white lithium at all the suspect areas but it's still there (better, but there) I can hear a "squeaking" under the dash though but can't quite narrow in on exactly where.
 
Giving life to this old thread. I have the exact problem. Sticky, shuddering clutch pedal. This seems to get worse as it warms up, so must be expanding materials with the engine heat? My suspicion at this point is a bad clutch master cylinder. I swapped mine out not long after having the jeep, and unfortunately didn't save the old on. I used a full master / slave kit LUK brand. I've also done a full clutch replacement due to bad throw out bearing since and no change either.

Any of you guys solve this?
 
I'm reviving this thread to hopefully get some traction and thoughts on this issue. When I purchased this Jeep it has an aftermarket economy style clutch master and slave with the metal body. It never had any issues but for whatever reason I decided to replace it with a Luk pre-bled system. Not long after, I started having a sticky pedal on release. I dealt with it for some time and eventually replaced my clutch and flywheel with a Luk clutch kit. I also replaced the fork, pilot bearing, front bearing retainer (the piece that the release bearing rides on) and everything else, basically. I did this because I had a noisy release bearing. The sticky pedal remained after the clutch change. I eventually got fed up and found a Mopar original pre-bled NOS system on eBay. I purchased that and replaced the entire assembly, again. It 100% fixed my issue. The pedal felt amazing and I thought I had put this issue behind me. It lasted... two months. The problem is back, again.

What in the world is causing this? Is it heat soak due to the hose being close to the exhaust? Are the seals swelling in the master cylinder? I'm tempted to rebuild the master cylinder with higher quality seals but I'm having a hard time sourcing those parts. I'm also debating buying an economy master and slave cylinder that are made out of metal, instead. Hell, it's cheap enough and easy enough to swap the parts.

Hopefully somebody else is or has had this issue and can provide some input.

Thanks!
 
Maybe it's as simple as something interfering with the pedal or a bad pivot bushing if there even is one on the clutch pedal.

Wouldn't be the first time someone routed accessory wiring into the path of a moving pedal...or even factory wiring coming loose or being misrouted.

-Mac
 
Make sure the nuts are torqued to spec. 28ft-lbs for Master, only 17ft-lbs for Slave. Got these specs on extremeterrain.com, says they’re for 1997-2006 wranglers. Solved the sticky clutch pedal issue on my 2004 wrangler after I replaced the master/slave assembly. Make sure the vehicle is cold when doing this. Hope this helps!
 
I have seen throw out bearings bind onto the trans input sleeve, not personally on wranglers, but it did happen to my WRX. Fortunately nothing got damaged, but they can fail bad enough to break the snout.
Anyway, with age grease can become tacky, it’s possible the throw out bearing is binding up on the shaft while sliding back and forth to push the spring when the clutch pedal is pressed.
 
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