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1998 TJ Clutch Problems???

962 views 9 replies 3 participants last post by  ConnorJS 
#1 ·
Hey everyone. I'm brand new to the forum, and excited to be here. Just as a side note, practically everything I know about jeeps, I learned here!

I learned to drive on my baby here, the 1998 Jeep Wrangler TJ full stock with the classic amc 242 stock and the 5 speed manual AX-15 from the factory.

For the past year or so, I've noticed her slipping down the driveway a little bit when parked. My dad is the primary driver of this guy, and he parks in first gear, E-brake off. No matter what I say to him, I can't get him to use the E-brake. No idea why.

Lately the problem has gotten really, really bad. Today I came outside after about half an hour and found my car about 4 feet down the driveway and a couple inches away from my brand new Rubicon. This is worrying the crap out of me, and I think it might be a problem with the clutch. When I hop in the car without touching a single pedal, the steering wheel, or the stick, it lurches backwards a few inches at a time, and when I gently push on the front of the car, it slides away. I want to do the repair myself because I love this kind of thing, but I wanted to consult those wiser than me before dropping $350 on a clutch assembly from Quadratek and getting ahold of all the tools, and spending 6 hours doing a repair that doesn't actually help anything.

What do you think???
 
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#2 ·
If your parked on a steep driveway with the e-brake not set then I would not be surprised that she would not roll. If that's the case then it's just the engine turning over just by the wheels rolling while in gear. If you do actually need a clutch don't go to Quadratrec buy the OEM LUK clutch from any of the various suppliers such as Parts Geek. The most you should pay is about $125.
 
#7 ·
I have a steep driveway that is only 30 feet long and 3 out of 4 Jeeps in the family are standard shift and none will not hold without the e-brake being set. If I attempt to leave any of them without the e-brake the engine will slowly turn over until they reach the bottom of the driveway. Not one of them is a slipping clutch.
 
#8 ·
I will say, the clutch feels incredible. It bites inches off the floor and I can start the car moving on a flat without any throttle whatsoever. I was even able to pop the clutch and start the car not long ago when the battery was too weak to start in the cold. The only thing that has made me think there was a clutch problem was the fact that it didn't slip down the driveway for years, and neither does my manual pickup (also my dad's car, also never parked with the e brake), but now the jeep does. It sounds like my problem might just be that the engine is turning over backwards. My question now is, how much damage could be done to the car having the engine move backwards? What should I check to make sure my jeep hasn't been damaged?
 
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