Internal slave let go again

[condopresident]

My 1989 Sportruck 4.0 is oozing deja vu and clutch fluid from the same hole.

 

Bought it a year and a half ago and that first week, I had to bring it to a shop to have the internal slave cylinder replaced. While they had it, they did the whole clutch, flywheel, rear main seal, and oil pan gasket too. When I got it back, it drove great, shifted real smooth, etc. Then after about four months or so, it was shifting a little notchy and the clutch got spongy. I replaced the master cylinder myself, bled it, and it was good for a while longer.

 

Didn't seem to want to stay bled, but then one day I looked up under the footwell and saw it was bubbling fluid out of the master cylinder around where the rod goes into the dust cap. So I replaced it again, bled the clutch two more times, and finally had it shifting perfectly. For one week.

 

Went out to go to work this morning and the damn pedal was completely soft, and the master cylinder was bone dry. When I got back from work I had a look and I was really hoping it was another bad master cylinder or possibly the line connecting the two, but nope. Back to square one, a year and a half later, the fluid's dripping out of the bell housing. Awesome.

 

I been trying to do all my own work on this truck. It's only been in the shop once when I first got it for the clutch issues, as I lived in an apartment at the time and didn't have much room to get stuck into any big jobs. The rest of the things it's needed have been piddly little learning experiences like valve cover gasket, electrical quirks, etc. Now I live in a 500 sq ft house with no garage so I'm still somewhat limited on what I'm willing to tackle on my own. Truck's got 125k on her and I've only done 5k of that since I bought it, driving to work six days a week and welding classes four nights a week. And because I've had clutch issues since day one (and I'm not real lead-footed to begin with) I have never, ever dumped the clutch or shifted it rough. Just babied it through every gear change.  :crossfingers:

 

I totally understand why y'all push for the external slave swap but I'm not sure how long it would take me to find (and afford) the stuff I need to do that. We got a pick-n-pull nearby but they never have any good Jeep stuff minus the odd late model Grand Cherokee. I'm wondering if I should get a transmission jack and take a shot at changing the internal one myself, or if I should just suck it up and tow it to the shop. I'm also wondering if the internal slave going out will have any negative effects on the clutch I'd had replaced last year. Mind you, when I parked it yesterday, I had no problems with it shifting/leaking and it appears to have emptied itself overnight (or the neighbors snuck over and stole my fluid while I was sleeping). Thanks so much for your help fellas, this forum has been a goldmine for someone trying to keep an old truck happy with minimal know-how and zero help.

[87MJTIM]

My truck was on its 5th internal slave cylinder in 28 yrs.  It didn't get a 6th.  I did the AX15, external slave swap last month.

 

As for your situation, if you don't want to swap to an AX15, I would suggest getting an int. slave from a stealership.  It will be (maybe) better quality than you will get from auto parts stores.  (Chinese Replacement Auto Parts)

 

I purchased a trans jack from Harbor Freight for approx. $90.  It has come in handy on my MJ and CJ, both getting AX15s.  If you have never done this before, don't let it scare you.  It just held on with bolts. (Some are VERY hard to reach, though.)  Plan on a whole weekend, since this is new.  There are a lot of write up about this on Comanche Club and JeepForum on removing trans/changing clutches.

 

Before I tackle most auto repair jobs, I will consult my repair manual: You Tube!

 

Search for "Change Jeep TJ clutch."  It about 2 hrs long. You can see what is involved in dropping the trans and replacing the clutch (you are only changing the internal slave and this guys trans in ext, but you get the idea).  While on YT, search for other videos about changing Jeep trans/clutches.  There is a lot useful (and useless) info on there.

 

If this continues to be a problem, start saving up for an AX15.  Search Craigslist for Jeep parts and whole Jeeps for sale cheap.  I've seen AX15s for sale for as low as $250.

 

EDIT: You did not say what trans you have currently.  The 89 year is when Jeep switch from the BA10/5 to the AX15.  Both had the int. slave.  If you have a later model with the AX15, then you only need to search CL for the ext. slave bellhousing.  If you have the BA, then search for an AX15 from a 94+ XJ. These came with the ext slave.  You will also need the tcase from the XJ.  The tcase from the BA will not bolt up to an AX without changes to the Tcase.

 

Hope this helps.

[condopresident]

Ah! Sorry, I revised my post a few times and took out the part about the trans. Mine does have an AX15 currently and she's 2wd.

 

I'm decently mechanically inclined as long as I have some reference materials so I appreciate your advice. YouTube's gotten me out of plenty of scrapes in the past. As of right now, I'm considering buying another truck for a DD and doing this on my own over the course of the next month or so, when I have the money/parts/time (time being hardest to come by). I've had a good run at daily driving the ole girl having bought her in a pinch with zero knowledge of its history and zero prior knowledge of Jeep in general, and only had the truck in the shop once but I really don't wanna use a shop again. Rather save the money and put the difference toward having my own knowledge for the future.

 

I'm pretty confident I can handle this job on my own without a garage but I'd rather not rush into it (being that I need it back on the road in six hours to get to class, haha). One more thing though: I called another shop to get an estimate and the guy was pretty confident that I'd need to replace the entire clutch kit due to the internal slave failing. Being that I replaced the clutch kit when I bought the truck and replaced the first internal slave a year and a half ago, what are the odds off having to replace it again? Either way, if I need to replace it I'll just work a little more overtime and do it myself. High time I change a clutch myself, I'm almost 30 after all.

 

Thanks so much for your help.

[87MJTIM]

Good to hear you have the AX15.  Since you are 2wd, forget the bit about the tcase.

 

Completing the job in 6 hrs, given that you have never done this and don't have a lift, is virtually impossible. (Some who have done it and have the luxury of a lift will may say otherwise.)

 

I am not sure about having to change the clutch.  I've been told (by a real mechanic) that it is not necessary because of a fluid leak.  You can pull the clutch to inspect it.  If you do, you will need to get a clutch alignment tool to reinstall the parts.  It can be a real PITA to get it to line up properly.

 

I would suggest you search CL and Ebay for the ext slave bellhousing, including internal parts.  In addition to those, you will need the pre-bled clutch master/slave cylinders.  They're at RockAuto for approx. $80.

[condopresident]

Ha yeah, I wasn't even humoring the idea of getting it all done before class. I think gathering the parts and finding a nice rare two day weekend to start early and dig into it is my best bet. Interestingly there are three Cherokees on CL right now locally, all for $500-800 in varying degrees of sadness. College town transportation. Not sure of the details on those but I'm gonna look into it.

 

I'm gonna take your advice and look into just doing the swap in the next few weeks I think.

[87MJTIM]

Here is my swap.

 

http://comancheclub.com/topic/48136-my-ax15-swap/

[Jackrabbit41]

If you don't swap the master and Slave together, they'll blow reach other out. I had the same problem then just switched it out for an ax15 tranny