JKOwners Forum banner

JK CLUTCH REPLACEMENT

112K views 37 replies 23 participants last post by  The old fart 
#1 · (Edited)
So i havent seen a writeup on how to replace the clutch...so i decided to do one...my bosses 2dr jk's release bearing went and since his brother owns the company he had me do it at our shop...

first things first...if you have never done a clutch replacement before on any type of vehicle this can be extremely rough for you especially if you dont have the right tools

if you dont have access to a lift, like i didnt, its gonna suck even more doing it on jack stands but it can be done just takes longer...jeep pays 7 hours for this repair it took me the better part of 10 hours on the floor...luckily i get paid by the hour and i got time and a half for this

i have attached pics and will be going step by step with the pics below (for the most part)

remember SAFETY FIRST, no joke, if you think something might not be safe, it probably isnt

pb blaster is your friend

bring the truck in and make sure you have enough room around it to work

disco the batts

remove center console
-pop off the handles with a 5/8ths wrench
-remove the 4 torx screws that hold the console
-pull ebrake all the way up and remove console pull console up from rear

remove shift tower torx bit and pull off shift tower

you now have to remove the lower boot cover and a foam insert to access the top cover
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#2 · (Edited)
remove the 4 torx screws that hold the top cover to the trans
-you dont "have" to remove the top cover but thats how i do it on twin countershaft trans in the tractors so i did it here, its 6 more inches of clearance that you gain

now go under the truck

remove front and rear shafts
-mark position of shafts for re-installation
-a brass hammer will be beneficial to loosening the shafts

on the d/s (drivers side) of the tcase is your linkage, pop off the linkage and also remove the green clip holding the cable to the tcase bracket
-bungee this out of the way

remove the slave cylinder from the bell housing
-make sure you bungee it out of the way so you dont break the pos plastic

remove the starter
-it has 2 bolts into the bell housing
-bungee this out of the way as well
-you can leave the electric hooked up to it since the batts are disco'd
 

Attachments

#3 · (Edited)
remove the trans skid plate

reach your hand up and disconnect the sensor and breather on top of the tcase
-small hands help


on the passenger side of the trans is a bracket that holds the fuel lines, remove the bolt and let the lines hang

there are 3 nuts inside of the crossmember that hold it to an isolator bracket under the trans, remove these three nuts

after removing the nuts you can place a floor jack under the backside of the tcase and gently jack up the trans assembly
-the motor will move slightly, but dont jack up too much that you pick up the vehicle

place a jackstand under the trans and remove the floor jack

now remove the crossmember
-4 bolts/nuts on both sides and 2 bolts through the fuel tank skid, remove all of these
-pry the d/s of the cross member down enough to clearance the trans isolator bracket and remove crossmember through the d/s
-remember what way it went in
-remove the trans isolator bracket from the bottom of the trans, 4 bolts

place a trans jack under the trans assembly
-install the jack towards the rear of the assembly for balance, remember most of the forward area of the trans is the bell housing and its empty
-strap the shit out of the trans assembly, i wrapped one up and over and another around the backside of the tcase cinching the assembly to the trans jack

you can now lift up the trans assembly with the trans jack and remove the jack stand

turn your attention towards the y-pipe of the exhaust
-4 bolts hold the exhaust to the manifolds, these suck cause the clipped nuts will most likely spin on you, i was able to reach in behind the splash shields and get a 9/16ths wrench on the nuts when they spun.
-remove the 4 bolts
-disco the 02 sensors

cut off the clamp where the y-pipe goes into the rest of the exhaust
-pb blaster and a soft faced hammer will release the slip joint
 
