Clutch going out...gone.

[alpha6]

Hmmm...In the span of one round trip to town my clutch went from tight to spongy, to hardly engaging to I have to turn off the engine to get it in reverse. I suspect some kind of adjustment nut is coming loose...have to wait for all the snow to melt off the underside before I can crawl under and look at it. Searching, I found this thread. http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f2/clutch-help-17158/ talking about adjusting the clutch, so I will start there. Thanks in advance to BusaDave and Mtnwhlr for the info and diagram in the linked post...will take pics and let ya'll know what I find.

 

[Shifter]

also check your body mounts. If the tub is moving around, it will effect the clutch adjustment.

 

[alpha6]

Found the problem. The two bolts holding part five of the clutch diagram were loose. Tightened them and problem fixed. Pic one shows the two bolts loose and pic 2 shows how far out the bolt was after I tightened the bottom bolt. Question...there doesn't appear to be any kind of lock washer on these and I bet that they will vibrate out again ...can take them out and add a lock washer or will something move out of alignment on the inside?

 

[mtnwhlr]

It should have lock washers on them. You can also use some loctite on the bolts.

 

[CJ]

Looks like some time for degreaser and some lock washers...

 

[thiswontbetooexpensive]

Glad you found the issue!

Looks like some time for degreaser and some lock washers...

Too much degreaser is not good for vintage vehicles. After judicious use of that product, my CJ is in at least 1,000 pieces. I think the grease was holding it all together!

 

[Bowbender]

Glad you found the problem, looks like an easy fix.

 

[alpha6]

Looks like some time for degreaser and some lock washers...

You are right. I am thinking of getting this thing on a lift, degrease the whole thing and then go through and tighten/check everything I can get my hands on. Thinking that nothing has ever been done to this thing by the PO, other than driving it.