Slave Cylinder upgrade recommendations?

[BHank0688]

Any response from either act on this issue or center force about their slave cylinder? We just added a little more than 600 miles on the Jeep this weekend. Nothing has changed with the noise/ feel of the pedal after it’s warmed up. So far this problem seems to be more of an annoyance than anything. I did also try and get that camera in the bell housing to see if I could see anything to give me a clue what’s going on, but it won’t fit in past the flywheel and bell housing unfortunately.

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[Jeremynolan94]

Any response from either act on this issue or center force about their slave cylinder? We just added a little more than 600 miles on the Jeep this weekend. Nothing has changed with the noise/ feel of the pedal after it’s warmed up. So far this problem seems to be more of an annoyance than anything. I did also try and get that camera in the bell housing to see if I could see anything to give me a clue what’s going on, but it won’t fit in past the flywheel and bell housing unfortunately.

I spoke with Centerforce and they reported other people using their slave cylinder with the ACT clutch so I went ahead and ordered one. It came in yesterday and, at least visually, it looks comparable to the OEM unit. I'm going to have it installed later this week and will report back.

 

[Jeremynolan94]

I meant to add that I also emailed ACT and included the video of the sound I'm experiencing. This was their response:

"Sorry for the late response but your email was forwarded up to our engineering team who reviewed and responded with the following.

'We took a listen and can’t think of anything obvious that would cause that. Possibly the slave cylinder is not positioned correctly, or something is going on with the fork or release bearing, but I can’t tell for sure just from the video. Unfortunately, the transmission will probably have to come down and clutch/release bearing/fork looked at to figure out what is causing it.'”

 

[BHank0688]

The response from ACT was what I was expecting, just didn’t want to hear lol. The metal end on the center force slave cylinder is interesting vs the plastic on the oem. Thanks for the update.

 

[Actman]

I spoke with Centerforce and they reported other people using their slave cylinder with the ACT clutch so I went ahead and ordered one. It came in yesterday and, at least visually, it looks comparable to the OEM unit. I'm going to have it installed later this week and will report back.

If you are planning on just replacing the slave cylinder with the CF unit (which is based on the JK design), it won't work. It has a larger piston size, so it will not travel far enough to fully actuate the clutch. You will need the JK master cylinder as well which is also larger for it to function properly. Swapping to the CF hydraulics will also increase the pedal effort over the stock hydraulics.

 

[Jeremynolan94]

If you are planning on just replacing the slave cylinder with the CF unit (which is based on the JK design), it won't work. It has a larger piston size, so it will not travel far enough to fully actuate the clutch. You will need the JK master cylinder as well which is also larger for it to function properly. Swapping to the CF hydraulics will also increase the pedal effort over the stock hydraulics.

Man this is all so frustrating. When I spoke with Centerforce on the phone last week they reported that just the slave cylinder would be compatible with the ACT clutch, but I'd much rather defer to your knowledge since you designed it! So if I don't want to replace the master cylinder as well, my only option would be to try a different OEM slave cylinder?

 

[BHank0688]

Based on the new information, I think I’m going to bleed the hydraulics/ upgrade the brake/clutch hydro fluid to dot 5.1. Also I will take the slave out and grease the ball under the plastic piece that goes into the clutch fork (seems to have helped some jk’s in the past with similar issues). Process of elimination I guess.

 

[Jeremynolan94]

Based on the new information, I think I’m going to bleed the hydraulics/ upgrade the brake/clutch hydro fluid to dot 5.1. Also I will take the slave out and grease the ball under the plastic piece that goes into the clutch fork (seems to have helped some jk’s in the past with similar issues). Process of elimination I guess.

Report back when you do!

 

[Actman]

Man this is all so frustrating. When I spoke with Centerforce on the phone last week they reported that just the slave cylinder would be compatible with the ACT clutch, but I'd much rather defer to your knowledge since you designed it! So if I don't want to replace the master cylinder as well, my only option would be to try a different OEM slave cylinder?

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[JEEP4U]

There is only one .............But, It does not work with self adjusting clutches . Its McLeod Racing Clutches, they utilize a similar 11" clutch like ACT..................Maybe ACT could Chime in if it could work with their clutch assembly.

https://www.mcleodracing.com/1400-series-bearing/p105

 

[BHank0688]

I ended up pulling the slave out. I put the camera in there to look around. I didn’t see anything obvious that was wrong so I feel a little better about it. While the slave was out I popped that plastic end piece off and greased it. It was dry with just a little evidence there was grease there before so I figured why not. After driving it I still get the same noise / feel after warmup. Maybe a little better, but I’m not convinced. Now I’m debating between a new mopar slave (just because) and fluid swap or just replacing the fluid with the current slave.

 

[Jeremynolan94]

I just spoked with Centerforce who confirmed that their slave cylinder is not compatible with the ACT clutch on its own, and would require the master cylinder to also be replaced. I went ahead and ordered a replacement OEM unit and will report back once it is installed.

 

[Actman]

There is only one .............But, It does not work with self adjusting clutches . Its McLeod Racing Clutches, they utilize a similar 11" clutch like ACT..................Maybe ACT could Chime in if it could work with their clutch assembly.

https://www.mcleodracing.com/1400-series-bearing/p105

The McLeod bearing doesn't work with the ACT or OEM setup because they designed it to work with their JK flywheel and pressure plate, which they now offer for the JL/JT. The stack up height of the JK flywheel/clutch is shorter than the JL/JT so the bearing will be too tall to work with the ACT or OEM parts.

 

[BHank0688]

At least it’s not just a Jeep thing.

https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/clutch-clicking-sound-normal.50679/

 

[Jeremynolan94]

Update: I had the slave cylinder replaced with another OEM unit and the hydraulics bled, and the sound and feel still persists. So the next step is to drop the transmission again and take things apart to see if something is off or needs to be greased. I'm pretty bummed out since this "upgrade" has turned into the biggest issue I've had with the Jeep. Hopefully I will at least get reimbursed the initial purchase and install since this is really adding up.

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