#4 · (Edited)
you can now fudge the y-pipe out from under the truck and out the d/s
-be careful not to damage the 02 sensors

now that the exhaust is out of the way you can lower the trans jack a little bit more so you can access all of the bell housing bolts
-the top 4 bellhousing bolts are a bitch to get to without lowering the jack
-2 of the top bolts hold a harness bracket on the p/s, once the bolts are removed you have to move the bracket up so you will be able to pull the trans out
-the bottom bolts are pretty straight forward to remove

once all of the bolts are out of the bell housing double check to make sure nothing is still connected to the trans assembly, wires etc

you can now pull the trans assembly back revealing the pressureplate assembly

remove the trans assembly out the d/s of vehicle

you can now replace the release bearing
-pull old one off the nose cone
-the release fork can be removed also, a clip holds the fork onto a ball and socket joint
-clean the fork off
-replace the release bearing, it clips onto the fork
-grease the ball and socket joint and where the slave cylinder will go
-apply anti-seize to the nose cone
-reinstall the release bearing and fork
 
#28 ·
Great Post. The only issue I encountered was that it helped greatly to remove the transfer case so I could position the transmission correctly on the reinstall. Other than that I followed these instructions to the letter to replace the clutch my 18yr old daughter blew out just because she did not want to shift into neutral at stop signs and stop lights.
 
#5 · (Edited)
after replacing the release bearing and fork turn your attention back to the pressureplate assembly

remove the pressureplate assembly
-i think it has 6 10mm bolts
-save the bolts
-you will get a new pressureplate assembly

remove the flywheel
-mark the flywheel before removal for installation reference
-torx bolts hold the flywheel to the crank

you can now replace the pilot bearing
-its a roller bearing in the center of the flywheel
-tap it out and you can tap the new one in, just be sure not to damage on installation

scuff up the flywheel with a 180grit sander

reinstall the flywheel
-use the marks you made on removal
-i forget what the torque specs are but you can get them on jko somewhere

using the clutch alignment tool install the clutch plate onto the flywheel
-the tool slides through the clutch plate and into the pilot bearing

install the pressure plate onto the flywheel over top of the clutch plate
-you will have to keep the clutch plate centered while you slide the pressure plate onto the dowel pins on the flywheel.
-torque the pressureplate, i believe its 37ftlbs
 
#6 · (Edited)
now back to the trans assembly
-shift the trans into 1st gear,

align the input shaft into the clutch plate splines
-turning the output shaft will tell you if youre in the splines or not

once youre in the splines its time to slide the trans assembly all the way in and mate it back up with the motor
-you will have to jack up, down, adjust left right to get it to slide all the way in
-since the motor only has 2 mounts it helps to put a jack stand under the back of the motor to keep it from moving

mate up the trans with the motor
-mind the harness bracket up top, you need to slip it over the trans bell housing
-there is a plate behind the flywheel, just make sure it is sitting on the dowel pins to keep it from moving as youre pulling the trans in
-make sure all your bell housing bolts are aligned

once you have the motor and trans flush you can run the bell housing bolts back in

now that the trans is mated back up with the motor you can reinstall the y-pipe
-i got new clip bolts since the old ones were toast, they just clip onto the flange on the manifold
-make sure you dont mangle the 02 sensors
-reconnect the slip joint and install a new clamp

jack up on the trans jack and place a jack stand under the trans
-remove the trans jack
-reinstall the isolator and crossmember

remove the jack stand and lower the trans back down onto the crossmember with a floor jack
-reinstall the isolator bolts

reinstall the starter and slave cylinder
-once slave cylinder is installed check the pedal, make sure you have resistance, but not too much, it should be close to stock if using a stock replacement clutch

reconnect all wiring and tcase breather

reinstall trans skid

reinstall drive shafts

reinstall trans top cover, shift tower, and center console

reconnect batteries

hold onto your butts...turn the key

good luck
 
#37 · (Edited)
now back to the trans assembly
-shift the trans into 1st gear,

align the input shaft into the clutch plate splines
-turning the output shaft will tell you if youre in the splines or not

once youre in the splines its time to slide the trans assembly all the way in and mate it back up with the motor
-you will have to jack up, down, adjust left right to get it to slide all the way in
-since the motor only has 2 mounts it helps to put a jack stand under the back of the motor to keep it from moving

mate up the trans with the motor
-mind the harness bracket up top, you need to slip it over the trans bell housing
-there is a plate behind the flywheel, just make sure it is sitting on the dowel pins to keep it from moving as youre pulling the trans in
-make sure all your bell housing bolts are aligned

