Today I went to shift from 1st to second gear at a stoplight and when I tried to shift into second it wouldn't budge. Clutch pedal felt weird. Pulled off to the side of the road and found that the clutch was engaging completely about half of what the normal pedal travel was. It was very sudden and would stall the truck in 1st gear at idle when trying to release it smoothly.

I put it in second gear (didn't want to have to drive through a busy intersection in 1st if I couldn't shift) and with some throttle was able to get it to take off without stalling. I drove home without using the clutch (transmission shifted surprisingly smooth, a little pressure on the stick and throttle on downshifts and it just slipped right into gear).

When I got home I pressed in the clutch a few times and it felt close to normal again. Didn't get a chance to look around the truck because I had to grab some lunch and borrow a car to get back to work.

Any ideas as to what could be causing this? At first I thought maybe there was a leaky reservoir or something, but the fact that it didn't feel as bad when I got home makes me think something else is going on. Really hope its something with the master or slave cylinder because I really don't have time to drop the transmission right now. Thanks for any advice.

Dennis

 

I think I JUST MIGHT have found the problem.

Awesome, looks like the bolt actually broke off leaving part of the shank in the threads. And there's no part left sticking out to weld a nut to to get it out... there goes the easy method.

Wonder how the heck that broke off.

 

u might be able to tap it out with a chisel or center punch. that or drill it and tap it again. there are some special kits from the hardware store that might help.

 

Wow Dennis, you sure like to do things the hard way eh? Sorry to see you having problems like that.

 

Left hand drill bit will be your friend on that one.

 

I drilled into the stud and then used stud extractor bit and it came right out. Didn't think I'd have room to get in there with my smallest drill but there was just enough space to work with. Got 2 new bolts and put them in along with some threadlocker this time and all seems to be good.