Puegot Clutch Issues

[Abyx]

Hey guys,

 

I'm sure this issue has been beaten to death, but I feel like I really must be lacking some knowledge on the matter...I'm not entirely sure what I'm missing, but there's gotta be something because I seem to be unable to get this to work, and it's starting to really hold me back.

 

The issue is; the clutch does not retain pressure at the time of bleeding, and therefor does not disengage the friction material. The pedal's pressure varies greatly, sometimes it feels like it 'SHOULD' be working, other times it doesn't have any resistance at all. It entirely depends on how many times I've bled it at the time...I've bench bled the MC, I've pumped almost a gallon of brake fluid through the MC and slave..it still doesn't work.

 

Every time I bleed it, the fluid comes out 'extremely' aerated, it's absolutely ridiculous the amount of air that comes out of the clutch sometimes. I can never get a steady stream of fluid; and even in the rare event that I do..the clutch still doesn't work. I've replaced every component of the hydraulic system, the MC moves plenty of fluid and is brand new, the hardline was replaced, and the slave cylinder is brand new. I've tried bench bleeding, I've tried gravity bleeding, I've tried vaccuum bleeding, I've tried the regular pump and hold, I've tried the hose and bottle trick..I've tried everything, I don't know what else to do.

 

When the pedal pressure 'appears' to be decent, I can't hear any disengagement of the clutch coming from the bell housing; I can hear the slave cylinder contact the pressure plate, and then nothing happens. It doesn't even disengage a little bit...it's like the slave just gives up at the time of contacting actual resistance. The top of the stroke is relatively weak, and towards the bottom it gets progressively harder until it reaches the floor, and then nothing.

 

Oddly enough it's not leaking either; I'm getting to the point of if I have to pull this stupid puegot out of the truck again, there's no way that it's going to go back in. I have a perfectly good AX-15 with an external slave in my cherokee that's begging to go in this truck; but I'd rather not disassemble my DD to get my project running.

 

Can anyone give some insight? Am I doing something wrong? Is the slave bad? I don't know!

[cruiser54]

Have you ever tried just pumpling the clutch pedal about 50 times non-stop, without going quite to the floor, and then walking away for 15 minutes?

[Abyx]

I can't say that I have...I like where this is going though, because I haven't tried it.

 

What exactly would this accomplish though?

[cruiser54]

Try it and find out. Post back while sitting at your PC with a sore leg. LOL.Old trick.

[smuth]

How new is the slave cylinder? There really isn't a whole lot of fluid between the MC, the line, and the SC, and that SC is known to get leaky, and there are a lot of places for that fluid to go before it makes it's way out of the bellhousing.

 

Get an AX-15 ;-)

[Abyx]

Cruiser54 -

 

I tried it...it had one instance where it almost worked, but after that it just went back to the way it's been.

 

 

Smuth -

 

It's actually brand new; brand new to the point that I haven't actually even gotten the jeep moving since I installed it. It has no miles on it..that's why I'm so hesitant to think that it's bad, because while I have seen them pop the instant they were installed...it's holding fluid. No fluid is escaping, I just can't seem to bleed it correctly.

[JeepcoMJ]

No offense, but the REAL problem here is that you have a ba10/5. I'd start there, and work your way towards a new slave, master, clutch, and ax15 trans.

[Abyx]

Frankly I'm getting pretty tired of hearing about how bad the BA 10/5 is. Granted, I'm not a fan of it, it's a weak clamshell design that's prone to leaks, prone to breakage and is generally considered an unreliable piece of junk. However, how many people have actually had these transmissions go bad? The only people I've seen break them(that's having worked in a 4x4 shop for 4 months), were the ones who slam it between gears with 35"+ tall tires, tall gears and the lack of knowledge on how to drive. I don't understand why people rag on it so much; the same thing with Dana 35s....I've got 256k miles on my original Dana 35 in my cherokee, and those are hard wheeled miles with a lot of bad calls with shifting and power management...it's still going.

 

They aren't the best, but they work. The AX-15 certainly isn't the best either, who thought that a racing transmission would be best suited for Jeeps? Seriously? However, this being said, I do like my external slave AX-15 a whole lot better, but I don't have the money to drop 1000$+ on an AX15 conversion right now, because that's how much all the parts will run me around here in Central Jersey. I know this because I already went through it with my Cherokee.

 

I hope I didn't come off like a jerk, because I didn't mean to offend anyone, but seriously...it's a little ridiculous.

 

 

By the way, the fittings were loose, if anyone has this same problem..check your fittings. Cruiser54's method of 50+ pumps led me to find this out. Thanks for the help guys; I drove my comanche for the first time tonight. :thumbsup:

[Eagle]

No offense, but the REAL problem here is that you have a ba10/5. I'd start there, and work your way towards a new slave, master, clutch, and ax15 trans.

The transmission is behind the clutch. The clutch doesn't know what kind of transmission is back there. The original BA10/5 in my '88 Cherokee is sneaking up on 290,000 miles and has been wheeled all over the northeast, so the Pewgoat isn't all THAT bad. It just doesn't like to be abused ... I know some people who feel the same way.