Clutch Won't Engage 2002 Wrangler

[Tumbleweed]

The clutch on our 2002 Wrangler won't engage. It was working fine, then just stopped engaging. Nothing precipitated it. The gears seem to shift fine. We've played with the clutch pedal and it feels like there is movement in the cable up to the transmission but nothing happening.

It's a 2002 Wrangler X with about 70,000 miles. There's been no signs of any problems.

Fortunately it broke down right in front of the local garage tonight, so they have it. But I would like to get a heads up on the potential problems before I talk to them.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Crazy4diesels]

Your clutch "linkage" is not a cable - It's hydraulic. Have a look at the fluid level and be sure that you have fork movement at the bell housing while pressing the pedal. You might have gotten air in the system (ie, a leak somewhere). If you do not get good fork movement your problem is in the hydraulics. If the fork cylinder moves in relation to pedal travel then you might have blown the pressure plate spring (this would involve a new pressure plate and clutch disk). Also, if the Jeep won't drive when you let the clutch up it's a sign that the pressure plate spring has broken. Best of luck - John

 

[iraq_vet_x2]

If you've got 2002 and it's a 4.0 then you've got a NV3550 transmission, which means you've got an external slave cylinder pushing a fork inside the bellhousing to release the engine from the transmission. There's a lot of things that can go wrong in the chain, but my money's on the slave or a catastrophic loss of fluid somehow. You'll have to let us know....

 

[Tumbleweed]

Thanks for the tips. Sadly, this is not having a happy ending. The clutch plate was bad. The next problem was that three of the four skid plate bolts had come apart from inside the frame, so we're having to cut the frame to get at them.

The only good news is that it's proving to be a little cheaper than I had feared.

 

[buckshot500]

Dang, we could have warned you about the skidplate bolts.

Trick is to drill a (small) hole in the side of the frame just above the nut, then soak it with PB Blaster for a few days before trying to loosen them.