Hi all,
I recently bought a 1996 2 door manual xj and now noticed that after driving for more than 30 minutes the clutch starts to shifts hard and does not want to go into gear easily. I do not have this problem when it is first started up or when it’s off. and was wondering if anyone else has had this problem or knows how to fix.

 

When you buy a used car, one of the best things to do is to change all the fluids -
engine oil and filter, radiator flush and fill, differential gear oil, 4wd transfer case,
and transmission oil.

When you drain the transmission, loosen the fill plug first, then open the bottom plug
and drain it. Look for little yellow metal bits or flakes in the oil. If you see any, it
is not gold, they are part of the synchros which have been eaten away by gear oil
not compatible with yellow metal. That could explain the hard shifting.

But hopefully that is not the problem. Fill the transmission with a gear oil marked as
compatible with yellow metals like Prestone Synchromesh or Redline 75W80 GL4 gear oil.
Lots of people find their transmission shifts easier with those oils.

Hard shifting can also be due to the master or slave hydraulic clutch cylinders leaking.
But start by changing the transmission oil.

 

Thank you! I will give this a shot hopefully it’s as simple as that.

 

Must be getting old. That should read Pennzoil Synchromesh.

 

This could also be an issue with another fluid.
The brake fluid in the clutch system.
Kind of a bear to bleed, but you can suck the fluid out of the reservoir with something and replenish with new fluid. Perhaps do that another time in the near future.