Clutch Fire (1 Day After Recall) Burns 2018 JLU to the Ground

[Murphydog]

Well my manual was fun while it lasted but now I’m moving on. I can get the XR package and build it the way I want. Now I’m just trying to decide if I want hydro blue or high velocity

I hope some news coverage sheds light on this and Stellantis owns up to their error with that clutch.

Hydro!

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[BuyHold]

This is a horrible story but I am very glad that OP's niece and niece's dogs made it out safely.

That said. You won't be taking my manual away. You will have to pry it from my cold dead hands. I will just be upgrading to Centerforce in a year or so.

 

[Cutterone]

This is a horrible story but I am very glad that OP's niece and niece's dogs made it out safely.

That said. You won't be taking my manual away. You will have to pry it from my cold dead hands. I will just be upgrading to Centerforce in a year or so.

Yup I concur, will be doing the same, gonna call around to local tranny shops, get quotes, hopefully find someone reputable. Anyone have any suggestions for such a shop in southern NH? I don’t want my dealer doing it, want a specialist…

 

[Chazdog]

Yup I concur, will be doing the same, gonna call around to local tranny shops, get quotes, hopefully find someone reputable. Anyone have any suggestions for such a shop in southern NH? I don’t want my dealer doing it, want a specialist…

Unacceptable that you’re looking at thousands out of pocket to get your 2021 to where it should have been from the factory. All in an effort to secure some peace of mind that you won’t be stranded somewhere with a complete failure or worse, an explosion and possible fire. I get your reasoning. What I don’t get is Stellantis‘ inaction to properly correct this known problem.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my 15 months of ownership and have no plans right now to bail. But testimonials like these certainly give me pause…….

 

[Jebiruph]

If the hydraulic fluid gets overheated, or there is air in the line that gets hot and expands; this could slightly disengage the clutch, causing it to slip and heat up. However, even if this were the case, the clutch/flywheel shouldn’t grenade. If the clutch is slipping, it should eventually slip enough to cause a loss of forward progress, or if recall has been done, then the recall programming should cut power to the engine.

IMO, someone has to get a hold of the friction disks from one of these failures and examine it for wear and glazing. If the disk is worn and/or glazed this would indicate slipping; which could be caused by hot hydraulic fluid. If the disk is not worn or glazed, then this tells me the flywheel or pressure plate design/engineering/quality is at fault.

In Jess’s case, the clutch went to the floor; then it grenaded. If a hydraulic line burst, fine; but why did the clutch explode after that? Or were small pieces of the clutch/flywheel flying apart and one cut the hydraulic line?

Probably enough of these cases to get a class action lawsuit going. Only problem with class action suits is the lawyers walk away with millions and we get $500 off our next Jeep purchase. Hopefully NTSB will get FCA to replace this faulty assembly.

I suspect the clutch grenaded first, undetected, which resulted in the fire which resulted in the loss of hydraulics. If this was due to friction induced over heating, why didn't the just applied recall throttle down the engine as designed?

 

[LLRubylady]

Unacceptable that you’re looking at thousands out of pocket to get your 2021 to where it should have been from the factory. All in an effort to secure some peace of mind that you won’t be stranded somewhere with a complete failure or worse, an explosion and possible fire. I get your reasoning. What I don’t get is Stellantis‘ inaction to properly correct this known problem.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my 15 months of ownership and have no plans right now to bail. But testimonials like these certainly give me pause…….

Can’t give you any advice, but as someone now thinking about this, despite the infinitesimally small likelihood of occurrence the risk outcome is huge…last night I was wondering how quickly my kids can unbuckle the 5-point harness and lap belts to get out…I’m thinking of the aftermarket clutch route rather than automatic.

Everything else on my ‘21 is solid, and I’m not rolling the dice with supply chain, increased cost, and unknown gremlins in a new build.

Besides, reading about Stellantis’ failure to do anything about the fundamental design issue, even as recently as a ‘21 failing in June this year, convinced me this is the last Jeep I’ll buy under their ownership. Why order an automatic JL and add to their revenue?

Thinking about it, when the budget allows, but that was supposed to go to tires and lift!!

