Clutch Recall (FCA W12 | 20V-124) on 2018-2020 JL Manuals [overheating clutch pressure plate]

[intentsrig]

I don't think that is necessarily the case. I think it works fine when all is as it should be. If not, mine would have blown apart a long time ago. I run it HARD and it has 41k on it now. The ones that blew up had FAR fewer miles on them and I'd bet were not run nearly as hard.

Hope you are right. Just odd it’s a recall for all manuals and strange it keeps happening. Someone doing testing is clearly seeing how the failures are occurring.

I have 30k miles on the Jeep now and have a loud creaking noise coming from my inside my clutch when the pedal is depressed/ released and warmed up. Otherwise feels fine.

Kinda hoping this second recall will make them crack it open and figure out the noise under warranty.

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[DanW]

We really need to wait for FCA's documentation. It will be more accurate and precise than at least one of the two NHTSA documents we've seen here. My tendency is to speculate wildly and drive myself nuts. So I'm going to try and be patient and wait to hear from the folks that know exactly what they are going to do, not someone acting as a middle man or translator in a government cubicle, who may not really understand what they are passing along.

I have had visions of my dear Jeep having one of its testicles removed, destroying the beautiful engine/tranny combo I've enjoyed immensely for the last 3 years. I've got to regain perspective here and not overreact to confusing and inconsistent documentation from bureacrats who are not the folks closest to the problem and solution.

 

[DanW]

Hope you are right. Just odd it’s a recall for all manuals and strange it keeps happening. Someone doing testing is clearly seeing how the failures are occurring.

I have 30k miles on the Jeep now and have a loud creaking noise coming from my inside my clutch when the pedal is depressed/ released and warmed up. Otherwise feels fine.

Kinda hoping this second recall will make them crack it open and figure out the noise under warranty.

Yes they need to at least fix that for you. But I've owned enough clutches to know that they frequently have quirks and squeaks and such. Probably unrelated to this issue. Have you ever smelled it when you weren't knowingly slipping it excessively? Such as during or right after normal driving? I've only smelled mine when backing my boat up the driveway and having to slip it a lot. My Jk clutch does the same when doing the same thing, so I knew to expect it and wasn't surprised. But I didn't do it in a way that would have gotten it anywhere near the temps to hurt the plate. You'd have to do it a lot and for a long time to get 1,000 degrees.

Now if my sister drove my Jeep, I'd also expect to smell it, even in normal driving. She used to go through clutches about every 25k miles until my Dad bought her a car with an automatic and swore never again to let her drive a manual. Lol!

My wife and brother in law both smoked my JL clutch when each on different occasions tried to start out in 3rd or 5th gear. But they quit trying when they smelled it, so again, no way it got anywhere near 1,000 degrees.

 

[intentsrig]

Yes they need to at least fix that for you. But I've owned enough clutches to know that they frequently have quirks and squeaks and such. Probably unrelated to this issue. Have you ever smelled it when you weren't knowingly slipping it excessively? Such as during or right after normal driving? I've only smelled mine when backing my boat up the driveway and having to slip it a lot. My Jk clutch does the same when doing the same thing, so I knew to expect it and wasn't surprised. But I didn't do it in a way that would have gotten it anywhere near the temps to hurt the plate. You'd have to do it a lot and for a long time to get 1,000 degrees.

Now if my sister drove my Jeep, I'd also expect to smell it, even in normal driving. She used to go through clutches about every 25k miles until my Dad bought her a car with an automatic and swore never again to let her drive a manual. Lol!

My wife and brother in law both smoked my JL clutch when each on different occasions tried to start out in 3rd or 5th gear. But they quit trying when they smelled it, so again, no way it got anywhere near 1,000 degrees.

Luckily I have never smelled my clutch being burnt.

I have smelled something that smells like eggs though lol.

 

[DanW]

Luckily I have never smelled my clutch being burnt.

I have smelled something that smells like eggs though lol.

Reprogram your diet before you trigger a sensor!

 

[Toycrusher]

To reiterate, our Jeeps have no way of detecting clutch temperatures. It barely has a switch at all to indicate you've pressed in the clutch, it doesn't know actual clutch position. It doesn't know what gear you are in, therefore, it cannot compare rpm to calculate clutch slippage. This NHTSA "remedy" is bogus.

The first recall on clutch bleeding is also bogus. Air in the lines results in more pressure being exerted on the clutch disc and LESS slippage. The only way it could result in increased temperatures is if someone sat for an extended time at a light with their foot on the clutch all the while with their other foot on the brake and their third foot revving the heck out of the engine the entire time. I think it was a distraction to make it look like they were doing something.

