98 12V 130k stock clutch and tranny as far as I know...

So I am sitting in a parking lot and I had the truck in 2nd and was sitting on the clutch... I felt a little bump and looked around thinking someone hit me... When I didn't see anyone I thought I must have imagined it...

Then I pull out and get to a stop sign, take it out of 2nd and when I go to put it back in gear I just getting a bad grinding noise. All gears...

Clutch travels and feels as it always has...

I was able to rev the engine a bit and get it into reverse and backed into a nearby parking lot where I shut it down, locked it up and walked 3 miles to the house...

Any ideas? What am I looking at? Where do I need to start?

 

I have experienced a similar symptom when breaking a pressure plate finger in a friend's Suzuki Samurai some years ago.

 

A local shop guy said he thought based on my description that the Pressure Plate had probably "shattered"...

Based off what I can glean from the forums there are two real points of failure, the hydraulics and the clutch. I would hate to spend a bunch of money on the clutch if it is just the hydraulics...

 

You should be able to pull the boot away from the hydraulics on the bell housing and have someone else run the clutch while you watch through the hole with a flashlight. Either the hydros will move or they won't, thus narrowing your search.

 

I didn't see a "boot" but I did find a "cylinder" that was attached to the housing with two nuts, is this it?

I did notice that when the clutch was being pressed this cylinder would "move/twist". Not really that it was loose or moving but it was responding to pressure being applied to it. I am guessing this is a good sign for the hydraulics?

Left a voicemail for Larry yesterday, guess I will be getting me a new Southbend...

 

ya, no boot, had a brainfart last night, sorry about that. If the hydros are doing what you say then yeah, they're working, so it sounds like a clutch issue. Southbend all the way!