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

[zrickety]

Not the first time we've seen this...do we know if it's the flywheel? Maybe the cast legs crack.
Centerforce thread https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/centerforce-clutch-installed-on-jl-rubicon.49050/

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[Chazdog]

That was me and I'm serious. I've reached out to a few dealers. Just going over the details of how we are going to manage with 1 car until it comes in. I won't drive it anymore.

Is your decision to not drive yours based solely on the catastrophic clutch failure and resultant fire detailed here or are there other factors you’ve taken into account? I‘m not questioning your decision, just trying to gauge how prevalent these occurrences are. It seems like reports of cars burning to the ground are disproportionately Wranglers but there’s no way to tell if the those are mostly manuals or not.

 

[LLRubylady]

Is your decision to not drive yours based solely on the catastrophic clutch failure and resultant fire detailed here or are there other factors you’ve taken into account? I‘m not questioning your decision, just trying to gauge how prevalent these occurrences are. It seems like reports of cars burning to the ground are disproportionately Wranglers but there’s no way to tell if the those are mostly manuals or not.

It's based just on what has been happening. I have had no slipping of my clutch or burning smell. I only get a little creak when I press the pedal but I've had that in other cars so it doesn't concern me. But seeing all the photos of what could happen and thinking about it as I'm driving is just too much for me. I remember all those Pinto fires back in the day.
I was fine when I did the recall, but seeing that this is happening after the recall gives me pause to think well, i'm not in the clear because i had the recall done.
I did ask my local Jeep guy to check out the CF and south bend clutches and let me know if that's a solution if we can get one. He wasn't too keen on CF, as he only knows them for racing.

Truthfully i think i'm better off just getting the new auto and calling it a day. way less stress.

 

[krweatherl]

Jess and her dad were able to go to her jeep and get some better photos of the carnage. The pressure plate fell out under the Jeep so the tow truck driver picked it up and set it on the floorboard. I see busted ears, the bell housing is sheared completely around, the input shaft of the transmission is either bent or broken clear off. Looks to me like the pressure plate broke loose partially, then was flung around shearing the entire bell housing before finally breaking loose.

I

 

[Cutterone]

Well that’s gonna give me nightmares!!

 

[roaniecowpony]

Looks like the pressure plate itself it still in one piece, although the diaphram is distorted.

I think what is failing is the unusual second part of the two piece flywheel where the clutch rides against. It appears to be a cast iron part. Cast iron can be more easily fractured than steels.

The Centerforce design is a conventional single piece flywheel and single disk friction plate/pressure plate clutch design. The Centerforce flywheel is plate steel and unlikely to fragment.

The comment about Centerforce being a "racing clutch" company is a comforting thought as it relates to flywheel/clutch explosions. Racing clutch companies have to make parts that spin to higher rpm and are resistant to fragmentation. They do this by replacing typical cast iron flywheels and pressure plates with billet steel. But the flip side is that "racing clutches" have a bit of a rep for being high pedal pressure and grabby. However, in reading the literature on their site, they clearly are addressing street/off-road applications with JL.

 

[intentsrig]

It seems FCA/Stellantis may not have accurately identified the root cause of these failures.

Makes me wonder if the cause may be related to the hydraulic line/slave cylinder getting overheated by engine/exhaust heat radiation, causing a "vapor lock" in the hydraulic clutch system, expanding the volume of the fluid as it turns to gas and partially actuating the throwout bearing against the pressure plate. Just a suspicious thought. I don't even have a JL with a manual trans to look at.

The attached chart gives boiling point of brake fluid, with new/fresh fluid on the left and older fluid with moisture absorbed by %, to the right. The JL uses DOT 3 fluid, which is the lower curve on the chart.

You know something I have noticed is how dirty the brake fluid in the reservoir is. I even had the fluid replaced when I had a new slave cylinder installed.

Does/ Is your auto’s brake res fluid already super black? I’m talking mine turned from clear to black very fast. Only 38k miles total and maybe 10k with new fluid.

You might be on to something

Oh and no vehicle I ever had has had fluid turn dirty so fast. Mine looks like it has over 100k+ mile fluid in it easily.

 

[Irish Creig]

Your niece sounds like a remarkable young lady. I’m glad she’s ok.
no clutch should explode like this. I’ve Known plenty of people beat the living crap out of their jeeps and never had it explode.
This is a disgrace and I hope that something works to make them accountable. They should offer to replace the entire clutches in all manuals or at least reimburse those who had major repair costs. Has anyone reach out to 60 minutes?

I've been thinking about contacting 60 minutes, my Jeep didn't catch fire but I did have recall Y01 done on 7/19/21 and on 6/22/22 I was on the Pennsylvania turnpike going 65-70 miles/hour when it overheated, fragmented and destroyed my transmission. Oh, and BTW my foot wasn't on the clutch (I know better than that) and now Stellantis is refusing any responsibility saying that the clutch is a wearable item so the damage is not covered under the drive train warranty in spite of the fact that Stellantis KNOWS that they have a problem with the clutch on the 2018 and beyond model years JL/JLU'S and EVERYONE who has had their clutch burnt-out destroying the transmission HAD the recall done and the damage happened anyways!!

