Clutch help and issues with starting after rain...

[Beardo]

Hey everyone!

 

Just joined the MJ scene a couple months ago! I saw this '91 V6 4.0 on craigslist and couldn't resist, I was in love after the first go-see :D I knew that it needed a new starter, so I searched online, found this place, did the quick swap and install and she was running like a champ for a couple months..... fast forward to now though....

 

First off, went to go start her today and we've had heavy terrible rain lately, she cranks but won't turn over. To go along with it I get a really loud rattling/whirling sound. I'm guessing its a wiring issue since I never had any issues starting her after the new starter went in. Are there a few things I can check? If so, how? I'm limited with tools (I recently moved to a very rural area, solid 2 hour drive to any real city) and knowledge but I'm eager to learn. I want to keep this baby for as long as possible, I'm fairly handy in general, just not specific to the Jeep line.

 

Second, the bigger issue lately for sure, I've always noticed the clutch definitely feels soft so I asked the previous owner and he said he replaced the clutch a couple years back! I trust him, somewhat lol Anyways, a couple weeks ago while driving I noticed it a little hard to put into some gears, mostly 1st after being at a stoplight/stop sign. A few days after that I was at a stoplight and completely unable to put her into ANY gear, had to leave her in neutral and push her to the side of the road. After pumping the clutch several times I was able to get her going again, drove her home and parked her for a while. So now she basically sits around. When she's off I can pass her into any gear, but once on its basically impossible to change to any gears. Also, I have a bit of an issue with grinding when going into reverse.

 

So I'm thinking/hoping it's either the Master or Slave cylinders.... I already tried topping up the fluid, it was to the top already. I'm guessing I should bleed the fluid first and see if maybe there is some gunk in there clogging it up? How do I go about doing that? If nothing good comes of the bleeding what would be my next step? How do I know if its the Master or the Slave being the problem or if its the clutch itself? Any kind of advice or pics or links would just be really really helpful.... she's my only vehicle at the moment and it sure be nice to not have to bike anywhere this winter lol

 

I've done a lot of searching on the clutch issue and have been sifting through countless posts on the forum, you guys all seem to be pretty top notch people, and very enthusiastic about the MJ, so I know over the years I'm gonna love it here. I hope tho this post isn't too 'repetitive' and that I don't start off on the wrong foot by creating such a 'similar' post (some car clubs Ive been in before have been pretty anal about this sorta stuff )hehehe

 

Thanks for checking this out and I look forward to any help or advice!

 

Cheers

:cheers:

[Geonovast]

Sound very similar to what happened to my brother's XJ after a motor swap. There are 4 bolts that hold the bellhousing to the motor, the top two were in and a tad loose, the bottom left was gone and the bottom right was almost completely out. This causes where the motor and trans meet to start to pull apart, drop down, and makes both the starter and trans input shaft out of alignment. It will make it hard to start with a rattling sound, and make it damn near impossible to use the clutch. It also causes a good amount of damage to the clutch, trans, and starter if left that way. Check all 4 of those bolts and make sure they're nice and tight.

 

Also... just an FYI (and being a bit nit-picky), the Jeep 4.0 is not a V6. It is an inline 6.

[Beardo]

Also... just an FYI (and being a bit nit-picky), the Jeep 4.0 is not a V6. It is an inline 6.

 

I will NEVER make this mistake again :)

 

Thanks for the response, that all makes sense to me..... if it wasn't so dark out right now I'd go check this out right now!