once you have the motor and trans flush you can run the bell housing bolts back in

now that the trans is mated back up with the motor you can reinstall the y-pipe
-i got new clip bolts since the old ones were toast, they just clip onto the flange on the manifold
-make sure you dont mangle the 02 sensors
-reconnect the slip joint and install a new clamp

jack up on the trans jack and place a jack stand under the trans
-remove the trans jack
-reinstall the isolator and crossmember

remove the jack stand and lower the trans back down onto the crossmember with a floor jack
-reinstall the isolator bolts

reinstall the starter and slave cylinder
-once slave cylinder is installed check the pedal, make sure you have resistance, but not too much, it should be close to stock if using a stock replacement clutch

reconnect all wiring and tcase breather

reinstall trans skid

reinstall drive shafts

reinstall trans top cover, shift tower, and center console

reconnect batteries

hold onto your butts...turn the key

good luck[/QUOTE
 
#8 ·
Nice write-up, looks about as straight forward as it could be. I'd be tempted to remove the tcase with a couple more bolts while on the ground, make it a little easier to work with.

I'm at 45k and wondering when the stock clutch is going to start give me feedback!
 
#10 ·
you could do that too...the tcase has quite a few bolts holding it to the trans but the hardest ones would be the top 3...you'd just have to address those top ones when you have the motor hinged back giving you more room...

it was pretty straightforward, but doing it on jack stands sucked and im a big boy so not so much room...

on and beach sand was in every hole...i could have built a castle
 
#14 ·
Awesome write up!!! Book marked! I'm at 36k on my Rubicon.

What was the mileage on the Jeep shown?

What brand replacement parts were used? Do you think you should have resurfaced the flywheel or was the 180 grit sufficient?
 
#15 ·
sorry for the long response....

mileage was 110k...jeep does not recommend flywheel machining....according to them just use the sanding discs...the replacement clutch was just a stock replacement nothing special...when i do mine own i will be using a spec 2+ most likely
 
#23 · (Edited)
Great Post, I just want to add my experience in this as ive taken my gearbox out twice now. Once for a TOB last year, the other im doing right now for a busted Dual Mass Flywheel, it’s just freewheeling I have no Drive! You don’t have this Flywheel in USA its only on Diesels but im doing a DMF to Solid Flywheel Conversion Kit so it wont let me down again.

Mainly the order of things I did differently.

1) Get 4 jack stands and support vehicle on axels
2) Pop off the Shifter Knob, pull up the rubber shifter surround (pulls up from the rear), unbolt the Shifter single bolt and wriggle it off the shaft. there’s no need to remove the console.
3) Now get back under the car Drop the bash plate
4) Remove D/Shafts at trans case and tie off
5) Remove exhaust cross over
6) I place a Jack under the g/box now!
7) Remove the cross member
8) Lower the g/box enough to get at bell housing bolts, lock the jack off there (or get a jack stand if you wish) as your lowering make sure there is no interference going on in the engine bay as the motor angels down, hoses wiring, radiator fan etc.
9) Go back to the shifter, you can now easily remove the foam rubber around the top loader
10) undo the 4 torx bolts to remove the top loader box, get a clean rag in there to stop dirt getting in when you drop the g/box. NB: this is not an option you have to remove the loader otherwise there’s not enough room to drop and move the g/box rearwards, the shifter stub shaft will interfere with floor.
11) You can now get around g/box better to remove slave cylinder, T/Case cable and lever, bolt for fuel lines, 2x wiring plugs, T/Case Breather Hose (tape hose barb to stop dirt)
12) the rear of the engine needs supporting, a wide block of wood on a jack on the edge of the sump will do, there wont be much weight its just stopping it moving when the g/box is withdrawn
13) you can remove starter motor and all bellhousing bolts now bar 2 bolts left in loosely.
NB: I just let the Starter hang, it’s a light starter on the Diesel Engine, the cables are strong enough to hold it.
14) I didn’t have a transmission stand, I used a jack at the rear of the box, and positioned a chain block hooked from upper control arm mount on one side – to chassis on the other side aft, i.e. the chain was at a cross angle underneath the bellhousing, this supported/cradled it well and allowed me to pull it back easily while supported by the chain.
15) when its all supported undo the last 2 bolts and pull/lever the g/box back, lower once the input shaft clears the clutch pressure plate.
16) Slide the box out and make Clutch or TOB repairs, I also found this a good opportunity to extend the T/Case Breather hose.


