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

[LLRubylady]

Honestly. Even tho it was MY jeep.. I am still considering the manual, even after this ordeal.. I've been driving manuals since age 16. Drove an automatic for a year and a half and turned back to manuals. I just feel (ha) safer cause I have more control. This was definitely a mechanical failure. Jeep knew there was an issue. Which is why they issued a recall.. and sadly the recall was "band-aid" fix to the real problem. This recall was to lower torque from the engine so the clutch didn't slip.. they put a poor clutch in it for those years. And it seems as if they fixed it later realizing their error. It has been a tragic week (and day) but it was the way they made it

Do we know if they fixed it? I know the pressure plate had revision but didn’t some newer jeeps blow apart too?

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[Irish Creig]

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

I know, I'm one of the admins for the Jeep Clutch Recall group on Facebook

 

[Irish Creig]

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.

Yes, my Jeep is a 2021 Sport S Unlimited

 

[roaniecowpony]

Think we all need scatter shields in our jeeps

Nah, just you guys n gals that row your own.

 

[SteadyC]

Like others have said, super glad everyone and the dogs were not impacted by this. I have a 2018 MT, have not had either recall performed, here’s my train of thought, as I’ve kicked this around a lot. This story is one reason I haven’t done the first recall, I don’t want a dealership tech to increase risk, or issues into a clutch that isn’t having issues. First recall:
1. Remove plastic clip holding hydraulic hose to this bundle of electric wires that doesn’t move. I removed this clip myself.
2. Inspect hydraulic hose, if cracks or wear is observed, replace hose and appropriate re=bleeding to get air out. My hose looks perfect, skip this.
3. Install sleeve over hose, super stupid. The sleeve is crap and doesn’t protect anything.
4. Perform clutch dump test. If engine dies, clutch is determined to be fine, return vehicle to owner. If engine tries to engage, and doesn’t die immediately, clutch is determined defective as it is slipping, replace clutch.

what was reported to owner? clutch dump results? Was hose replaced? System bled if so?

I watched another thread here for a very long time while others were going through this recall at the time it came out, the vast majority of people their clutch passed the dump test, so basically nothing was done, nothing substantial.

i know my clutch is not slipping, no need to have a dealership tech verify what i already know. for sure, I don’t want a dealership tech to introduce issues and risk if they don’t perform the recall correctly, which in my opinion happened here. One day it’s not on fire, dealership does the recall, next day it’s on fire. Pretty simple.

second recall? What a load of crap. Do some measurements to try and determine if the clutch is slipping? Sounds like either this wasn’t done by the dealership, mistake number 2, or it doesn’t work.

I do think the number of MTs with an actual issue is really low. Based on that thread of people reporting their experience with the recall work. I do not trust dealerships to not introduce issues. I’ve wheeled my MT in Moab many times, driving from suburb of Denver to Moab, wheeled in CO many times, over highest passes in CO, drove multiple hour drives to remote parts of CO, no issues. Perhaps their is some more systemic facts, like light piece of crap flywheel, etc. for now, I have no reservations about driving my MT based on what I have done already, and that while I see no issues, dealership won’t have a chance to make some.

and I have multiple parts I would have to remove so a dealership could do the recall, ARB mini tank mounted right there at the master cylinder, transmission skid plate if they wanted to bleed the fluid.

 

[nomographer]

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

According to the Centerforce thread at https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ch-installed-on-jl-rubicon.49050/post-1892800 the new kit will include replacements for hydraulics as well. CF already has these parts separately for 2017 and earlier models, but late last year it looks like they started a ground up redesign of the entire system. (They're lining up to be the vendor of choice when everyone pays to get their entire clutch system replaced, paid for either by Stellantis or vehicle owners.)

The assumed failure mode of hydraulic issues would be difficulty or failure to shift (inability to engage the clutch), which could lead to clutch smoke and overheating.

(edit, fixed link)

 

[bjm00se]

According to the Centerforce thread at https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ch-installed-on-jl-rubicon.49050/post-1892800 the new kit will include replacements for hydraulics as well. CF already has these parts separately for 2017 and earlier models, but late last year it looks like they started a ground up redesign of the entire system. (They're lining up to be the vendor of choice when everyone pays to get their entire clutch system replaced, paid for either by Stellantis or vehicle owners.)

The assumed failure mode of hydraulic issues would be difficulty or failure to shift (inability to engage the clutch), which could lead to clutch smoke and overheating.

that forum link doesn't work for some reason

 

[Rubi6mt]

I would lmao

I'm 100% staying with a manual. Going to order a CFII this week.