I really don’t want an auto either but I’m just afraid of throwing n a centerforce clutch for all that money and then something else goes wrong. I suppose if the hydraulics are to blame that would happen no matter which flywheel is in there

 

[Cutterone]

Unacceptable that you’re looking at thousands out of pocket to get your 2021 to where it should have been from the factory. All in an effort to secure some peace of mind that you won’t be stranded somewhere with a complete failure or worse, an explosion and possible fire. I get your reasoning. What I don’t get is Stellantis‘ inaction to properly correct this known problem.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my 15 months of ownership and have no plans right now to bail. But testimonials like these certainly give me pause…….

I agree, and the clutch failing is not of concern. It's the detonation of the tranny in spectacular fashion and subsequent possibility of catastrophic fire with my kids in the Jeep that gives me nightmares. Again I understand the chances of that happening to any one of us is minutely small, but if I'm going to keep this Jeep for the next 10 yrs or beyond as planned, I'd rather not have that threat lingering in the back of my head the whole time. As of now, I'm lucky for the first time to have a 2012 Grand Cherokee as a 3rd vehicle that I will be utilizing mostly when I need to truck the kids around until I properly address the clutch fiasco with a CF II...

 

[Cutterone]

I really don’t want an auto either but I’m just afraid of throwing n a centerforce clutch for all that money and then something else goes wrong. I suppose if the hydraulics are to blame that would happen no matter which flywheel is in there

To what knowledge I have gained about this issue on this forum, even if the hydraulics are the culprit, a new CF clutch and its materials are far more robust and wouldn't result in the tranny blasting to pieces...sound reasonable?

 

[Cutterone]

Per CF website, the CF II is rated to handle up to 430 ft/lbs of torque, our 3.6es put out a measly 260, walk in the park for new clutch I'm assuming. Remember, our OEM clutches are only rated for 272 ft/lbs, a whole 12 ft/lb overhead which I'm sorry isn't stout enough IMO

 

[LLRubylady]

To what knowledge I have gained about this issue on this forum, even if the hydraulics are the culprit, a new CF clutch and its materials are far more robust and wouldn't result in the tranny blasting to pieces...sound reasonable?

Ah ok. So even if the hydraulic fluid gets hot it shouldn’t have any effect.
I know nothing about mechanics. Interesting though I’m enjoying learning about it since becoming a Jeeper
My hubby doesn’t get it one bit.

 

[Cutterone]

Ah ok. So even if the hydraulic fluid gets hot it shouldn’t have any effect.
I know nothing about mechanics. Interesting though I’m enjoying learning about it since becoming a Jeeper
My hubby doesn’t get it one bit.

Oh I'm no expert either, but I gather even if the hydraulics fail, the new clutch is far more robust and built with better materials and wouldn't blast apart as we have seen with the OEM clutch, at least that's what I'll tell myself!

 

[ajkitebrder40]

So, I've got a '21 that's outside of the recall windows. Other than the one time I received the warning message for clutch overheated (again - it was warranted I was doing a poor job of turning around on a trail in 4L). Is there anything in particular to be on the lookout for?

 

[Luxy60]

First, I'm glad to hear the OP's niece and her dog are okay. That's all that really matters! I've owned two other Wranglers besides the 2021 JLU I have now. Both were MT's and went well beyond 150K miles and I never had a problem with the clutch or tranny, in either.
I really wanted the MT when I bought the '21. Took one for an extended test drive and got a feel for the clutch fairly quickly but I just couldn't convince myself to spend close to $50K on a vehicle that has a known, and significant, design deficiency. The AT mated to the 3.6 is a nice combo but a JL/ U really should have a MT.

 

[Cutterone]

If I didn't just trade my 2018 JL in for my 2021, I would probably be looking to trade for the auto. I knew they had an issue with the clutch, my 2018 was stick also, but after the recalls I figured the 2021 model years and beyond would be fixed so I again went with the stick. I've never owned an auto anything, but will go that route next time, by which time I doubt I'll have a choice anyway, fair bet the manual is gone with the next iteration of the Wrangler. Until then, throw a CF II clutch in and hopefully enjoy worry free...

 

[Chazdog]

So, I've got a '21 that's outside of the recall windows. Other than the one time I received the warning message for clutch overheated (again - it was warranted I was doing a poor job of turning around on a trail in 4L). Is there anything in particular to be on the lookout for?

Surprisingly, Stellantis simply integrated the Y-7 recall fix, consisting of a software update, at the factory. Your warning message for the clutch overheating is a result of that software update. The gear indicator was thrown in as visual evidence that something was actually done. That’s my understanding anyway, might be wrong.

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