Hi guys! I bought a 1994 Cherokee XJ, 4x2 4.0l, and am confused over the clutch problem it has. When shifting into first, second, and reverse. The truck has a very violent shake, and rattles the whole body when you release the clutch. At higher shifts it's not really noticeable. I'm thinking it may be hot spots on the flywheel? I found a receipt from the PO for a master and slave. I also have noticed that engagement into a gear is at the bottom of the pedals travel.

Also have you guys noticed that there isn't a RPM tach!?

 

Hey. That doesn't sound real good to me. Their may be no adjustment and the slave might be inside, not that I think that would help. If gears are not grinding you might want to just put up with is as long as it works BUT. There are much more knowledgeable folk here than me.

You might want to post again during the day central time. Might be a better time to be on the top of the list.

Wait! Bottom of travel? Bleed the hydraulics well. You likely are not fully disengaging.

 

Ok I tried to bleed the clutch. My power bleeder doesn't fit the jeep, so I recruited my girlfriend. She already hates it! The clutch pedal isn't any better. You can hear the TO bearing squeal when you press it in so It's about time to do the clutch. I bought a sachs kit and flywheel from partsgeek.com Hopefully it arrives intact! I'll also try some new motor mounts.

quick question. Is there supposed to be any side to side play in the drive shaft?

 

No.

 

It sounds a lot like you have a warped flywheel. Time for a clutch job. Replace your flywheel ... don't get it turned.

 

Front bearings? oh great. I'm going to drop the transmission really soon.

 

How hard is it to replace the input shaft bearings?

 

Whoops ... sorry. You said drive shaft, but I was thinking input shaft on the transmission ... the shaft that is inside the bellhousing.

Well ... if we're talking about the drive shaft, you probably have bad u-joints. That's a much smaller headache than swapping out bearings in the transmission. Which drive shaft has play?

 

You had me really scared! It's RWD, so I think I have only one. I'm new to jeep's. I did buy a new flywheel. I'll let you know what i find.

 

Ok ... go ahead and jack up one rear wheel, put blocks in front/behind the other wheels, and release the e-brake. That will take the load off your drive shaft.

Grab the drive shaft in both hands near the front u-joint ... shake it up and down, right and left. Should be no lateral play. If it slides in and out of the transmission a little, that is fine, but no side play.

Do the same thing on your rear U-joint. Again, should be no play.

If one of them is bad, replace them both.

 

If you DO have side play in the output (yoke I think it's called), (slides on the splines & into the seal), you might be lucky and just have a bad yoke. You won't be happy with that wiggling around. If you can drive it on the freeway and it's not a seine, you are probably OK.
Since I don't always see that well sometimes I'll lay my finger such so if there is play in a U-joint I can feel it while rotating the shaft back and forth. If you have the $ handy, you might want to go ahead with new U-joints while you have the shaft out. Not that spendy and they will fail at some point. (done mine twice in 14 years). Good luck! One rare moment we may envy your 2 WD!

 

Thanks for the heads up. I'll add u joints to my parts list. I also noticed while i was down there that the shaft has that shinny lip. would that be the yoke?

 

Yep. "(yoke I think it's called),", or "the thingy you don't want wiggling around!)

When you asked, "
quick question. Is there supposed to be any side to side play in the drive shaft?" I thought of that. Also there is a pinion bearing on the differential.

Anyway sounds like the clutch is your main problem. I (have been) so cheap as to only change the disk, (like changing brake pads), but NOBODY does that, especially on a 4WD. (they use to have a tester for pressure plate springs). Celica clutch job....$12.

 

I started with the removal today. The u joint at the differential is bad. They are only 9$ over at autozone. I was able to get the top inverse torx bolts, and broke all bell housing bolts. The cross member knocked me out (literally), so I'll finish it up tomorrow. The clutch is super easy compared to doing one on the porsches. Now talk about 23-25 hours of straight labor!

 

well a little update. The clutch is out and there are a lot of hotspots on the flywheel and pressure plate. Notice the springs have been ground on the side of the disk. On a side note the input shaft does have play.
I will probably just leave it like that as, I don't want to spend a lot of $ and time on her.

I did notice some surface rust running the floor boards. I'm thinking clean it up with a wire wheel and a few coats of primer?