jmanscotch

Driving my 07 JK with 62K miles on it, I hear a clang from the transmission and a horrible whine. I milk it home another 5 miles, the squeal and whine being more pronounced during clutch pedal use. Knowing how these NSG370 trannys have some issues with TOBs, I called my buddy who works at a dealership and has use of lifts and we tow her down for some wrenching to investigate.

Here's my beater, just felt we needed to get to know eachother a little before we dug into her insides and posted her private parts all over the forum:



Moving on; Upon removing the transmission, with the help of a DIY on here, this is what I find:






Throw out bearing has decided it no longer wanted to be a TOB and rebelled.

So, TOB...should I buy OEM or try aftermarket? With a little research, I determined the OE units are complete crap and there was no way I was planning on dropping the transmission to replace another one during my ownership, so I went with the National Bearing brand unit from Advanced Auto for about $45.

While in there, I noticed some hot spots on the clutch components:




As previously mentioned; my buddy works for a dealership (albiet a VW/Mazda) and can get OE Mopar parts for close to cost. I contemplated going with a Spec clutch kit, but honestly it's just not needed for the light wheeling I do and so I couldn't justify cost. OE clutch and pressure plate picked up for $180.



Since I was in there, I looked for any recalls or TSBs for the transmission and found a TSB for the clutch fork pivot ball, specifically the one that calls for two (2) spacer washers to be installed behind the pivot ball to correct some ill designed geometry from the factory. I looked for information on the spacer sizes, but didn't find any information online and had to resort to spending the $9 for the two at the dealership.

Here is what I received as washers that relate to TSB 06-002-07:

Washer Thickness: 2.25 MM Each (two needed)
Washer ID: 0.6 MM
Washer OD: 7.8 MM

If you find yourself adding these, just buy something of this size for $0.50 somewhere and not $9 at the dealership.







Clutch reassembled and installed.




So, lessons learned FYI:

- Make friends with someone who has a lift.
- The National Bearing TOB is much more of a quality product than OE, by visual inspection atleast.
- When reinstalling the clutch slave cylinder...DO NOT FREAKING DROP THE LITTLE PLASTIC END PIECE INTO THE TRANSMISSION...make sure the slave boot is securely attached to the lip on the plastic end piece...you cannot buy just the plastic end piece, but rather have to buy an entire new slave cylinder.

I know this isn't an uber informative post...but I felt the washer size and a few pics of the TOB made it worth writing. Do feel free to ask any questions and I'll be happy to give my experience and views on things experienced.

- Jake

darkknight1999

Thanks for the write up man Looks like I'll be doing the same thing myself. I have an 07 JKU Rubi with 69K that needs the same work by the sound of it.

I have a few questions...

How long did the job take?
Could you provide a parts list with the parts you installed? and pricing if you have it...
Do you have any pictures of the flywheel? and its condition?

Thanks again!

TheDirtman

It took me about 10 hours to do with a lift. If feels like you take half the jeep apart to get to the clutch. Only takes about 30 min to actually change the clutch and tob

darkknight1999

Ok so clearly you only want to do this once... I guess I better start buying the parts to do a complete job.

TheDirtman

Yep, while you are in there you might as well replace all the wear parts. I went with the center force clutch and it drives a lot smoother then the factory clutch.

jmanscotch

It took us about a week of working after work (3 hours a night) so roughly 15 hours. Granted, this was my first time doing a clutch and we struggled hardcore getting the splines to line back up during transmission re-installation (in my opinion, the only hard and frustrating part of the whole ordeal, outside of getting the top two bolts out of the bell housing...we didn't have air tools to use most of the repair).

Parts I replaced:

- National Bearing brand Throw Out Bearing: Part Number 614093 - Advance Autoparts $48
* Reason I picked this over OEM: NSG-370 Throwout bearing Comparison Natinoal Bearing VS Mopar - JKowners.com : Jeep Wrangler JK Forum

- OEM Clutch disc and flywheel - Part Number 52104732 - Dealership $260 (I got at cost for $185.64 plus tax)
* Could've lasted to well over 100K miles by the look of it, but due to some scaring on it and hot spots on the flywheel, it was cheap enough to go ahead and replace.

- High Temperature Grease: Autozone $4
* For greasing where TOB slides, clutch fork pivot ball and splines for transmission re-installation.

- Two (2) OEM Washers: Part Number 6100882 - Dealership $8.40 (Dimensions shown so you can get them at any hardware store)
* I added these spacing washers behind the clutch fork pivot ball (shown above) per TSB 06-002-07 as seen here, as well as all TSBs and recalls: Jeep results under Recalls & TSBs | AutoMD

- OEM Clutch Slave Cylinder: Part Number 52060133 - Dealership $110.85
* I could tell mine was recently replaced, but due to breaking a part of it, I had to replace. It's external to the transmission and very easy to change at a later date if needed.

- OEM Retaining Clip for the transfer case cable bracket: Part Number 68018106 - Dealership $3.88
* When removing this old brittle clip, it's really easy to break as you have to tweak it to get it out.

- Two (2) Quarts of Penzoil Syncro Gear Oil for transmission: $8.99 Each ($17.98)
* It's a little tough to get the drain plug out when the transmission is installed due to the exhaust cross over location...easy while it's out.

- Four (4) Quarts of Castrol ATF 4+ for transfer case: $6.99 Each ($20.97)
* Same as transmission reasoning.

- Four (4) Grade 8 bolts and nuts (forgot the size): Home Depot ~$5
* The four exhaust bolts that you have to remove ARE going to be heat warped and a pain to get out due to the shit factory design of the nut retaining clips. It shouldn't be hard to pull them and make a run to Home Depot/Lowe's and match up some replacements for re-install.


That's what I replaced. The only other things I think one would care to replace while in there are:
- Clutch Fork Pivot Ball: And that's only if yours shows excessive wear or gouges in it.
- Clutch Fork: Again, if it's somehow cracked or worn excessive...neither really should be at 69K IMO.
- Pilot Bearing: It's probably a sub $20 part, but would need a special puller to removed and a press to reinstall. I didn't feel compelled to replace this as I didn't exhibit any symptoms of mine being worn.

If you offroad your JK, have some extra coin to spend or just generally prefer upgrading; you'd definitely benefit from looking into Spec clutches (the popular choice is Spec 3+, at about $650 if I recall, for harsh JK use). I weighted the pro's and con's of it over OEM and decided I only do light wheeling and don't plan to keep this Jeep more than another year so OE fit my needs and budget better.

If you start tackling the job and would like my phone number to reach out to with in the moment questions, just message me.

Jake

PS: I believe I maybe mixing up "Flywheel" and "Pressure Plate", but the picture of one of those that I replaced (came in the OE Clutch Kit) due to blueing and hot spots is in the photos above. The other one that was mounted to the engine side of things looked in good order, so I left it.

darkknight1999

Thanks for all the info Jake! I'll keep that in mind.

Ghost63

Quick questions, was the pilot bearing an actual bearing or a bushing?

jmanscotch

I believe it to be an actual bearing.

Ghost63

Not sure I would have bypassed replacing it if it is an actual bearing. They are fairly simple to get out and install. Hopefully you at least lubed it before you put everything back together.