How to bleed clutch slave cyl, 94 Wrangler ??

My 94 Wrangler ( ~150,000 miles) recently got hard to shift. In
particular, I sometimes have to turn the engine off to get into
reverse. So I checked around, and I found that the fluid level in the
master clutch cylinder was VERY low. But the problem did not go away
after I added fluid, so I assume that some air must have gotten in.

But I can't figure out how to bleed it. (I have two shop manuals -- a
Haynes & a Chiltons, I think -- and my system doesn't look like any of
the pictures in either book.)

The slave cylinder is a horizontal cylinder, on the left side of the
clutch housing, about 1 inch diameter x 4 inches long. It has a little
teat on the bottom, about 1/2 inch diameter x 1/2 inch long with a
setscrew on the bottom end, and a little hole on the *side* of the teat
-- right where it joins the main cylinder.

When I loosen the setscrew and press the clutch pedal, fluid comes out
of the side-hole, but there is no way you could attach a bleeder hose
to the teat without blocking the little hole.

The shop manuals talk about the 94 wranglers having a "sealed" clutch
system, but it doesn't make any sense to me that there is provision for
adding fluid, but no provision for bleeding.

Thanks in Advance!! john w.

On some of them, you are just supposed to sit there like a fool pumping
the crap out of the master until all the bubbles stop coming to the
top. Someone here should know how far you are supposed to pump the
pedal, it might only be 1" or so, I don't remember. It has been posted
about here before.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

wrote:
>
> My 94 Wrangler ( ~150,000 miles) recently got hard to shift. In
> particular, I sometimes have to turn the engine off to get into
> reverse. So I checked around, and I found that the fluid level in the
> master clutch cylinder was VERY low. But the problem did not go away
> after I added fluid, so I assume that some air must have gotten in.
>
> But I can't figure out how to bleed it. (I have two shop manuals -- a
> Haynes & a Chiltons, I think -- and my system doesn't look like any of
> the pictures in either book.)
>
> The slave cylinder is a horizontal cylinder, on the left side of the
> clutch housing, about 1 inch diameter x 4 inches long. It has a little
> teat on the bottom, about 1/2 inch diameter x 1/2 inch long with a
> setscrew on the bottom end, and a little hole on the *side* of the teat
> -- right where it joins the main cylinder.
>
> When I loosen the setscrew and press the clutch pedal, fluid comes out
> of the side-hole, but there is no way you could attach a bleeder hose
> to the teat without blocking the little hole.
>
> The shop manuals talk about the 94 wranglers having a "sealed" clutch
> system, but it doesn't make any sense to me that there is provision for
> adding fluid, but no provision for bleeding.
>
> Thanks in Advance!! john w.

I just have someone push and hold, then I open the bleeder, watch the fluid
come out, close the bleeder before the fluid stops. Be careful, the first
few can have lots of air and it is easy to get sprayed in the face. Repeat
about 10 times and you are good to go, all new fluid in everything.

HTH

Carl


> wrote in message
oups.com...
> My 94 Wrangler ( ~150,000 miles) recently got hard to shift. In
> particular, I sometimes have to turn the engine off to get into
> reverse. So I checked around, and I found that the fluid level in the
> master clutch cylinder was VERY low. But the problem did not go away
> after I added fluid, so I assume that some air must have gotten in.
>
> But I can't figure out how to bleed it. (I have two shop manuals -- a
> Haynes & a Chiltons, I think -- and my system doesn't look like any of
> the pictures in either book.)
>
> The slave cylinder is a horizontal cylinder, on the left side of the
> clutch housing, about 1 inch diameter x 4 inches long. It has a little
> teat on the bottom, about 1/2 inch diameter x 1/2 inch long with a
> setscrew on the bottom end, and a little hole on the *side* of the teat
> -- right where it joins the main cylinder.
>
> When I loosen the setscrew and press the clutch pedal, fluid comes out
> of the side-hole, but there is no way you could attach a bleeder hose
> to the teat without blocking the little hole.
>
> The shop manuals talk about the 94 wranglers having a "sealed" clutch
> system, but it doesn't make any sense to me that there is provision for
> adding fluid, but no provision for bleeding.
>
> Thanks in Advance!! john w.
>

I've replaced a couple of those and usually "bleed" them before
bolting them into the bell housing so that they can hang straight down
(all the air goes to the top near the bleed hole). The last one I got
didn't even have the bleed hole drilled through and I quickly figured
out that it wasn't needed. The clutch master has no reverse flow
valve in it like a brake master would, so the air just slowly bubbles
up through the pipe. This works well with the slave off and hanging
straight down but I'm not too sure how well it would purge if the
slave were level - looks like some air would be trapped. Maybe
parking on a downhil slope would help. Pumping seems to get most of
the air out, anyway, but pump slow. Fast down is ok, but release
slowly to let the air work it's way up the hose. Otherwise, just park
on a steep downhil and go have lunch while the air bubbles up.

