nonotford

My 1990 4.0L XJ 5sp is giving me hell, currently. While driving for a while on the highway the other day, the clutch all of a sudden gained a lot of "play". The first have of pedal travel offered no resistance and the friction point was basically at the floor. It seemed to then fix itself later on that day. Then, a couple days later, after driving up a mountain pass, I lost all resistance from the clutch, and I could not use the clutch at all. Once I hit the first stoplight, I could not get the car in first, and had to be towed. The mechanic said I punctured the master cylinder piston with the rod from the clutch. He replaced the master cylinder, and I drove away happy. Not 10 minutes later, the same thing started happening against (most of the clutch pedal travel offered no resistance, friction point on floor). I luckily made it home 3hrs on highway by shifting w/o clutch mostly. Only twice I came to a full stop before getting home, and luckily I could get it in first both times.

Sorry for the length. But it seems odd that this puncture would happen twice. Any ideas out there? Maybe I have air in the fluid??

musikman43155

Sounds like the clutch slave cylinder based on my very, very limited automotive experience. My 92 wouldn't enagage the cluthc without pumping it 50 times. Then while in first, I couldn't shift it into second without pumping it 50 more times. When I dropped the transmission, the slave cylinder had left a nice trail of Dot 3 in the bellhousing.

It's not that tough to do, but, helps to have some help to drop the transmission.

musikman43155

Also, given that yours is a 1990, you may also have the hated Peugot transmission from hell. Probably a good time to swap an AX-15 in assuming you have a 4x4.

95THORxj

x2 on slave cylinder!

notop46

Probably slave cylinder. My 90 lost two of the springs from the clutch disk and one jammed up the pressure plate. Managed to limp home. Luckilly my clutch lockout switch is bypassed, so I was able to stop the engine and shift into first and then start the engine when the light turned green.

Since you will have to drop the tranny to replace the slave cylinder, I would consider the clutch and pressure plate replacement as well.

just my $0.02 worth

notop46

BTW do not forget to pick up an inverse torx socket (size?) and some long extensions for the top 2 tranny to engine bolts. It semmed easier to drop the rear of the tranny and approach them from the back.

Good luck

nonotford

argh - hoping not to have to get into the bellhousing. thx for the advice, all. i'll post an update whenever i tackle this.

musikman43155

From my recent experience, The two torx head bolts are most easily accessed throught the stick shift hole in the floor. Using an extension they can easily be reached.

84zmyfavorite

You shouldnt have the Peugot BA10/5 tranny anyway. You should have the durable Aisin AX15. Sounds to me like slave cylinder/throwout bearing combo is dying.

nonotford

ok - i'm ready to order parts for a complete clutch job (plates, throwout bearing), including slave cylinder, clutch hose, master cylinder. any advice out there on the best place for ordering these parts?

any other advice is welcome. i will get that torx head and some extension for those top two bolts.

nigel4400

Well i had the same problem when i got my xj used, probably different solution though.
Basically a couple bolts had somehow fallen out where the bell housing connects to the engine, so instead of disengaging the clutch it just moved the engine and tranny around a bunch. I dunno if this is your problem, just something to consider checking i guess

nonotford

wow. i'll check that out.

this one has about 100k on it, on the original clutch, which was starting to slip a tad anyway. i just ordered a clutch set and clutch hose from auto zone. i'm hoping to tackle it this weekend. if anyone has a link to a service manual PDF, i could def use it. the chilton manual is pretty terrible.

nonotford

So I'm tackling this now. We are following the FSM instructions, which are of course vague.

We have it dropped 3 inches, the exhaust pipe to the cat is removed, shift lever and t-case lever disengaged, front driveline unbolted, but still connected. we have all the visible bolts from the belllhousing to the engine removed, but earlier in thread people mentioned two torx bolts at the top, that i can't see. my friend thinks anything up there would be more like guides vs bolts.

our plan is to slide the tranny back, and hope for the best. any advice would be welcome. also, this is the AX15

notop46

Unless they fell out, they are there. If you look (flashlight) from the back of the trans with the tail end dropped. you will see them. I used about 4' of extensions and used a ratchet from the back of the tranny.

Good luck!

nonotford

Well, you were right. We had to go to the store and get an e12 socket, which seemed to fit.

Thanks!