Seedub

Ok I have a 1994 5 speed XJ with the inline 6 and I believe its the AX-15 transmission. It does have an external slave cylinder for the clutch. The other day the clutch pedal got extremely stiff while driving. I stopped at a stop sign and couldnt get the clutch to disengage. I put a lot of force on the clutch pedal and snapped the rod for the master cylinder. I replaced the master cylinder. I used two techniques in trying to bleed the clutch, which I found browsing these forums. The first method was trying to bleed it using the allen screw on top of the slave cylinder. It did nothing of course. So the next thing I did was remove the slave cylinder and held the plunger down with a gear puller while pumping the clutch pedal. The pedal got extremely stiff again and we broke the brand new master cylinder (sheared the rod again). Today I was thinking it was the slave cylinder, so I replaced it too. I tried pumping the air bubbles out from the slave cylinder up and out of the master cylinder (by holding the slave cylinder vertically with plunger facing the ground). I discovered this method today browsing around. I spent a couple hours doing this, and the clutch still won't disengage (even after there isnt any bubbles coming out in the master cylinder). I also tried pumping the hell out of the clutch. The gears all shift fine with the engine off. Is it something internal like the forks/throw out bearing? Something caused the pedal to stiffen up to begin with. I'm not sure if it was a bad slave or something within the clutch housing. Anybody have any ideas?

Seedub

Oh i forgot to mention the pedal does have tension on it, further confusing me. It FEELS like its good and should shift the gears. Also i stuck my finger in the bell housing with the slave cylinder off and I can touch the forks. Thanks in advance!

montanaman

First thing I would do is crawl under the jeep and watch the slave while a friend hits the clutch pedal ... if you can see the slave trying to move the rod out and push on the clutch fork, then your problem isn't hydraulic. Next step is to try to push the fork yourself ... if it is too difficult to do with your hand, rig up some kind of leverage with a 2x4 or something. If there is a mechanical blockage to the clutch fork moving, then the problem is inside the bell housing and you'll have to drop the tranny.

Seedub

Thanks for the info. Should i try to tap on the fork lightly with a hammer to break it free (as in tapping a socket extension or something)? I tried pushing it in with my finger and it wont budge but maybe I didnt have good leverage.

Seedub

Heres an update on my jeep. It ended up being a bent clutch pedal. I guess when i applied a lot of force to my clutch and broke the master cylinder i bent the pedal bad....almost 45 degrees off. After it was straightened and re-welded the clutch was easily bled. Thanks for the reply. I figured i'd post this update for anybody else trying to bleed their clutch