Hi guys, new member here. I started having problems with my clutch a few days ago, with it not wanting to go into gear. I could get it in gear by forcing it, with a LOT of pressure, but after I drove it for a while it would shift just fine. The next day I went to start it up and there was no pressure on my clutch pedal.

I called my cousin (who is a mechanic) and he said he thought the hydraulic system was airlocked, and needed to be bled. My model ('96 4.0l inline six) has an external slave cylinder, with a stupid bleed valve on the top with a hex bolt. I bled it (and there was quite a bit of air in the system) but still no pressure on the pedal.

I looked through a Haynes repair manual for the jeep and it said to unbolt the slave cylinder, remove the push rod, and compress the piston with a gear puller/c-clamp and proceed to bleed it normally. I tried that, but I was unsure about how far to compress the pistol inside the cylinder. Push it all the way in and you can't push the clutch pedal at all, but I tried that a few times to no avail.

I then loosened the clamp to only slightly compress the cylinder (basically enough to keep it from popping out the end when the pedal is depressed) and tried to bleed it like that. Nothing.

After doing some research online I found that many people say that those bleed valves on the external slave cylinders are crap and to just manually pump the piston until you get no more air bubbles coming out of the master cylinder. I tried that, still no pressure on my clutch pedal.

Any suggestions? Also, I just had the entire clutch assembly replaced last July, and I'm nowhere near hard enough on a clutch to warrant it needing replacement again.

 

Are you depressing the pedal all the way? very important.
Air in system, no pedal, nothing at bleed valve.... Bad master, or bad clutch hose?

 

I am having the same problems with my '96 Cherokee sport, i've found that if it's not wanting to shift into gear. the best way to help with the problem is to shift it into neutral (with the engine off, i've found it's easier that way), Start the engine, and pump the clutch until I start to feel resistance. it's usually good after about 20 pumps or so.