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texanjoker wrote:Over a 24 hour period the Jeep breaks down. Apparently a "bearing" went out on the clutch. I am not happy with this as I just paid big bucks a few months ago for a new clutch/bearing. They tell me this is a different bearing..unbelievable causing a rod to throw or something. Now I need a new clutch as it damaged the new one? Not real happy. Might be time to sell off the old jeep for a newer more fuel efficient car. While pushing the jeep my back went out so I am in massive pain (already have a preexisting injury from work). The local leos were a big help as my daughter broke down in a bad spot on a busy road around 0100 AM. Next had the AC guy over as the house AC is not working right. We have no AC. Getting a new core and other stuff tomorrow for massive $$$.....The only good news is that it's my younger daughter's 17th birthday today. Bad news for her because dad has no $$$$$ left to spend on her today

I don't have the physical pain but I can identify with your financial pain.

We recently drove our 36 motor home into the Devil's Tower, WY KOA (campground). We were ready to start back to Texas after a nearly two week trip. The motor home engine (Cummins 5.9) won't start. Two hours later it was on the back of a really big tow truck, on its way to Rapid City, SD, 110 miles way, to be worked on. As we were about to follow the tow truck in the Saturn Vue that we tow behind the motor home, I kicked in the clutch to put the Saturn into first gear and the shift linkage snapped. Now, the Saturn had to be towed, too. AAA (not the same company that towed the MH) messed up the Saturn tow arrangements. Did I mention this was in the middle of the Sturgis Rally and that there wasn't a rental car or hotel room to be had for 150 miles? So there we are - my wife and I and our 9 year old granddaughter and two dogs - stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing but the clothes on our backs and no real prospects (no cell phone service either - I had used the campground's land line) of fixing the mess that we were in. There was a pending thunderstorm and there wasn't even a place for us to take shelter because of the dogs.

Fortunately, one of the workers at the KOA, a recent high school graduate, volunteered to drive my family and the dogs to Rapid City. He sure looked like an angel right then. Once we got to Rapid City, things got a lot better but there were bills for both the motor home repair and the Saturn repair to deal with. And we were still 1,200 miles from home, hoping that whatever repairs were made would last until we got back to Texas. We did find a place to park the motor home after the repair (at $90 a night) while we waited for the Saturn repair. Typically, $40 per night would be the high end for a campground fee if wasn't for Sturgis. There were 10 broken motor homes at the service bay ahead of us. Diesel in Rapid City is $4.059/gallon.

baldeagle wrote:texanjoker, I would definitely go back to the shop where the clutch was done and ask to speak to a manager. Ask him why the pilot bearing was not replaced during the original clutch job and insist that any repairs done should be under warranty and at no cost to you. There's no way any reputable shop would not replace the pilot bearing during a complete clutch replacement. It's completely unprofessional and asking for trouble, as you have discovered.

If they won't do the work under warranty, they I would tell them they won't be doing any repairs for you any more, that you're taking the Jeep to a reputable shop to get the work done, and that all your LEO buddies will know to never use them for any work. You could even threaten to sue them in small claims court to get your money back on the original clutch job, which was clearly unprofessional and negligent.

I plan on discussing this with the manager when I pu the jeep as they called saying it was ready. I have been looking into this thanks to the posts in here and have real issues with why they didn't fix it right in the first place.

texanjoker ,

Please keep us posted and good luck!

PUCKER wrote: Yep, pilot bearing, right there where the input shaft goes into the crank - that is a super simple fix when you have the tranny out.

Plus it is included in the clutch kit and takes all of two extra minutes with the proper tools.

bdickens wrote:

PUCKER wrote: Yep, pilot bearing, right there where the input shaft goes into the crank - that is a super simple fix when you have the tranny out.

Plus it is included in the clutch kit and takes all of two extra minutes with the proper tools.

Back in my misspent youth I was a bit of a gearhead and I would never have considered replacing the throwout bearing without replacing the pilot bearing. As pointed out, they come as part of the kit, which didn't happen back then, but still, it's so easy to do while you have the thing apart, and besides, if the throwout bearing HAD to be replaced, there is every likelihood that the pilot bearing was on its way out too.

jimlongley wrote:

bdickens wrote:

PUCKER wrote: Yep, pilot bearing, right there where the input shaft goes into the crank - that is a super simple fix when you have the tranny out.

Plus it is included in the clutch kit and takes all of two extra minutes with the proper tools.

Back in my misspent youth I was a bit of a gearhead and I would never have considered replacing the throwout bearing without replacing the pilot bearing. As pointed out, they come as part of the kit, which didn't happen back then, but still, it's so easy to do while you have the thing apart, and besides, if the throwout bearing HAD to be replaced, there is every likelihood that the pilot bearing was on its way out too.

Any decent mechanic would have suggested replacing the pilot bearing when replacing the clutch and throw out bearing. Anytime a clutch is replaced the Pilot Bearing and Throw out bearing should both be replaced. In addition the Flywheel should be resurfaced as well. If the mechanic didn't replace the pilot bearing then he probably didn't resurface the flywheel which is probably part of the reason why the clutch failed. BTW, I'm heading to McCamey Jeepfest in the AM in my LJ.

xb12s wrote:He even had some weird electrical pack installed in his butt with wires leading to the nerves in his neck

If that right there don't make you pucker, you ain't got no pucker left.

jmra wrote:

xb12s wrote:He even had some weird electrical pack installed in his butt with wires leading to the nerves in his neck

If that right there don't make you pucker, you ain't got no pucker left.

Just an early member of the collective. We will all be assimilated eventually.