Montero clutch problem

Tnora

New member
Have a 1991 mits Montero 105178 miles. Clutch burned up. This was new complete clutch replacement 2 years ago. Clutch kit, engine crankshaft seal kit, clutch master cylinder, resurfaced flywheel, and new transfer case and transmission gear oil. It had 570 hi-way and City miles on it. Towed it to the shop. I'm wondering what should I expect them to find that caused this premature failure? Any feedback would be helpful for me. I'm hoping they will do a complete repair with no cost to me.





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Tnora

New member
The clutch slippage problem always occurred while going up hi-way grades, never on flat city terrain. The factory clutch failed at 104,000+ miles while going up grades. This rebuild failed while going up grades. I remember now that after the first couple of months of getting the rebuild, I noticed the slippage. Traveling up from foothill elevation to mountain elevation at 50-55mph, the rpm needle would swing up to 4000 and then settle back down to 2500 with no change in mph. Would drive fine, no slippage, when at my destination, which was level roads. The repair shop is at level road valley elevation, so they were never able to test drive it up grades after the rebuild. This last breakdown happened while driving up the hi-way grade, the same hi-way grade it has been traveling on since i drove it off the dealer's lot in 1991. Lot's of slippage, rpm needle up to 4000-5000 while mph dropping. Down shifted through all the gears, couldn't even move forward in first gear. Pulled over, busy mountain hi-way. Let the vehicle roll backwards to get to a wider turnout in the road and waited for a tow truck. An hour later, tow showed up, tried to drive in first gear for better tow positioning, but would not move. Just revving rpm's in first gear. Terrible burnt smell, just like the first factory clutch failure. I hope the repair shop can look beyond the clutch plate and find out what is causing it to slip on the flywheel.
This vehicle isn't in storage. It always has 10-20 miles put on it every couple of months. The majority of the miles are from May to Nov. It's gone from a primary family vehicle over the years, to a fourth vehicle with light duty use around a family mountain cabin association.
 

Justice R

Adventurer
Possibly the engine rear main seal or transmission input seal could be leaking oil onto the clutch plate causing it to slip and wear prematurely. But that’s just a guess.
 

Tnora

New member
Thanks for the suggestion. The rear main seal that was replaced less than 600 miles ago, could have failed early. I'll have to ask the shop when they dig into it.
 

Tnora

New member
I picked up my Montero from the shop today. They replaced the clutch plate with a new one and they resurfaced the flywheel due to the glazing on the flywheel. No charge for this repair since the clutch failed within less than 600 miles from the original clutch rebuild. They had to remove the transmission again to do this repair. The shop owner said the rest of the clutch parts, hydraulics, etc. are in great shape. He told me that the clutch was not broken in, after the previous complete rebuild. I told him I was never told I was supposed to break it in. He apologized for that. I also mentioned that I never knew a clutch had to be broken in. When I bought the Montero new from the dealership, they never mentioned breaking in the clutch. He said the break in period needs to be 500+ city driving, or 1000+ hi-way driving and only flat terrain driving. No hills or hi-way passes, etc. This will be difficult for me because I only use the Montero in the Sierra Nevada mountains at 6000 feet elevation and I live at 400 feet elevation.
 

CharlieNorth

Well-known member
Any GOOD clutch has little to no need for any brake in. If it has a grippy facing material and the surfaces were prepared properly you should be able to just drive away.
Regular street driving is as easy on any clutch as one will find.
Low quality, low grip facing material will never last long.
 

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