Clutch issues....

[4x4TruckinGirl]

Okay I haven't been around in ages but 60 hour work weeks with an hour commute each way will do that to you......


The Clutch is heading south? or something is, maybe all of it. Depress clutch all the way, still rolls forward while in gear. I can't heardly get the SOB in gear from neutral, ESPECIALLY when its hot. Reverse Is a lost cause, but I believe that is in the tranny. If you have the clutch held down and you even puch it towards a gear it will hold the truck on a hill, without ever putting it in the gear, which is hard as heck to do...... So someone mentioned maybe a slave cylinder? What's ya'lls take on it? Nothing appears to be leaking.....

 

[Exekiel69]

Well even if it is not leaking it can be bad. You can do several things, You can check if the trow out bearing is ok, You can bleed the lines and refill with more fluid (btw check if it has enough fluid first), does the tranny shift through all gears when the engine is off?

I believe they sell a complete master and slave from ford and napa but if You just buy the slave and want to bleed it can be done too. I read for some it has been very difficult, I just got lucky and every time I've done mine it takes a little work on the pedal like bleeding the brakes and it is ready to go .
Pulling the zf for a clutch replacement isn't difficult, with the right tools it can be done in just a few hours.

 

[icanfixall]

This is a difficult question to answer but.. Has the clutch peddle gotten harder to push in lately?? I'm not really up on any adjustments for the clutch but others will chime in with any needed held. I have always run the E4OD trans so the clutch is not of my world. You may only need an adjustment because of the way you described whats going on. My old 61 Ford van I had in high school had a clutch. As it wore down the peddle would get higher and higher till it slipped. The I could make an adjustment to get it correct. Hope this helps some...

 

[towcat]

sam-
make sure you have no air in your clutch master and slave cylinders first.
second, is there any freeplay in the pedal?
third, like gary said, has the pedal effort changed?
let us know.

 

[RLDSL]

Could also be a seized up pilot bearing, or the little plastic bushing in the clutch rod to pedal joint, when those things wear out you loose some of the clutch throw, look at the top of the pedal for a little white round plastic piece in the end of the rod. It should have a relatively tight fit. If it's missing or all wallowed out, you'll need a new bushing, if it gets too far worn and the metal gets wallowed out, then some surgery is in order ( but stuffing a new plastic bushing in will usually hold it for a little while till you can get to it ).

 

[k_williams1982]

If there is play in the pedal, check where the rod and pedal connect. I had a '90 F150 that had a nylon bushing there and when it wore out, I was experiencing similar issues. Not sure if these trucks have that same setup (most of mine have been auto and the one manual never had an issue so I never checked). I'm not really familiar with the manuals in these, so use everyone else's advice first, and mine as a possible cause.

RSDSL must have been typing at the same time as me and beat me on the post.

 

[sle2115]

Sounds exactly like a cracked firewall to me! That's exacty how mine acted!

 

[EMD_DRIVER]

Sounds exactly like a cracked firewall to me! That's exacty how mine acted!

Her truck is a 94. After 92, they fixed the firewall issue with a revised clutch pedal assembly. If you ask a Ford dealer, they'll tell you that the firewall reinforcement kit isn't even available for anything 92 and up.

I tend to agree with the others... Either the slave cylinder, or the bushings for the clutch pedal.

When I installed my ZF, I bought the master/slave set from NAPA. I had my son pump the pedal, while I was underneath the truck doing the bleeding. Worked like a charm!

Sam: I do know that pushing down my pedal is a lot easier than pushing yours down. I can see you now... Left leg all beefed up, from pushing that pedal!

 

[Smokey73]

I ended up putting a hiem joint on the end of the master cylinder shaft because the eye on the end of the shaft was worn out so bad that it broke. I thought that I had come up with something revolutionary, until I read about it on here somewhere. The rest of the pedal assembly is so wore out that if you push to clutch all the way to the floor, it pushes back when you mash the brake down. You literally had to kill it to get it into gear, or catch while it was rolling. Smooth shifts going down the road or downshifting were a lost cause. At first I thought the tranny was going, but since then it shifts into and out of gear just fine

 

[4x4TruckinGirl]

it sounds like what your saying smokey73..... impossible to have nice shifts unless i'm rolling already, from a stand still its AWFUL. The pedle has ALWAYS been a bear to push I mean like semi truck clutch it pushes back at you. Hasnt gotten any worse but I noticed that I used to be able to shift by pushing about 3/4 down and it was perfectly smooth, I have to almost kick that thing thru the firewall to shift with a grind now no matter what. I'm a lost cause at fixing this I cant tackle it myself Ill have to take it somewhere for repairs eventually.

Oh and I checked the fluid in the lil reservoir near the firewall and it was full, hasn't drove any worse after I checked it so if there was air in there it been there for ages.
I don't think there's an excess play in the peddle either it's good n tight in there.

Hope this answered all the questions.......

 

[hahn_rossman]

That sounds like the input shaft surface that the throw bearing rides on is either really rough or totally devoid of grease. Like Mel has mentioned several times the clutch pedal shouldn't be hard to push. If it is, something is wrong! I suspect the reason for so many cracked firewalls is that issue. If you feel like your at the gym driving your truck...
When I replaced the clutch in my truck I couldn't believe how easy the pedal effort was. I'm not sure but if you remove the inspection plate you may be able to get a look at the input shaft and apply some grease with a long thin paint brush. I wish a greaseable throwout bearing was available for the ZF5, like the one for the T19.
Good luck!

 

[4x4TruckinGirl]

would the heavy clutch be because of a larger pressure plate?

 

[icanfixall]

No... A larger pressure plate will be just about the same as the stock plates are. Try greasing the shaft when you remove the lower sheet metal inspection cover. Its really easy getting the cover off and you can buy some spray in grease at any so called auto parts store to spary the input shaft that the throwout bearing rides back and forth on. It may just be that easy of a repair... I hope so cause you need to know we are here supporting you as if we were under there right beside you.....

 

[typ4]

Also the arm for the clutch master may be moving on the splines. It only takes a tiny bit of wear in the linkage to make it have all these symptoms. There is no adjustment at the slave.

 

[BigRigTech]

Have you tried removing the fork and taking a look inside the BH?...I remove my fork once a year, grease the pivot and check the release bearing to make sure it's not siezed.You would also be able to see the pressure plate to look for bent fingers.