 

[Cutterone]

I've been thinking about contacting 60 minutes, my Jeep didn't catch fire but I did have recall Y01 done on 7/19/21 and on 6/22/22 I was on the Pennsylvania turnpike going 65-70 miles/hour when it overheated, fragmented and destroyed my transmission. Oh, and BTW my foot wasn't on the clutch (I know better than that) and now Stellantis is refusing any responsibility saying that the clutch is a wearable item so the damage is not covered under the drive train warranty in spite of the fact that Stellantis KNOWS that they have a problem with the clutch on the 2018 and beyond model years JL/JLU'S and EVERYONE who has had their clutch burnt-out destroying the transmission HAD the recall done and the damage happened anyways!!

I'm sorry to hear that, everyone ok? On the one hand I'm glad I traded in my 2018 stick, but got another stick in my 2021, and I'm gonna pretend they made some mechanical or metallurgy changes unbeknown to us to insure it isn't happening to the newer models. But I think it still is in a few isolated cases. Complete BS that Jeep isn't accepting responsibility, and they shouldn't have cheaped out on this clutch!!!

 

[LLRubylady]

I've been thinking about contacting 60 minutes, my Jeep didn't catch fire but I did have recall Y01 done on 7/19/21 and on 6/22/22 I was on the Pennsylvania turnpike going 65-70 miles/hour when it overheated, fragmented and destroyed my transmission. Oh, and BTW my foot wasn't on the clutch (I know better than that) and now Stellantis is refusing any responsibility saying that the clutch is a wearable item so the damage is not covered under the drive train warranty in spite of the fact that Stellantis KNOWS that they have a problem with the clutch on the 2018 and beyond model years JL/JLU'S and EVERYONE who has had their clutch burnt-out destroying the transmission HAD the recall done and the damage happened anyways!!

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.

 

[krweatherl]

I've been thinking about contacting 60 minutes, my Jeep didn't catch fire but I did have recall Y01 done on 7/19/21 and on 6/22/22 I was on the Pennsylvania turnpike going 65-70 miles/hour when it overheated, fragmented and destroyed my transmission. Oh, and BTW my foot wasn't on the clutch (I know better than that) and now Stellantis is refusing any responsibility saying that the clutch is a wearable item so the damage is not covered under the drive train warranty in spite of the fact that Stellantis KNOWS that they have a problem with the clutch on the 2018 and beyond model years JL/JLU'S and EVERYONE who has had their clutch burnt-out destroying the transmission HAD the recall done and the damage happened anyways!!

There is an active Facebook group about this
“Jeep Clutch Recall”
They’ve been great at helping Jess work through this.
There’s also this
https://www.schmidtandclark.com/jeep-wrangler-recall-lawsuit

 

[nomographer]

"Wearable components" do fail, but they should still not fail catastrophically. "Oops can't get out of gear" is the expected failure mode here, likely preceded by several months of "getting into 3rd is difficult".

What other wearable components on an automobile result, without warning, in the destruction of the vehicle?

 

[Chazdog]

I'm sorry to hear that, everyone ok? On the one hand I'm glad I traded in my 2018 stick, but got another stick in my 2021, and I'm gonna pretend they made some mechanical or metallurgy changes unbeknown to us to insure it isn't happening to the newer models. But I think it still is in a few isolated cases. Complete BS that Jeep isn't accepting responsibility, and they shouldn't have cheaped out on this clutch!!!

You can tell yourself that your 2021 is improved over the 2018 but other than an updated Mopar part number that a hopeful Rubylady identified, there’s no evidence that Stellantis has actually made any effort to resolve this unacceptable situation.
It looks like Irish Creig’s destroyed transmission was on a 2021.

 

[58Willys]

Looks like the pressure plate itself it still in one piece, although the diaphram is distorted.

I think what is failing is the unusual second part of the two piece flywheel where the clutch rides against. It appears to be a cast iron part. Cast iron can be more easily fractured than steels.

The Centerforce design is a conventional single piece flywheel and single disk friction plate/pressure plate clutch design. The Centerforce flywheel is plate steel and unlikely to fragment.

The comment about Centerforce being a "racing clutch" company is a comforting thought as it relates to flywheel/clutch explosions. Racing clutch companies have to make parts that spin to higher rpm and are resistant to fragmentation. They do this by replacing typical cast iron flywheels and pressure plates with billet steel. But the flip side is that "racing clutches" have a bit of a rep for being high pedal pressure and grabby. However, in reading the literature on their site, they clearly are addressing street/off-road applications with JL.

Ithink you are on the right track here. Looks like the flywheel parts may have blown.

 

[58Willys]

Jess and her dad were able to go to her jeep and get some better photos of the carnage. The pressure plate fell out under the Jeep so the tow truck driver picked it up and set it on the floorboard. I see busted ears, the bell housing is sheared completely around, the input shaft of the transmission is either bent or broken clear off. Looks to me like the pressure plate broke loose partially, then was flung around shearing the entire bell housing before finally breaking loose.

I

Interesting photos. Have you seen the friction disk? Is it worn or glazed?

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