Just right off the bat, i'm cross posting this also to cumminsforum also, because i really need some help/advice, as this is my DD, and the only one I have right now I have been told that my pressure plate and/or throwout bearing is going:

Hi guys,

I just noticed today (actually thinking back, i noticed a little yesterday, but it's worse today) that if i'm sitting at a stop light for a while, when i go to let the clutch out, it engages MUCH earlier than normal. At this time, the pedal also doesn't "spring back" all the way when released. It only seems to do this when it is held down for more than a moment. When this happens, if i need to use it again right away, it seems that it doesn't quite disengage even when pushed to the floor, but continues pushing against the breaks until i jerk the gearshift to neutral. This is getting kind of alarming, and seems to be getting worse fast. I have searched the forum and haven't quite seen the exact situation. Please help before i run into sombody!

--acorn

 

How many miles do you have on the clutch? Also, sitting with the clutch pushed in for a long time at a stoplight is really hard on the input bushing and clutch. If you know it's gonna be a long light, put it in nuetral and wait on the light. If the throw out bearing is going bad, you will usually here it chattering with clutch pedal pushed in.

 

thanks houndog,

I have around 17x,xxx miles on the truck, according to the guy i bought it from, but he said he replaced the instrument cluster, and the ODO doeson't work, so, i throw that figure out the window, and say "I don't know" :P

I have had it for 3-4 weeks now, and it drives great. Starting, shifting, it sounds good (except the front U joints are going, but i knew that). I don't mean a "LONG" time at lights.. I live in the country, and there aren't many lights, or that much traffic.. I get the picture tho and will file that away...

When engaging and disengaging the clutch there have never been any unusual noises as far as I can tell (including now).

--acorn

 

hmmmmm......hard to say with out digging into it.....another thought, do a research on clutch slave cylinder, might find out something there. I have heard of the the little ball on the slave cylinder rod causing problems with shifting. It's really easy to look at under the truck just pull the rubber boot back.

 

Thanks for your feedback!

So, I tore into it tonight, and found a couple things:

1) There was no fluid in the resevoir at all

2) When I took the cap off and put fluid in, it didn't go anywhere, when pumping the pedal (I have NO pedal now, just barely made it home tonight with some "creative shifting")

3) There is a screw-in fitting at the bottom, on the slave cylinder. It was unbelievably loose, and had obviously been leaking.

I have taken the master cyl out from the firewall, and fished it down underneath. Tomorrow, i'm going to take the slave off and take them to a parts store as one unit. I don't see any way to take the line off of the master cyl? I don't know if there's anything wrong with either cylinder, or if the problem is only because the fluid leaked out...

--acorn

 

since the bleeder screw was loose and leaking on the slave I suspect that you need to refill & bleed the master/slave to recover. to do this, you need to fill the reservoir, and plunge your slave FULLY in and out until the system is full and make sure the lines are clear of air. If you get to the point where the slave will not push in anymore and gets stuck, that is where you open the bleeder port again to release some fluid. It takes some tinkering and trial and error. But I'm guessing your units are OK because the bleeder port was loose you lost all your fluid.

To remove either of the line ends there is a roll pin you need to punch out and the fitting will easily remove itself.

 

Thank you VERY much! Okay, so, to check myself - the master is up top, and the shaft hooks to the clutch pedal assembly, and the slave is the one on bottom, with the brass screw in fitting, which a hard plastic-seeming line is pushed onto? To bleed it, i just push the shaft in over and over again until i go crazy, or get tired, or it gets fixed? My dad, who was helping me (he's 84, btw) said that when i pushed the slave in, it did bubble up top..... To bleed, do i need to unhook anything underneath the rubber boot, or just push on it?

--acorn

 

Its easiest with 2 people when you bleed the system. Have one pump the clutch up till theres good pedal then dump the bleeder and repeat till all the air is out of the system and you got good pedal and don't forget to refill the res after every couple bleed cycles.

 

no intention of hijacking the thread but, my slave cylinder does not have a bleeder fitting on it. how would i ever bleed the system if i ever had to? buy HD hydro's from SB? lol

 

Fill the slave with oil first then connect it to the tube, hold slave so the plunger is pointing down, push the slave plunger in and out a few times this will force what little air to and out of the master reservoir. Make sure the master has oil in it before you push the slave plunger in and out. Connect it to the fork and check your clutch pedal, and you are done.

 

yup some slaves didnt gave the bleeder screw

 

Thanks everybody, i'm on the road again!! PapeCat, you were right on!

FYI I think the leaking at the slave fitting was due to the roll pin being mangled badly, letting the fitting wobble around losing fluid. Got new pin, and fussed and cussed. The master was "air-locked" apparently and WOULD NOT draw fluid from the reservoir. We devised a tool out of an old pump-type oil can, which we filled with brake fluid. We wrapped the end with elec tape to make the fit tight and shoved it in the feeder line that goes from the reservoir to the master. Then, we were able to force fluid under some pressure down into the master. After we did this, it was just bleeding.

Jimbo, i thought the same thing, but I found a screw that takes a torx bit, flush with the cylinder, in front of the line fitting. Loosening this about 1/4 turn lets you bleed out of a tiny hole underneath that screw that goes through the body of the cylinder. Hope that makes sense, and maybe you already knew that, but just in case...

--acorn

 

i did not know that. thanks! i'll have to take a closer look at my slave. so when bleeding a slave cylinder, is it just as similar as bleeding brakes? build pressure, depress the pedal, open the bleeder, close bleeder and release the pedal? obviously it'll be easier with a helper. i've always heard from others that bleeding a slave cylinder is a pain but maybe that's coming from those who've had to do it themselves?

 

Jimbo, maybe it is "easier" but really I have no idea how you could do it by yourself with this setup. With the regular bleeder fittings like on brakes, you could use a self-bleeder tool, but with this setup, i dunno.

And yes, it is just like bleeding brakes, but dont' make the mistake my dad did - he kept thinking that the pedal should eventually not go to the floor, like a brake pedal would. Obviously the clutch needs the same travel, it just needs to be "firmer"....

--acorn

 

Good job, Acorn. They never serviced the parts on our master/slave system and only sold everything as an "assembly". Because of this, not many have experienced bleeding this system so the 'tribal' internet knowledge isn't out there as much.

But the parts are all off the shelf and serviceable, the same master cylinder was also used on mid 80's Ford Escorts...