Hey guys, major clutch issues and need advice please!
07-13-2016, 03:03 PM
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Hey guys, major clutch issues and need advice please!
Hello everyone, thanks so much for getting this far in my post....your advice is GREATLY APPRECIATED!
Herein lies my frustration. I am the "proud" owner of a 2008 JK Unlimited for just over a year. I purchased it for my wife from a local dealer with 87,000 miles on it. It happened to have just been traded in with a bad clutch. More specifically it was SUPER hard to push the clutch in and release. We bought the jeep with the understanding the Nissan dealer was going to install an entire new clutch. We went back to pick up the Jeep a week later and it worked fine for roughly 500 miles until the clutch started to chatter when it was driven for more than 15 miles. The warmer it got the worse the chatter was upon engaging the clutch. Please keep in mind I have been driving standards for more than 20 years. I contacted the dealer and it had just went out of their 500 mile warranty. At that point I figured they didn't replace the flywheel and it may have been causing the issue given it engaged perfectly when cold. I ordered a new flywheel from my local Jeep dealer and had my local repair shop install an entirely new clutch kit from Carquest along with my new Jeep flywheel. All was good on that clutch for about 700 miles or so until the exact same symptoms reappeared. I took it back to the same shop and they warrantied the parts given the owner of the shop also owns the local Carquest and I ordered a new slave cylinder for them to install hoping that may have been the culprit. I made sure they inspected the new flywheel to see if hotspots may have formed. When I got my Jeep back it worked fine for about 400 miles and it is starting to do it yet again!! So frustrating..... I haven't been able to put many miles on my Jeep. One other bit of info when I depress the clutch all the way in at a stoplight and it's in 1st gear, I can hear a consistent click as if the clutch disk is hitting the flywheel slightly. Again when my Jeep is cold and I drive it out of my garage, it drives perfectly fine for the first 10 minutes or so. I really love my Jeep but am at my last straw. My question to all you experts is there something you may know of that I may be missing? Are Carquest parts junk? Could there be any chance the output shaft coming out of the tranny could be damaged and slightly warps when it warms up? I'm totally out of options at this point as is the shop. I have no problems taking my Jeep to the dealer however I don't want to spend money on a 4th clutch in one year for it to do it yet again. Thanks so much for hearing me out on this and giving it some thought. Looking forward to getting this resolved so I can see you on the trail!
Herein lies my frustration. I am the "proud" owner of a 2008 JK Unlimited for just over a year. I purchased it for my wife from a local dealer with 87,000 miles on it. It happened to have just been traded in with a bad clutch. More specifically it was SUPER hard to push the clutch in and release. We bought the jeep with the understanding the Nissan dealer was going to install an entire new clutch. We went back to pick up the Jeep a week later and it worked fine for roughly 500 miles until the clutch started to chatter when it was driven for more than 15 miles. The warmer it got the worse the chatter was upon engaging the clutch. Please keep in mind I have been driving standards for more than 20 years. I contacted the dealer and it had just went out of their 500 mile warranty. At that point I figured they didn't replace the flywheel and it may have been causing the issue given it engaged perfectly when cold. I ordered a new flywheel from my local Jeep dealer and had my local repair shop install an entirely new clutch kit from Carquest along with my new Jeep flywheel. All was good on that clutch for about 700 miles or so until the exact same symptoms reappeared. I took it back to the same shop and they warrantied the parts given the owner of the shop also owns the local Carquest and I ordered a new slave cylinder for them to install hoping that may have been the culprit. I made sure they inspected the new flywheel to see if hotspots may have formed. When I got my Jeep back it worked fine for about 400 miles and it is starting to do it yet again!! So frustrating..... I haven't been able to put many miles on my Jeep. One other bit of info when I depress the clutch all the way in at a stoplight and it's in 1st gear, I can hear a consistent click as if the clutch disk is hitting the flywheel slightly. Again when my Jeep is cold and I drive it out of my garage, it drives perfectly fine for the first 10 minutes or so. I really love my Jeep but am at my last straw. My question to all you experts is there something you may know of that I may be missing? Are Carquest parts junk? Could there be any chance the output shaft coming out of the tranny could be damaged and slightly warps when it warms up? I'm totally out of options at this point as is the shop. I have no problems taking my Jeep to the dealer however I don't want to spend money on a 4th clutch in one year for it to do it yet again. Thanks so much for hearing me out on this and giving it some thought. Looking forward to getting this resolved so I can see you on the trail!
07-13-2016, 03:17 PM
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So with each new clutch you're putting in a new throwout bearing, right? The carquest brand clutch "shouldn't" be an issue but I've not heard of anyone running one. Has the pilot bearing been replaced each time and also with your new pressure plate?
There are only but so many moving parts down inside the transmission. I've dropped my transmission a couple times now due to terrible throwout bearing design.
There are only but so many moving parts down inside the transmission. I've dropped my transmission a couple times now due to terrible throwout bearing design.
07-13-2016, 03:38 PM
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Thank you for your reply Karl! Yes sir the 3 clutches I have installed have had all new throw out and pilot bearings, pressure plate and clutch disk installed. I have only ever had my Jeep on National Forrest roads twice, all other driving is here in our small town in Colorado. I'm very mechanical but don't have a tranny jack or I would dive in myself. I trust my repair shop and am bewildered what it could be given, like you pointed out, there isn't many parts in there that's why I was curious about the tranny shaft. Thanks again!
07-13-2016, 03:53 PM
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I've been on the forums since I bought the jeep 5 years ago and I've not heard of the input shaft being an issue. That's not to say that it can't be, I've just not seen it. The 87k miles thing blows me away because it's not an "old" part or "worn out" yet.
You've had everything else changed out though so let's continue on. You've got the Mopar flywheel so that shouldn't be the issue. You've tried a coupe different brands clutches, right? And are you using the same brand of throwout bearing each time?
The shop installing it should be torquing things in sequence and applying locktite.
You've had everything else changed out though so let's continue on. You've got the Mopar flywheel so that shouldn't be the issue. You've tried a coupe different brands clutches, right? And are you using the same brand of throwout bearing each time?
The shop installing it should be torquing things in sequence and applying locktite.
07-13-2016, 04:22 PM
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Correct I did have a new Mopar flywheel installed along with all other new Carquest parts. The third install was all new Carquest parts again but I used the same "new" flywheel. I know they replaced all the parts as I had to take the removed parts back to Carquest for the refund and I inspected them all thoroughly. Any thoughts as to why it drives perfectly fine when I first drive it? Thank you!
