Problem florida to portland

[punkmechanic]

I am in Butte Montana and now have a bit of a problem. I was pulling the hill just east of town on I-90 and overheated. To make things worse when I went to push the clutch pedal in to pull off, it went straight to the floor and stayed.

After it cooled down I looked under the hood and found that the line for the clutch blistered and popped from the manifold heat (pulling the hill the egt's were at 900 and the temp was at the upper end of normal).

I got coolant in it and all the water from my cooler and it started and ran with no bubbles. I started it while in first and managed to get it rolling and up and over the big hill/small mountain and into the town of Butte.

If anyone is in the area and has a spare line or could lend a hand putting one on I could use it. There is an O'Riley autoparts down the street (Im in the best western) and Im gonna see if they have the line tommorow but I am not getting my hopes up.

thanks,
Justin

my cell is 407-403-4221 if anyone is around.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

having no idea as to how exactly the line is set up, wouldn't it be possible to use some steel braided line with some Earl's fittings and make that work? Those are usually found in the performance section of the parts store, selection ain't too wide but they may just got what you need...

 

[towcat]

this is one of those times where info on your truck would be extremely helpful. go into the "user cp" and find the section "signuture line" and input all the info you think is important on your truck.
i have a couple of the lines, but knowing which generation of truck you have is critical.
R&R of the line is pretty simple but can be a potential problem. roll pins hold in both ends and the o-ring seals are easily lost. pay close attention to the little parts and you can have it change out in 15 mins. bleeding out the line is a whole other animal. you're gonna have to get dirty o this one.

 

[FordGuy100]

Thats the chits man, I'm sorry to hear that. Its kinda of a pain in the ass to fix this one. Go to the auto parts store, get one from them, or at least order one, unless you can get one from Calvin, but that might take longer. To get the old one off like Calvin said there are little pins that hold the line into the clutch master cylinder, and the slave cylinder, you will need to pound those out, and for safe measure keep them. Then slip the line out, and work it out of the truck. Next put the new line in to both the clutch master cylinder, and the slave cylinder. Go under the truck with an allen wrench, and on top of the slave cylinder, towards the front of the truck, there will be an all screw to bleed the system. Loosen it and note which way your turning the allen wrench, because you will only have one had to do it when your bleeding it, and going the wrong way sucks big time, trust me . Next go up top and fill the clutch master cylinder full of brake fluid, thats what it uses. Now get under the truck, and here comes the fun part. With one of your arms depress the clutch fork in between the slave cylinder and the tranny. Push that sucker as far back towards the rear of the truck as you can. To do this, that allen screw will need to have been opened, otherwise brake fluid will come out of the clutch master cylinder. Be prepared to get drenched in brake fluid. Before hand quickly clean the clutch line to where there is no dirt on it. You will have to depress the clutch fork this whole time otherwise it wont work. Watch the line, and when you see no more air bubbles going through it, take your free hand and tighten the allen screw on the top, and its all bleed. I had to have someone stay up top to help keep brake fluid in it, I think it ran a little low during this like twice, so maybe you can find someone to help with that . I would also loosen the allen screw on the bottom and stay up top for a minute and let the brake fluid go through the clutch line, then refill it and then go under it and do all the above. Good luck with it

 

[punkmechanic]

There is no bleed screw on my slave cylinder. I just put brand new master and slave cylinders in about a month ago while swapping in the zf. I'm not too concerned with the actual installation of the line it's the bleeding that gets me. It took me FOREVER in my garage back in florida with an array of tools. now Im in a parking lot in montana

thanks again everyone, good to know Im not totally alone ( My fiance has been a huge help on this one and I would literally be sol without her. I always knew she was better than I could ever hope for, I just didnt know that was an understatement)

Justin

 

[tradergem]

How about wrapping the new line with insulation? Or fab a heat shield for it?
Good luck.
Jim

 

[towcat]

How about wrapping the new line with insulation? Or fab a heat shield for it?
Good luck.
Jim

that can only occur after the line gets replaced.
there is a bleed screw. it's in a real bad place. right off the highest point of entrance on the cyl. it looks like a allen set screw.

 

[punkmechanic]

There is no bleed screw. The original instructions for the plastic piece of junk had a half a page of special bleeding instructions and in big bold letters that the allen screw waw not for bleeding and moving it could cause internal damage and void the lifetime warranty.

 

[icanfixall]

Several years ago I broke an exhaust valve spring on my big block chevy truck pulling into Butte. I parked the 5th wheel in a camp ground and found Milos Diesel imporium repair shop. For $100.00 thay had me up and running in a few hours. I have no idea if they are still there but they did treat me well back then. I hope everything works out for you. Its not fun when "things" happen on a trip.

 

[hahn_rossman]

I'd be interested to see that slave cylinder? All the ones I've seen the allen is definitely a bleeder. There is quite a bit of info in the archives about the trial and travails of bleeding those suckers.
I've had good luck with using a big screwdriver or prybar to lever the clutch arm against the cylinder. It feels really weird, but you can use it to compress the cylinder, then loosen the bleeder with your other hand. It's easier to do than describe. On the early trucks like mine the line connecting the two cylinders is routed very close to the floor boards and around the steering linkage. You may find a different line that stays farther away from your manifold. Maybe Calvin has some insight on that one? At any rate definitely heat shield it. I've seen products for fuel line that would be about the right diameter. Good luck!