Topic: Throughout bearing

[Tall Boy]

I fixed my oil leak, but on the test drive my clutch went to the floor and became rock hard. The throughout bearing in these Tj's are horrible and this will be my second one to replace. My clutch just lost it and stalled at a stop sign and would not start due to the neutral safety switch. It just lost all pressure, dropped to the floor, pressure built back up again and became rock hard. No oil leaks , not a single oil leak anywhere. So since my clutch release (throughout) bearing has been making noise for 50,000 miles or so, I guess it finally gave out.
I replaced my original clutch with a luk clutch solely because of the bearing. It had worn down most of the clutch pressure plate fingers so it had difficulty engaging.  I got most of the stuff aside and am ready to pull the triple threat out tomorrow morning to inspect the clutch components. I don't want to replace gaskets for the tranny and transfer case , so it is coming out as a whole.

[YJmechanic]

if you are going through through outs that quick you may be engaging it all the time.  i used to do it too.  if you just rest your foot on the clutch pedal a little that is enough to engage it.  this will wear them out fast.

[Tall Boy]

No I don't do that , honestly. My disk would be worn to all get up if that were true, and it is not after 50,000 miles I still got a 1/4 " of pad life left on the surface of the disc. There appears to be a problem with the clutch fork return spring. The fork is a massive chunk of metal the width of the bell housing, and 3" wide. The return spring is no more bigger than a nickel in circumference , and it is made out of bailing wire. When the clutch is depressed the spring is not thick enough to pull the fork away from the pressure plate "finger springs" that disengage the clutch disc. Therefore the throughout bearing rides the finger's of the pressure plate  consistantly till it breaks another 50,000 miles down the road. It's called planned obsolescense, or a technician's job security.  

 My case was the spring retainers for the release bearing snapped, which forced it to spin freely from the fork. I bought a replacement bearing for $ 82.00 at the dealer.

[rcopes]

If you think it was the spring, any local auto parts store should have universal return springs. Try that and see if it helps.

[Tall Boy]

It's already back together again and on the road. I used dealer parts. If I had time on my hands I would be figuring out how to strengthen the spring apparatus though.

[mud4feet]

...........The throughout bearing in these Tj's are horrible and this will be my second one to replace..........

Maybe you got a lemon. Mine just turned 98K still on original clutch parts and workin' just fine.

[Tall Boy]

Well, I would think that too but I know someone who has the same problem with an 03 rubicon. You have the 2.4l right? Different transmission too. I got 102,000 on my 2001, with a  locked rear end.