Archived 1997 Clutch

[MDF99]

I was pulling up to a stop sign, pressed the clutch and tried to pull it out of gear. It wouldn't come out of gear easily, so I yanked it out of gear. Then I couldn't get it back in gear, the gears would grind. It's like the the clutch suddenly isn't operating at all, but pedal feels normal. Truck is parked on sign of road. 180,000 miles on orginal clutch. Clutch has been fine, no slippage or problems ever. What are some simple things I can check out before I have to get it towed? THANKS!

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Hydraulics probably aren't the cause if the pedal feel is the same. There is probably no substitute for removing the clutch.

 

[ata]

Check the clutch master cylinder on the firewall and see if it's full. Then check the slave cylinder in the bell housing and make sure it's not leaking. For the clutch to stop working that fast I would think it's Hydraulics.

 

[drawson]

The Pilot bearing is locked up on the input shaft. Might as well replace all the parts while your in there...

 

[DKarvwnaris]

The Pilot bearing is locked up on the input shaft. Might as well replace all the parts while your in there...

The pilot bearing is my thought as well.

 

[Joe Mc]

To get it home try this - Start it up let it warm up a bit - transmission in neutral wile idling to distribute the trans oil. Shut it down, put in 1st, with clutch pedal down start it up. Don't worry if it starts to move just let up on the clutch and go, when it gets to the point where you'd normally shift into 2nd put a slight pressure on the shifter towards 2nd then let off the go pedal with increased pressure on the shifter and shift it into 2nd. This is known as flat shifting - although it's not recommended to do all the time if you're careful you can get it home. As far as down shifting, forget it, it can be done but, if mine was a stick I wouldn't chance it. When you need to stop just lift off the go pedal and slide the shifter into neutral, shut motor off, shift into first gear, start it up and you're off again. If you can move the truck like this it's not your clutch it's got to be the slave or clutch master cylinder passing fluid. Good luck and be careful if you try flat shifting to get it home - it takes practice to do without grinding and can be harsh on other drive line components. But if your in a bind and close to home it'll get you there.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

might have blown the hub, but probably not w/ the stock clutch... when my SBC blew the springs out of the hub, I got to drive the truck from Grand Prarie to Richardson (across Dallas) at 3PM on Friday. made it all the way home without having to shut it off once!



just blip the throttle to downshift.



Forrest