Unforgivable

So I recently bought a used 2007 JK Sahara from a dealer around June 2011. They told me it never had any work done on it. A few months later the clutch gave out. I got my cousin who is a mechanic close by to me to look at it and fix it. I figured that the dealer wouldn't take care of it due to it being a clutch issue. He installed a new clutch kit and resurfaced my flywheel for me. He also informed me that the tranny was taken out before and he saw the weld lines where they took out the exhaust to lower the tranny. He stated the clutch in the jeep was that not of a stock jeep clutch. He stated that the clutch he just put in was probably the second if not third clutch installed in the jeep. It has 60,000 miles on it!!!!! It is not even 6 months after I had him replace the clutch with a brand new stock jeep wrangler clutch kit and it is now dead once again.
I could not believe it. I had 34" tires put on a month or two ago and am running stock Sahara gears. I noticed a slight decrease in speed and am afraid they will try to say it is due to the tire size without upgraded gears. I absolutely know it is not the gears and 100% of people I have told this to completely agree. There is no way in hell this thing can tear through 4+ clutches under 70,000 miles!
I was reading up a comment posted from a few years ago that 2007 models may have a defect in the transmission housing alignment which may be offset and cause the clutch to wear more rapidly. I also have had problems with it popping out of 1st gear at lower speeds. This is ridiculous. I just want the jeep to run and I want the dealer to fix the car they sold me. I haven't had it over a year yet and this is the second time I am without a vehicle to get to work or class.

Can anyone please help me out in looking up recalls or problems concerning this issue. I am very busy with med school and don't have much time to deal with this sh*t right now. I love the jeep, I just want it to work right for once.

Thank you.

efan450

Since your not the original owner go to Jeeps website and request a build sheet, this way you'll know exactly what it rolled off the factory with, and it will also say any tsb, or recall that it needs and which ones if any have already been performed on your vehicle...that said, a few things for food for thought.
I have an 07...roughly 70k plus miles on it with 35's and 3.21 gears....my clutch squeaks under moderate acceleration...a known issue, my throw out bearing rattles...another know issue, and my slave cylinder creeks occasionally..I'm on all original all no problems other than all the noise I described.
Have you had you slave cylinder looked at? You could try removing, cleaning, and greasing the piston rod, and re install...its not too hard. Thinking if its bad or so so it might not be fully releasing the clutch discs accelerating your clutch wear?
Edit: also your popping out of gear could be the defective shifter boot...there was a recall on that, and I believe some 6 speeds had synchro problems..but if your out of warranty, search this forum I know someone up here was able to fix it with out the dealers help...(the boot problem, not the synchros) I don't remember the name of the thread though

Unforgivable

I bought an extended factory warranty for it. I called a dealer local to me and they said it sounds like an underlying issue that needs to be fixed as well as clutch replacement which would be taken care of if indeed something else is causing the clutch to wear this fast...which is "DUH!". But then I called the dealer from which I bought it from (Miller Dodge Chrysler Jeep in Springfield PA) and talked to the service manager there and had a telephone fist fight with that moron. So after taking the time to research and file a complaint to better business Bureau we found that many other people had "customer service" issues with that dealer. So I'm awaiting a call back from Chrysler and to have it looked at.

nathanmares

Never waste your time filing with BBB. The company is a waste. All that happens is they send a letter on your behalf to the company say that you were angry. If the dealer wants to throw it away then they can. Best bet is to almost just start at the top these days if you want something done.

Unforgivable

Well where do I go? I can't let this dealer walk over me and get away with selling an obvious defected vehicle which I was nice enough to repair the first clutch a few months after purchasing my first Jeep. Second clutch I'm under a year? I think not. I might have a 2.5" lift and 34" tires...will this void my warranty or should I have them removed?

Unforgivable

It might have been installed on my Jeep less than a month ago and should not have worn the new clutch that fast or at all.

cb4017

It does seem very strange for a clutch to wear out so fast unless it was installed incorrectly or there is some other issue. Are you sure the clutch is wore out and it is not some other problem?

Just curious, what happened when it “went out” the first time and this time?

I'm on my original clutch at 42,000 miles with no issues.

Unforgivable

The first time it happened a few months after I bought the vehicle. Nothing at all was done to the vehicle, everything was stock, had not been offroading or anything of that sort. I got a brand new stock clutch and had it installed by a mechanic. It was working fine. I left it in a parking lot for an hour, returned, and when I pressed the clutch in to start the vehicle it felt funny. I began to release the clutch and it immediately stalled. The grab was so small on the clutch and got smaller and smaller with each press until I could not press it in any further. It did the exact same thing when it happened previously. So I'm just assuming the clutch is spent again since it's presenting similar symptoms. It just is ridiculous for me to think I should even have to put up with this after having the car less than a year. JKs are money pits! And if that much money is going into these things and they retain value so well I'd expect the car to last me more than a year without being in the shop constantly. And all these problems people are having with Chrysler warranty makes me extremely nervous that this will take forever to get taken care of when I'm in the middle of med school and have to get to work like everyone else in this country.

cb4017

Our Jeeps have hydraulic clutch pedals. I think it's more likely your problem is a leak or air in the system. A much easier and cheaper fix

Pushrod

With your description of not having much pedal before the clutch grabs sounds like the slave cylinder may be leaking fluid. The Jeep has a hydraulic assisted clutch that works a lot like your brakes. You press on the pedal and hydraulic pressure goes from the clutch master cylinder down to the slave cylinder that disengages the clutch. The master cylinder can have an internal leak that lets the fluid bypass internally or it can have a similar problem internal of the slave cylinder. You may find there is a little leak external of the system and the fluid is missing in the master cylinder. I would check first and see if you are low on fluid. In my experiance the clutch will start slipping at the end of its life cycle and not grab prematurely as you describe.