Clutch problem got me stumped

[LeeParsons]

My clutch went out last week, wouldn't disenguage. Thought the master cylender had gone out so we replaced it along with the slave cylender and still no clutch. Managed to limp the old girl home (Dalton, GA to Dallas, TX) which was a chore in itself.

Pulled the tranny and found a toasted pilot bearing. I had replaced the clutch (disc, pressure plate, release bearing, arm and slave cylender) in February. The only thing not replaced then was the pilot bearing so I figured I had learned an important lesson.

Replaced the pilot bearing, inspected everything else and all looked to be fine. Put it all back together and fired her up. Cluytch didn't feel right, didn's want to disenguage completely still but was driveable. Drove 5 miles to the parts store and back and now, no clutch. When I got the the parts store and depressed the clutch there was a pop that sounded like it came from under the dash in the clutch pedal area. Now, the clutch safety switch wont let the truck start unless you let the pedal up off the floor about an inch.

I have check the clutch switch possition and it is where it should be. No movement in the master cylender or slave cylender when pedal depressed.

Any ideas of things to check before I pull the tranny again? If I don't find something in the morning I am going to pull the tranny and take the cluch assemble back to O'Reilly's for an exchange, it has a lifetime warranty against defects.

Thanks in advance,
Lee

 

[DaveBen]

You have a clutch pedal problem. My '93 f 350 did the same thing. You will need to remove the pedal arm and look carefully the pivot stud and the plastic bushing. Replace both and you should be all set.

Dave

 

[Hoss 350]

Not to get up on my high horse, here, because I feel your pain totally, BUT....

To all who read this, please note... When you take your transmission off of the truck to replace any part of the clutch system REPLACE EVERYTHING! I see this so often, that it really hurts me to no end. Taking the tranny off this truck is a PITA, and now, you are going to have to do it AGAIN!. Why?

For the cost of a pilot bearing ($5) you had to take it off twice. For the cost of a throwout bearing and release arm (about $40) you are going to have to do it again. The release arm on your truck is bent or broken (betting on bent because you probably would have noticed broken when you had it off). This is a common failure, according to my research, with these trucks.

To replace everything costs only about $75 more (if even THAT) than just doing the clutch. If the clutch is wore out, doesn't it make sense that the rest of the clutch parts and pieces would be, too? It is worth $75 to remove every chance of my having to pull the tranny again for a $5 part.

When my release arm went out, I figured with the mileage I had on the truck, i'd better do the clutch, too. What I found after i got it all off, was that the clutch was LITERALLY BRAND SPANKING NEW. It had probably only been done right before I bought the truck (about 15K ago). If they had just replaced the release arm and pivot block and T/O bearing when they did the rest, then I would have driven 100K or more without worry. As it was, i spent an insane amount of hours under the truck by myself wrestling that GD tranny for a $35 part that someone ahd tried to save money on not replacing.

Okay, off, my high horse, I am sorry that this happened to you, and I feel your pain.

Just for those that care, the list of consumables that need to be changed with every clutch:
- disc and pressure plate
- pilot bearing
- throwout bearing
- release arm
- pivot block
- flywheel either resurfaced or replaced (including new bolts, either way)

You will save yourself a lot of pain and frustration later...

 

[LeeParsons]

Dave, thanks for the info. Pulled the pedal assembly and the pivot shaft was worn but not the total problem. Replaced the pedal assembly and still no clutch.

HOSS, before you get on your high horse you should get all your fact straight. First off the tranny in these trucks isn't any harder to pull than any other tranny. Second, the release arm isn't bent or broken and was replaced with the clutch, as was the release bearing and pivot bushing. With the trany out a second time (takes a hole hour) we found that the NEW pivot bushing, Fords junk plastic parts, had failed. It is in a dozen peaces.

Remember, your either part of the problem or part of the solution and your rantings deffinetly isn't a solution.

 

[Hoss 350]

Dave, thanks for the info. Pulled the pedal assembly and the pivot shaft was worn but not the total problem. Replaced the pedal assembly and still no clutch.

HOSS, before you get on your high horse you should get all your fact straight. First off the tranny in these trucks isn't any harder to pull than any other tranny. Second, the release arm isn't bent or broken and was replaced with the clutch, as was the release bearing and pivot bushing. With the trany out a second time (takes a hole hour) we found that the NEW pivot bushing, Fords junk plastic parts, had failed. It is in a dozen peaces.

Remember, your either part of the problem or part of the solution and your rantings deffinetly isn't a solution.

Never meant it as an insult, Lee. Just a cautionary tale to those who know no better, for those, like me, who take about 6 hours to pull the tranny. Your problem sounds like a release arm/throwout bearing issue to me, and I assumed it had not been done since you did not say it had.

Sometimes my posts get taken wrong because I don't write all that purty, I was not picking on you in particular, just trying to help everybody else. And, as you said, part of the problem or part of the solution, if you notice, i did actually give you my take on what was wrong, which was that the release arm and pivot block were probably worn out. Sounds to me like that isn't the problem, since you replaced them. So, I was trying to be part of the solution, don't neglect that, please.

That said, my next two options for what is wrong include:

1.) The clutch pressure plate disintegrated and is no longer functioning properly. I have a hard time believeing this to be true if you just replaced it, but defective parts are not unheard of, I'm sure you know;

2.) However, since you say there is no movement in the master or slave cylinder, and you heard a POP, I am going to say that something up high has gone wrong at this point. When my master cylinder went out, it popped, but the pedal stayed on teh floor, did not come back up on it's own. Also, it leaked fluid out everywhere. So that may not be it. I assume that since you have looked at the switch, that you would have noticed if the master actuator arm on the pedal assembly had come undone or was otherwise compromised. Did you replace the master cylinder actuator arm when you put the new cylinder in the truck? The eyes on the end of those things can very easily get "augered" out from wear, so the pedal literally goes in half way before anything happens. If it got bad enough, i could see how the clutch could fail to disengage. It is weird, because you can't really feel it in the pedal, you have to look and see it happening.

3.) When you replaced the master/slave unit, did you buy a sealed unit from FOrd, or the components separately from somebody like NAPA and put them together and fill with fluid and try to bleed them? The reason i ask is because it is next to impossible to bleed these units. Ford sells them as a sealed unit, with the fluid already in them. They cost about $130. If you buy the master, slave, and hose as separate units from Napa, it will take forever to bleed them, if you can even bleed them at all. Air bubbles in your master/slave units could definately be your issue. Why this would cause your clutch switch to not work is beyond me. If you did not buy the sealed unit, then I would bet money that this is your problem. I tryed, and failed. Ford tried and failed so many times that they now just send a factory bled unit so they don't have to worry about it.

Anyhow, sorry to get you all riled up from my last post, it was not meant to be that way. Just trying to help...