As said this is my second time, first time took all day to drop the g/box, this time i did it in 2 hours because i knew the procedure, Its still apart awaiting spares, TOB, Solid Flywheel Kit. Unfortunately its still the Sachs TOB as not sure if we can get the National one?

http://youtu.be/E0Hw1w5CZH8
.
 
#24 ·
Great info... I will most likely be doing mine next week. TOB is noisy.
 
#25 ·
I seem to be in the need of replacing my throw out bearing. The clutch is probably fine, I've never had problems with but figured at 90k miles just as well do the clutch while its open. My question is, is there any real benefit to going with an aftermarket clutch vs just an OEM replacement?

As I stated, never had issues with current original clutch and who knows how much life is left in it, which is why I'd consider just an OEM replacement. Just wanting to justify the additional cost.
 
#27 ·
Great Post. The only issue I encountered was that it helped greatly to remove the transfer case so I could position the transmission correctly on the reinstall. Other than that I followed these instructions to the letter to replace the clutch my 18yr old daughter blew out just because she did not want to shift into neutral at stop signs and stop lights.
 
#29 ·
Two more tips I learned the hard way (tranny on a CJ5 in and out 6 times while we fabricated a custom throwout bearing).

(1) Take two bolts the same diameter, but about three inches longer than those on the top of the bellhousing, grind the heads off and make some flats so that you can put them in with a pair of pliers. Install these in the block before you try to mate the tranny back onto the engine. It gives you two pegs to hang the tranny on while you line up the input shaft. Once its on, run the rest of the bolts in, then replace your two pegs with the correct bolts.

(2) Consider removing the doors and sticking an engine hoist in to support the tranny from above. It's much easier to wrestle than a transmission jack and leaves you a lot more room to work underneath. If you need to pull the tranny all the way out for some reason, place a creeper underneath and lower it onto that.

After a little practice, two of us were able to remove the tranny, replace the throwout bearing and reinstall the tranny in about 45 minutes. Add a little more for interior trim (which is non-existent on the CJ). The last day we took it out about 4 times and were finished about 1:00 PM.
 
#30 ·
First, thanks a ton for a great write up and to everyone who's contributed since. I'm in the middle of this and without it, I'd be guessing a lot.

I have a question about the foam cover over the loader box... Does that come out the top? Does it slip over the stub boot/rubber?

I don't want to tear that up, but from the photo it looks like it can slide out and over that stub rubber.

Thanks for any help
 
#31 ·
Just did mine. After lots of research I used a LuK 01-046 Clutch Set that I picked up for $175 shipped and a National 614093 Clutch Release Bearing Assembly for $35 shipped. The LuK clutch turned out to be the identicle Part number for the OE clutch for a lot cheaper. I wasnt going to get the TB but I am glad I did the OE one was crap compared to the National one.

My tips.... The upper bell housing bolts would have been a pain to get out. Lower the Trans as much as possible, use several long extensions and an impact wrench. I had enough extensions that my impact was right behind the transfer case where the drive line should be and they came out in a matter of minutes.

Even though it was mentioned I will mention it again!! The wiring harness on top was a royal PITA! As careful as I was trying to be I still managed to sandwich it between the BH and the block. I had to back the tranny out again to move it and start over.
 
#32 ·
In the middle of doing mine. Had to stop and dig up this thread to see what and how to disconnect some stuff. It's a pain in the ass with the clayton longarm susp. I removed just the center part of the 3 piece cross member and cant get crossover pipe out- the cats hit the arms and ds cross member part is still in the way. I probably should have just dropped the whole cross member. I bought a centerforce throw out bearing to use with the Luk clutch, it seems to be built a lot better and hopefully will last longer than the stock stuff.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top