 

[Rubi6mt]

Like others have said, super glad everyone and the dogs were not impacted by this. I have a 2018 MT, have not had either recall performed, here’s my train of thought, as I’ve kicked this around a lot. This story is one reason I haven’t done the first recall, I don’t want a dealership tech to increase risk, or issues into a clutch that isn’t having issues. First recall:
1. Remove plastic clip holding hydraulic hose to this bundle of electric wires that doesn’t move. I removed this clip myself.
2. Inspect hydraulic hose, if cracks or wear is observed, replace hose and appropriate re=bleeding to get air out. My hose looks perfect, skip this.
3. Install sleeve over hose, super stupid. The sleeve is crap and doesn’t protect anything.
4. Perform clutch dump test. If engine dies, clutch is determined to be fine, return vehicle to owner. If engine tries to engage, and doesn’t die immediately, clutch is determined defective as it is slipping, replace clutch.

what was reported to owner? clutch dump results? Was hose replaced? System bled if so?

I watched another thread here for a very long time while others were going through this recall at the time it came out, the vast majority of people their clutch passed the dump test, so basically nothing was done, nothing substantial.

i know my clutch is not slipping, no need to have a dealership tech verify what i already know. for sure, I don’t want a dealership tech to introduce issues and risk if they don’t perform the recall correctly, which in my opinion happened here. One day it’s not on fire, dealership does the recall, next day it’s on fire. Pretty simple.

second recall? What a load of crap. Do some measurements to try and determine if the clutch is slipping? Sounds like either this wasn’t done by the dealership, mistake number 2, or it doesn’t work.

I do think the number of MTs with an actual issue is really low. Based on that thread of people reporting their experience with the recall work. I do not trust dealerships to not introduce issues. I’ve wheeled my MT in Moab many times, driving from suburb of Denver to Moab, wheeled in CO many times, over highest passes in CO, drove multiple hour drives to remote parts of CO, no issues. Perhaps their is some more systemic facts, like light piece of crap flywheel, etc. for now, I have no reservations about driving my MT based on what I have done already, and that while I see no issues, dealership won’t have a chance to make some.

and I have multiple parts I would have to remove so a dealership could do the recall, ARB mini tank mounted right there at the master cylinder, transmission skid plate if they wanted to bleed the fluid.

I agree with all points in this post. I have not brought my jeep back for any recalls.

I've driven 900 miles past week and a half with a full day at AOAA and loaded down when I picked my daughter from camp on 35's with still stock gearing.

Stock clutch performed fine.

with that said, I'm ordering the CFII for piece of mind and for the heavier flywheel when I tackle the harder trails.

 

[krweatherl]

Look at this clutch from one that came apart in this thread. https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...verheating-clutch-pressure-plate.47887/page-8

It looks like in this case the rivets failed on the 2 piece flywheel letting the complete clutch assembly fly loose. The more I look into this the more I’m convinced a solid flywheel like the Centerforce flywheel is the answer to the catastrophic failure issues.

 

[krweatherl]

The effect of a malfunctioning hydraulic system would be the same as driving with your foot on the clutch constantly instead only when starting out and/or shifting.

 

[Tool Guy]

The effect of a malfunctioning hydraulic system would be the same as driving with your foot on the clutch constantly instead only when starting out and/or shifting.

No argument to this theory, but the failure mode from "riding the clutch" is usually a burned up clutch disk with glazed or over heated flywheel and pressure plate. The failure mode for such is normally not an exploded clutch and bellhousing.

 

[JerseyMark]

Do we know if they fixed it? I know the pressure plate had revision but didn’t some newer jeeps blow apart too?

imakeinterfaces made a separate thread in which he talked about the revisions. It does look like between AA and AD there were changes and it went to a 1 piece disc:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/documenting-m-t-clutch-revisions.85688/#post-1790020

 

[LLRubylady]

what sucks is that they made a revision obviously because of the issue and none of us with the old part were notified and offered the replacement. Just terrible.

 

[JerseyMark]

what sucks is that they made a revision obviously because of the issue and none of us with the old part were notified and offered the replacement. Just terrible.

Yeah, they should have just recalled and repaired all of the 2018-2020s prior to the revision. They probably had actuaries calculate the cost of recall/repair vs liability cost of a clutch failure and determined it was too expensive to repair all of them. My wife’s 2019 Sahara had the recalls done and seems fine at 37k miles. However, now I am wondering if we should just get the clutch replaced with the newer part or a centerforce. I also wonder which clutch part number I have in my 2021 Gladiator.

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