This second recall will do nothing. With only 40,000 manual transmissions built in the last three years, they might just be delaying things before buying them all back and crushing them.

I am incredibly happy with my Centerforce clutch. My JL drives like a tractor now instead of feeling like an anemic squirrel under the hood. I do have issues with it not fully releasing with my foot on the clutch, but that might be an issue with the grease i used to lubricate the input shaft, not the design of the clutch or Flywheel.

Bottom line, if Stellantis wants to detune my engine or crush my JL, they'll have to pry it from my crispy smoking dead hands...

 

[JimmyZ]

This whole thread is stressful - coming from a guy waiting on his 6-speed to be delivered...

 

[bwright1818]

I have to admit, this is my first view of this thread and I didn't read every word in the 87 pages; but my first reaction was, "REDUCE torque???? Are you SERIOUS????" Cripes, half the reason the things are burning up is that the 3.6 has no low-end torque in the FIRST place!!! I have had eight manual transmission vehicles in my life, five of them being Jeeps. I have NEVER had to be so concious of exact clutch operation, as I have to be with this JL.

 

[sf5211]

Clutches have been around since the car was invented. It was fine for 95 years. How embarrassing that these last 5 years they screwed them up.
Plus, you guys with newer Jeeps (after the last recall) should be livid. If mine were a 20 or 21 my question would be....you mean after some clutches heated up and blew apart and you had to do a recall, you still continued to install the shitty cheap ones?
What’d they have a warehouse full of them and didn’t want to waste them?
If you remember there was a while after that forum member’s Jeep burned that the manual wasn’t available to order for a while.
I assumed after that any new clutch would be stronger with no issues.
Shame on FCA if they put the same piece of garbage in the new Jeep’s after the recall.
Whosever manual Jeep that came off the line AFTER the last recall and gets this recall? I’d imagine you’ve got a good case..

 

[DanW]

Found the temperature sensor! Lol. Actually, this could be helpful. Any excessive heat build-up in the clutch/pressure plate should conduct right to the bell housing pretty easily. I'm betting I don't see anything alarming, at all, even after a hard drive.

 

[sf5211]

Found the temperature sensor! Lol. Actually, this could be helpful. Any excessive heat build-up in the clutch/pressure plate should conduct right to the bell housing pretty easily. I'm betting I don't see anything alarming, at all, even after a hard drive.

There’s no way I would purchase a product, then lay on my back so I could monitor a screw up by a billion dollar company.

 

[DanW]

There’s no way I would purchase a product, then lay on my back so I could monitor a screw up by a billion dollar company.

Lol, well, different strokes for different blokes. It was partly to be funny but I will actually get under there and check it after a couple different driving profiles. Why? Curiosity, mainly. I really don't think mine has the condition that leads to the heat. My clutch would easily be toast by now if it did. And I'm under my Jeep now and then, anyway because I like tinkering with it and change my own oil and fluids.

Besides that, these are handy for all kinds of uses. Maybe I can point it at my wife and see if she's mad when I'm not sure?

 

[Jebiruph]

I don't think this latest recall is due to anything new, it's the realization that all clutches will eventually slip, whether it's from normal wear, improper use or mechanical failure and that due to the design of this system, a slipping clutch can be fatal.

I don't know how they'll measure the heat. Someone mentioned they can detect the clutch slipping, if so maybe they could extrapolate heat build up over time from clutch slippage overtime.

 

[WreckEm711]

Whosever manual Jeep that came off the line AFTER the last recall and gets this recall? I’d imagine you’ve got a good case..

Hah, me and a number of others on the forum are some of the very first manuals to come off the line after the clutch recall pause, disappointing that after many here waited months for their Jeep to be built that there's still a problem.

I'm very very hesitant to take mine in for a performance reduction when I haven't experienced any slipping, clutch burn (other than the time I was trying to teach my wife to drive stick.....), etc.... Guess it's a waiting game!

 

[Bejer]

I have had visions of my dear Jeep having one of its testicles removed, destroying the beautiful engine/tranny combo I've enjoyed immensely for the last 3 years. I've got to regain perspective here and not overreact to confusing and inconsistent documentation

I wouldn’t be so optimistic. That is exactly what they will do. That was their “fix” for the bad intakes on the 2nd Gen Rams. On the forums we called it the “death flash” the only difference being then you only got the DF if you complained about pinging. This being a recall will probably be done without your consent if you take it into a dealer for any reason.

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