Anyway, if the fluid was that low, you have more problems than just
bleeding because that fluid went SOMEWHERE - I'd bet on a leak in the
master cylinder.

On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 14:19:49 UTC wrote:

> My 94 Wrangler ( ~150,000 miles) recently got hard to shift. In
> particular, I sometimes have to turn the engine off to get into
> reverse. So I checked around, and I found that the fluid level in the
> master clutch cylinder was VERY low. But the problem did not go away
> after I added fluid, so I assume that some air must have gotten in.
>
> But I can't figure out how to bleed it. (I have two shop manuals -- a
> Haynes & a Chiltons, I think -- and my system doesn't look like any of
> the pictures in either book.)
>
> The slave cylinder is a horizontal cylinder, on the left side of the
> clutch housing, about 1 inch diameter x 4 inches long. It has a little
> teat on the bottom, about 1/2 inch diameter x 1/2 inch long with a
> setscrew on the bottom end, and a little hole on the *side* of the teat
> -- right where it joins the main cylinder.
>
> When I loosen the setscrew and press the clutch pedal, fluid comes out
> of the side-hole, but there is no way you could attach a bleeder hose
> to the teat without blocking the little hole.
>
> The shop manuals talk about the 94 wranglers having a "sealed" clutch
> system, but it doesn't make any sense to me that there is provision for
> adding fluid, but no provision for bleeding.
>
> Thanks in Advance!! john w.
>


--
Will Honea

Thanks to everybody who offered advice. The problem seems to be
solved.

I removed the slave cyl. from the housing and let it hang
semi-vertical. ( I couldn't get it fully vertical for fear of breaking
the crummy-looking, brittle plastic tube.) Then I worked the slave
pushrod in and out about 6 times while my wife watched the main
reservoir. The first few times, a lot of bubbles came out; but after
the 5th or 6th time, there were no more bubbles, so I re-mounted the
slave. Now the transmission is shifting smoothly again.

I didn't touch the clutch pedal at all while the slave was removed.

There is a stain underneath the master cyl., but I suspect that it has
been leaking very slowly over a period of years. I will just check the
fluid level more frequently from now on. I'm sure that a few cans of
brake fluid per year is a lot cheaper than a new hydraulic system.

Thanx again, john w.

Whatever you can live with. Another tip that might be of use, is to flush
the system periodically. Clean hydraulic fluid is a lot kinder to internal
parts than dirty.

Earle

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Thanks to everybody who offered advice. The problem seems to be
> solved.
>
> I removed the slave cyl. from the housing and let it hang
> semi-vertical. ( I couldn't get it fully vertical for fear of breaking
> the crummy-looking, brittle plastic tube.) Then I worked the slave
> pushrod in and out about 6 times while my wife watched the main
> reservoir. The first few times, a lot of bubbles came out; but after
> the 5th or 6th time, there were no more bubbles, so I re-mounted the
> slave. Now the transmission is shifting smoothly again.
>
> I didn't touch the clutch pedal at all while the slave was removed.
>
> There is a stain underneath the master cyl., but I suspect that it has
> been leaking very slowly over a period of years. I will just check the
> fluid level more frequently from now on. I'm sure that a few cans of
> brake fluid per year is a lot cheaper than a new hydraulic system.
>
> Thanx again, john w.
>
>

One thing to watch, tho, is inside up under the dash. The typical
master cylinder leak is around the pushrod where it goes through the
firewall. On my MJ and the Cherokees I work on most of the time, that
leak will dribble down the firewall and into the fuse block which
causes lots more problems.

On Tue, 11 Oct 2005 14:04:13 UTC wrote:

> Thanks to everybody who offered advice. The problem seems to be
> solved.
>
> I removed the slave cyl. from the housing and let it hang
> semi-vertical. ( I couldn't get it fully vertical for fear of breaking
> the crummy-looking, brittle plastic tube.) Then I worked the slave
> pushrod in and out about 6 times while my wife watched the main
> reservoir. The first few times, a lot of bubbles came out; but after
> the 5th or 6th time, there were no more bubbles, so I re-mounted the
> slave. Now the transmission is shifting smoothly again.
>
> I didn't touch the clutch pedal at all while the slave was removed.
>
> There is a stain underneath the master cyl., but I suspect that it has
> been leaking very slowly over a period of years. I will just check the
> fluid level more frequently from now on. I'm sure that a few cans of
> brake fluid per year is a lot cheaper than a new hydraulic system.
>
> Thanx again, john w.
>


--
Will Honea