Is that even possible? Last night I was driving around in the snow and I started smelling hot transmission (stunk) and now the clutch doesn't engage until it is almost all the way out. Is it possible to fry a clutch plate? Not all that familiar with transmissions and that darn slave cylinder is inside the bell housing.

yes its very possible to burn out your clutch, usually it happens if your giving it too much gas while letting out the clutch, the motor shouldnt rev very high with little jeep movement. it sounds like your in for a $250 clutch.

It is very possible, it could be time to replace it or you might be able to deglaze it for a little extended life. When I glazed my clutch over after some googling I found some deglazing techniques. I got up to like 40-50 mph and then shifted to 2nd, then I slipped the clutch maintaing the rpms around 2k. It really help out in my case quite a bit after doing it a couple of times. The point of the process is to grind off the glazed part of the clutch. Just be careful not to go to crazy with it. But to tell yo the truth, that just helps if it's slipping more than usual, if the distance of engagement of the clutch pedal changed your probably going to need a new clutch. Good luck either way.

Take it out and find a good hill and put it in 5th gear and see if it slips,it is common to burn them up,a new driver that has never drove a manual can burn them up in a day or two,seen it,sold a car to a kid that had never drove a manual and the next morning he said the clutch was out,he rode the clutch the entire time and burnt it out in less than 500 miles. Jerking them around like you would in the snow is not good either. At least they are easy to change.

What is involved in replacing the clutch? I have to separate the bell housing from the engine, right? As far asI can tell the slave cylinder is inside, and I remember seeing that clutch plate when I put in the new motor. Wish I had thought of that when I had it apart in the first place.

You will need to seperate the engine from bellhousing,make sure you remove all wires mainly cps.it seems to get forgotten alot. You will need to replace your pressure plate,clutch disk.throw out bearing,pilot bearing,all this comes in a kit,which should come with an alignment dowel,essential to have,and have your flywheel resurfaced,they can get warped when overheated.

But first, make sure you have enough brake fluid in the clutch fluid container. It would be sad to dismantle all engine& tranny just to find out you were out of clutch fluid

It is pretty low, I topped it off and I think I might be able to get it to a garage. Thanks for the advice, guys.

Alright, got the Rig in the garage after a long tow down a mountain road. I'd like to get started on getting this fixed... Is this (NAPA NNC MU19141) the corect part/kit? Are there others that are better quality?

http://www.napaautoparts.com/Search/...+50038+2038004

When you say garage do you mean yours or a repair shop,because if it is a shop do not be concerned if it is the right one,that is the shops job,the kit did not come up on the link either. If you are doing the job then trust the napa store to get you what you need. If you want better there are some better aftermarket kits but how much do you need it,check out quadratec,ebay,summit,etc.

My buddy and I rent some space in an airplane hanger from his Dad, which he uses to store & maintain limousines for his business. Air compressor, drill press, vices, bench-mounted grinder, floor jacks, cherry picker, all waiting to be used. It's cold because it is such a big structure but plenty of space & all the equipment is hard to beat. I hope to get started on this tomorrow.

Sounds like all you need is a couple of heaters and a little suds.
All you need is a trany jack,use the trany to get to the upper bolts,just lower it enough and it will pull the engine down with it,then jack it back up before you remove the trany,do not forget the cps,and make sure you have the flywheel resurfaced. it will be alot easier if you have an impact to take the flywheel off.

I don't think I would do this myself, in this cold, without several air tools & an impact wrench. Alright, so I disconnect the CPS first and last thing, because it sounds like it's easy to forget. I don't think we have a transmission jack though... Anything else I should do while I have the engine and transmission separated? I'm kicking myself for not having done all this when the new 4 banger went in last summer. But then again I wasn't subscribed to CF yet, didn't know any better. Oh well, live & learn.

thanks for the help!

Great research source:
http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/clutches_etc.htm

You dont have to have a tranny jack. They just make your life allot easier. I have done several clutchs without one.

Many have forgot the cps and ripped the wires out of the connector,while it is out I would inspect all your seals on the trany and xfercase,inspect u-joints,make sure your rear main seal is not leaking.
If you can I would get yourself a trany jack,it will save you alot of time,manuals are alot harder to line up than autos and a trany jack will make it much easier,you can seperate the trany and xfercase to make it easier but it is still much easier with a trany jack.