badmrb

I just got a 99 Dodge Dually 5spd with 480k on the ticker, stock as far as I know but it does have a reman sticker on the side of the tranny. I've drained and refilled the tranny. I pulled the cover side plate and everything looked good. Gears look good. Synchro's look fine ( none are gone or excessively wore) Very little debri in bottom. Refilled with proper fluid from chrysler.

Here's the problem. Clutch is not dissengaging. I cold start truck with clutch pedal in but shifter in a gear. Truck will lurch and then clutch releases. However, doesn't drag after it releases.
When driving, if I push pedal in and roll to a stop, RPMS will slowly come down just like if was still in gear until RPM's get down to around 700. Then truck will "bang" RPMs come back up and clutch disengages. I dont feel any dragging once it releases. Pedal feels fine through its travel.

I CAN drive truck, I just float gears like any unsynchro'd tranny. Just takes a lite foot on the gas to let RPMs come up or down slowly. Only have to use clutch to start out or completely stop. Problem is, that doesnt work for my wife!
I've tried to show her but she doesnt have the touch. If she misses a gear . . . . you get the idea.

Ultimately, I imagine I'll have to pull tranny myself or have it done. Was wanting to know if this has happened to anyone else and what the problem was? How they solved it!

My luck, I'll pull it, inspect everything and wont be able to see the cause. Sure could use a solution before I get it apart.

ALSO, does anyone have good link to a diagram breakdown of this tranny/clutch?

Thanks

Allen Hibbs

sounds like there is air in the hydraulics. Needs to be bled.

vernl

I had the same symptoms in one of my older trucks and it turned out to be a pilot bearing, that tranny was also notorius for dropping 5th gear into the oil.If you have to drop the tranny you might as well do the clutch/pressure plate etc if its original then you will be good for a long time

badmrb

No air, not dragging. . . . sticking. Once clutch releases there is NO tendency for truck to roll.

Not original tranny with half a million miles. Has reman sticker on side of tranny. It could be bearing hanging up on shaft. .. . but bearing itself is good. No change in sound coming from tranny when pedal in or out. It could fail and not make noise but once clutch "unsticks" I can hold pedal in for a minute and it still goes right back into gear. If bearing was failing to point of dragging it seems that the shaft would be spinning again and wouldnt want to go into gear.

If bearing hanging up on shaft? Can that shaft be replaced without gutting tranny? Where can I get input shaft from? and what prices? I know there are guys who have had these trannys apart, I did searches. Just no one has posted with the same problem I'm getting.

Anyone had this happen with their tranny?

m.rehme

I went through this just last week with my 99.
Check your hydraulics to see if the slave cylinder is stroking enough to disengage the clutch, If it is it probably is your clutch.
Joe at Standard Transmission fixed me up.

badmrb

r.rehme. . . Was yours sticking like that and then working fine once it was free? And was it your hydraulics causing the problem? I just figured if the clutch wasn't releasing all the way it would drag even with the pedal all the way to the floor. How do you tell? There is no inspection/dust cover to remove and look at the travel.

I would love to find an easy fix to the problem first. It probably is the pilot bearing but I want to try other options first before dropping the whole tranny.

m.rehme

I was having to shut off the motor at a stop sign in order to get it in gear, hard to shift up or down.
I have 284,000 miles on my truck-- it has been acting up for some months - I had only about 40,000 miles on a new factory heavy duty clutch, had about 240,000 miles + on the original one, figure that one out! On Thanksgiving day I changed out my hydraulics ( SB unit)(was told that was a leading cause of the clutch not fully releasing and 1st thing to look at) that helped somewhat but keep getting worse as the weeks went on until last week I left it off at Standard Transmission (Ft. Worth) where they replaced the clutch with a heavier duty unit.
Hope you only have a throw out bearing problem but I don't know how you will know until you tear it apart.
BTW- my clutch would get really grab and jump at times in 1st or reverse, new one is smooth!

m.rehme

If you aren't loosing hyd. fluid the slave cyl. is still probably working, but you may have a lot of wear in the clutch linkage with that many miles.

Somewhere on this forum I have read what the stroke is on the slave cyl.- I can't tell you for sure, a 1/2" deep socket will take it off the transmission, you could then have someone push the clutch petal to see how much it is stroking.

The SB hyd. unit has adjustable linkage built into it so you can take up the wear in the clutch petal.

blackdiesel

Dad's truck started this last week. we couldn't deside if it was the hyd. or the clutch or the pilot bearing. It got for it wouldn't disengauge at all. I pulled the tranny yesterday and found the hub was pulled out of the clutch plate. went to town, got a new clutch kit, and all is good again

badmrb

Well, took tranny out and I think I found the problem. The front input shaft seal on the tranny was leaking. There was this black very tacking gunk everywhere on the inner side of the pressure plate and clutch. Other wise everything looked nearly new! Bearings are great. Input shaft looks great. The pressure plate fingers have no wear.

I guess the clutch really was "sticking". I used brake cleaner to clean the pressure plate and after the gunk was off. .. looks new. I'll find out if thats it when I get it back together. Its gonna take a couple days to get parts and reassemble.

TheBigNasty

Check to make sure the springs in the clutch disc are not loose.

badmrb

Just a final update. I always wonder on old posts what ever happened so Im posting the results.

Took several trys to get the right parts in. O'reillys finally got me the clutch disc, alignment tool, and pilot bearing and I got it all back together. I know .. .just the clutch disc? But I figured why spend $400 when $60 will fix the problem. Everything else looked new.

Result is truck is back on the road and happy. No more surging on startup. No more clutch draggin at stops. No more grabbing on starts. Problem was the leaking front tranny input seal.

m.rehme

Glad to hear it was just that!
Mark