Stalling out after pressing in clutch

[weiown]

Hi there,

I've got a 2000 Wrangler (4 liter) that I just replaced a freeze plug and clutch. Immediately after putting it all back together I've had some unique problems.

Note: While moving the transmission I damaged the speed sensor so all of this easily could stem from this one sensor. (Little bugger got caught on my pant leg)

Issue #1: While driving down the road I downshift to slow myself down. When I press in the clutch the RPMs drop far beyond normal. Sometimes it stalls out completely, other times it drops down to right above 0 then recovers. It primarily happens when slowing down in 3rd, 2nd, or 1st.

#2: The reverse lights no longer operate
#3: Check engine light is on
#4: When in reverse it tells me I am now in 4 wheel drive low
#5: when driving down the road and I get to about 60 mph it tells me to up-shift to 6th gear... I've only got 5. (It doesn't actually say 6, it's just an up arrow)

#6: Sometimes when in first and it's still cold the clutch/transmission feels like it's slipping and has a very jerky start instead of smooth as I slowly let out the clutch. It's not as bad now as it was in the start but it still happens from time to time. I am assuming that's just the clutch breaking in since it's new.

I have ordered 4 new spark plugs and a new speed sensor but still waiting for them in the post. Any additional thoughts/suggestions are always welcome.

[HillBillE]

On #'s 2 and 4, sounds like you might have the plugs swapped for the 4x4 and reverse switches.

If you put it in "4LO" and the back up lights come on, then I'd about guarantee it!

When you say 'Speed sensor', do you mean the piece on the back of the T-case for the speedometer, or the CPS in the front, on the bellhousing?

[gearhead1985]

Hi there,

I've got a 2000 Wrangler (4 liter) that I just replaced a freeze plug and clutch.

I have ordered 4 new spark plugs and a new speed sensor but still waiting for them in the post. Any additional thoughts/suggestions are always welcome.

why are you only replacing 4 of the 6 spark plugs

the shift light sounds like a speed sensor issue

[weiown]

Switching plugs around could definitally cause that problem, I will check that out this morning.

As for the spark plugs maybe I went stupid for a minute but when I checked the distributor cap I saw 5 cables, 4 to the engine and 1 to something I'm not familiar with enough to name on the boards. :P

[weiown]

Well I put it into 4 wheel high and 4 wheel low but the reverse lights didn't come on, but neither did the 4 wheel drive indicator. Good chance that the wires are crossed. Gonna crawl up there when it's warmer today and see if that fixes it.

[trailsnail]

Well, can't really help too much with the questions you had, but, maybe I could help with you figuring out which engine you have. If you looked at the distributor and you only have 5 wires, then you have the 2.5 ltr (4 cylinder). If you had the 4.0 ltr (6 cylinder) and a distributor, you'd have 7 wires. For each engine you would have one wire to each cylinder / spark plug, and one to the coil.

So, does your engine look like this (more specifically the valve cover)?
2002_Jeep_G._Cherokee_Engine.JPG

Or does it look like this?

154_9911_03z+1988_jeep_yj_wrangler+engine_view.jpg

Notice how much more room there is from the radiator and the front of the engine. There is all kinds of room in the engine bay with the 2.5.

[SavageSun4x4]

Did you bleed your clutch slave cyl? That is generally a must to get it to function properly.

Engine light on? What codes is it displaying? (turn your key on, but not start the Jeep, do so 3 times and on 3rd time leave it on, in the speedo you should get a display that show codes, write them down and post here so we can look up the codes)

Reverse lights do not work and you get the 4 low instead: This sounds like wiring issue. Reverse lights are off a switch on the side of the trans IIRC on your model and when shifter goes into R then the switch flips and lights go on. You unplugged a lot of stuff, check connections.

Let us know...

[Cole]

I've never been in the bay of the 4 Cyl. Jealous of the room, but I guess there's "no replacement for displacement."

[weiown]

Trailsnail, The top 1 is much more like it. My jeep doesn't have the room of the bottom one. However when I looked at the top of the distributor cap there was only 5 wires. Unless it has connections somewhere else.

SavageSun, I do not believe the clutch slave cylinder was bled. But I only assisted taking it apart, my neighbor who did the majority of the work may have but I can't confirm atm. I will check the codes/connections tomorrow when I have time.

Thank you all for keeping up with me on this, still need to get this solved. I'll actually have time off tomorrow and should have all the parts in. (Should)

[SavageSun4x4]

I have bled them and run into the issue you are having and then go back and bleed them again and it solved the issues...