Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Question for the Clutch Experts!

[Farmall Hauler]

Hello everyone,



Talked to my brother today, and he wanted me to ask any clutch experts out their a good question.



When he is sitting at a stop light, or the truck is parked and clutch is engaged, the truck still wants to take off. He has to either quickly turn truck off, or throw it into neutral to get truck out of gear. After he does this, the truck runs fine. This is not an everyday thing, but he just does not want to run into the back of someone when the truck decides that it wants to take off!! I have also done a search on this, but have come up with nothing relevant!



Any help with this is greatly apreciated!



Mark

 

[aaronisbad]

He needs a new master cylinder and slave cylinder. I had the exact same thing last week happen to me. I actually posted in the 911 section (its archived by now) might check it out.



Aaron

 

[aaronisbad]

Here is my original question, and my final reply to that post. Hope this helps.



Hey all, I have a 99 ram 3500 5sp 4x4. The truck had its clutch replaced at 150K it now has around 188K on it. Today while sitting at a stop light the truck began lurching while it was in gear. Clutch pedal was to the floor, and it started pulling. I barely was able to get the ignition shutoff before I ran into the vehicle in front of me. I could not pull it out of gear to save my life. All the way home I could feel something diff. in the clutch pedal, kinda like it was engaging the clutch on the floor. Sorry for asking this here in the 911 section but I am suppose to be heading out of town tomorrow morning. And if possible I need to fix it tonight. I did smell something burning during my ride home (unsure what it was) I checked the clutch resevoir when I got home and it was full. No new leaks on the ground that I could see. Any help would be greatly appreciated.







Thanks for the reply, turns out I do need to replace the master and slave. The poor mechanic took my truck for a test drive, as were pulling out of the parking lot he say "feels ok to me" two seconds later the truck is bucking and hes turning white as a ghost LOL poor guy. The bad part... ... they quoted $130 for both parts but couldnt find anybody in town that stocks them. They call me later with the last kit in town for $320 UGGGGGGHHHHHH. Guess I will wait till monday to head out of town.

 

[robertyoke]

my 98. 5 started doing that same thing ,then one day I had no clutch. It turned out to be the master cylinder she went south at only 70k. the fluid was just bypassing the plunger. the system was full of fluid if you are losing fluid then check the slave cylinder. If you replace them do so as a set I did not and replaced the slave 15k later.

when it happend I was backing my 5-er in to garage and allmost hit the wall when I could not stop it with the service brakes I grabed that key real quick.

 

[Farmall Hauler]

Thank you for responding so quickly!



Another question he has, is. Is this something he can do himself? How major of a repair is this?



Again, thank you for the quick responses!!



Mark

 

[Ryan]

Its fairly simple to do. Only basic hand tools needed. The first time doing one I would allow for 1 to 2 hours, but itbprobably won't take 2.

 

[Tcolesanti]

What would cause the master cylinder to fail at 59,000 miles? I replaced my slave cylinder at 48,000 miles(clutch change) because it was leaking around the shaft. Now when I go to put it in gear every once in a while it is hard to get it in. Once the truck is moving it shifts flawlessly but at a standstill it is hard to get into gear(sometimes).

 

[jelag]

Brake fluid is hydroscopic and attracts water and dirt... if you've taken your slave cylinder and pushed it back with your hands and pushed all the dirt and crud back to the master... ... at the time you replaced the slave you shortened the life of the master.....



We always use fresh fluid in our trucks and flush them every year or so..... never allowing the bad fluid back to the master.....



The same holds true for brakes. . those who compress the piston and push the brake fluid back to the master are right on the edge of problems.....



Jim