clutch or tranny?

I have a few problems here and can only hope someone can point me in the right direction. The 66 CJ5 drives but I am having problems changing gears. I cannot keep the vehicle in 1st gear. I depress the clutch and all I hear is grinding. The grinding slows and than the jeep goes into 1st gear. I start to go and there is a clunking (for lack of a better term) coming from the tranny area and the shift know is moving in unison with the clunking. The shift knob is trying to come out of gear? I am able to get going in 2nd gear and shift to third gear. While I am shifting to 3rd gear there is a small amount of grinding. I just replaced the bell crank and all associated hardware. I set the free play and the cable adjustments as prescibed in the manual. I feel that the clutch when depressed is softer than it used to be. I can feel the pressure of the fork being moved but, it just seems softer. I tried to tighten up the cable to see if that is going to make a difference and when I do this I get a ticking noise that shows up in the last 1/16th of an inch. If I let the clutch out just a little the ticking stops. I do not know where to go from here and I do not want to have to take the vehicle to someone and pay them to fix something I might be able to do for myself.

 

You are describing exactly what my T90 is doing. Kind of a clackety clack sound you can also feel in the shifter? I also get an intermittent 1-2 second loud growl like noise from the bell area when I push in the clutch.

I suspect a potpouri of issues on mine. Throw out bearing, front tranny bearings, chowed gear.

It's coming out soon for refurb.

 

what trans do you have?
sounds like 2 problems to me.
the shifting issues could be clutch/clutch linkage related.
the popping out of first gear sounds like trans problems;
this may include bad bearing(s) and/or broken teeth.
drain the trans oil
(hopefully no metal chunks splash in the pan)
pull off the shift tower for a peek-a-boo
its a start, short of pulling it out

 

Is this a term leftover from the dealership days, Jim? R)

 

sorry forgot to mention it is a t90... will try the draining of the fluid and praying for no splashes... also forgot to mention worked fine prior to installing new bellcrank...

 

regardless of the clutch linkage condition, the trans should not pop out of first, unless some type of trans problem; bearings, endplay, broken teeth, etc
you could have a bad t/o bearing, but the trans wouldn't/shoudn't pop out
so you are saying that the trans was all quiet and normal with no noises before the clutch linkage repalcement?

 

you're right Joel, my mistake

pull the cover for a look-see

 

not all normal but less problems than after replacement... still had issues going from second to third i.e. small amount of grinding and 1st and reversed always grinded as I was putting them in gear.

 

if fork was not installed correctly on T/O bearing could this cause the issue of not being able to shift correctly? I still believe my clutch action is different than before removing engine and tranny???

 

yes it is a possability
are we talking F4 engine?
then the fork would go behind the ears of the bearing carrier

 

225 V6 oddfire...

 

also did you install the clutch crossshaft backwards?
that would change the throw of the levers

 

are you referring to the bellcrank??? I am at a loss with the clutch crossshaft reference..

 

okay what type of clutch press plate
finger or diaphram?
I suspect your t/o bearing
the surface of the bearing that would ride on the press plate; do you recall if it was rounded/curved somewhat? or straight/flat?

 

the crossshaft would pivot on ball studs between the frame and the transfer case; a tube with 2 ears welded on for the linkage to attach to

 

yes bellcrank
also the T90 is non-synchro in 1st; you can only roll very slowly when shifting into first and must be stopped completely when shifting into reverse.

 

as i recall throwout bearing was rounded...

 

I am having my issues shifting into gears from a complete stop... 1st and reverse...

 

The bellcrank has the 2 ears with one side having more tube left after the ear than the other. I have mine set up with the ear with less tubing afterwards on the side of the chassis and the side with more tubing on the tranny...

 

I don't think your clutch is fully disengaging. I had this problem myself. The threads on the clutch ajustment nut are so fine, add to this the ackwardness of trying to get a small open ended wrench up inside the area of the adjust area, I had trouble keep straight on which way to turn the cable. I finally kept testing for play between the cable end and the point where it connects to the clutch fork. When I got some play there I felt confident that the throw out bearing was no longer rubbing on the clutch plate when the pedal released.