Clutch help ASAP!!!

[FordGuy100]

I need help fast guys. Copied and pasted from another post I made:

The other week, I started to hear this weird sound from under the truck when I put the clutch in, kinda sounded like you could here the clutch fluid moving really loudly or something. When I left school today, my clutch pedal became very weird. I first noticed something wrong when I pushed the pedal in and tried getting into 1st gear, it was harder than normal, and I had to put the shifter back in neutral and then force it up into 1st to get it in. Then it got even weirder when I went and left, my pedal was all the way to the floor and it seems I moved my foot only like half an inch and the clutch started ingauging. And then I took my foot off of the clutch pedal the and pedal just stayed there, it didnt rebound to were it normally is. I actually had to use my foot and force up the pedal, although it didnt take much force to do it.

Now when I got home I stopped to get a package at our gate, and I tried getting the truck into 1st gear again, and this time it took me like 30 seconds to get it in. Then I stopped at the house and shut my truck down, and I tried to get my truck into neutral, and it wont come out of 1st gear at all. I dont want to put all my strength into it and break it you know.

I'm at a loss here, what the heck is wrong?

I think that my truck isnt liking the fact that I'm going to turbo it. The last couple days its been giving me some fits, like I left for lunch the other day, and my front tank I believe was empty because I started it up, and put my backpack in the bed, and my truck began to stumble a little bit. I jumped back in my truck as quick as I could and switched to the rear tank which was full. My truck with giving it no throttle was idleing up to 1000rpm's, and then back down to 700, and up and down quite fast. But above 1300 rpm's it cleared up. After a minute or two of reving my truck up to 1300 rpm's it went away. The dark side is calling me right now...

 

[FordGuy100]

Another thing I forgot to add. The last couple weeks, every once in a while when I shift into 2nd gear from 1st, I would push the clutch in all the way and put it into second, but it would kind of grind a little before it went in. It wasnt so bad you could hear it outside the cab, but inside the cab you could kind of hear it, and you can feel it in the shifter.

 

[troutwest66]

I'm guessing master and/ or slave cylinder.

 

[forcefed]

sounds like a slave cylinder to me. If that is not it, maybe pressure plate on the clutch, but do the easy fixes first.

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Exactly what these guys have already said.
Been there done that many times myself, more than likely its the slave. But if its a wooshing sound coming from the firewall then its the master.

 

[Diesel JD]

Ahh, man, I have no idea about the manual transmission issues, but that fuel selector valve can be a PITA sometimes, sounds like it was sucking air for some reason.

 

[FordGuy100]

Okay, which one is the easiest fix? I have no idea how all this works, I'm not up on my manual trannies. I can hear a wooshing sound when pressing in the pedal, and I have for a long time, so maybe its the Master? If I were to replace all these parts, how much is it gonna cost me? Its still okay to drive like this, right?

 

[FordGuy100]

Well it looks like a clutch master cylinder is about $65 from napa, and a clutch slave cylinder is anywhere from $45-70 from autozone (cause napa doesnt carry them, or at least it doesnt show that they do online).

Is there any way to test them out in the truck to see if they are the culprit?

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Try to find a parts store that offers both already hooked together and prebled. Otherwise the bleeding is what sucks.
The master is like less than $60. Also, if possible try and get them in metal, not plastic. We've actually blown TWO plastic masters and one plastic slave appart from just normal use.

 

[poolguy]

Generally when one or the other is bad, there is tell tale fluid loss. Hopefully you will be able to see fluid around the the actuator.
Also, I would not recomend that you drive it 'till you fix it. You could hurt the synchronizers in the trans by forcing it into gear without the clucth being completely disengaged.
Good luck.

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

The operation is very simple to understand: the master cylinder takes the motion that your pedal creates and pushes a plunger to move fluid thru the line down to a cylinder which takes the fluid pressure and turns it back into a linear motion that's used to engage/disengage your clutch. Inspect both parts and see if either one is leaking externally. If it were me, I would change both parts and get rid of all the old brake fluid, as it's probably contaminated. Brake fluid is hygroscopic (moisture absorbing), and when the bore of the master cylinder or slave cylinder rusts it wipes out the seal and then nothing works. Don't continue to drive it until you fix it. Change both, bleed all the air out, and get on down the road.

Good luck

 

[Agnem]

You HAVE been lubricating your throw out bearing every 10,000 miles haven't you? See the drivetrain section of the FAQ.

 

[subway]

something else you might want to look at is where the throw out bearing rides. that can go dry and gouge up the shaft it rides on making the clutch difficult to push in. they can be greased without pulling the trans with a little creativity.

how is the bushing pushing on the master at the top of the pedal?

sound like the master and slave like mentioned above though.

(edit) looks like Mel beat me to it

 

[FordGuy100]

You HAVE been lubricating your throw out bearing every 10,000 miles haven't you? See the drivetrain section of the FAQ.

Nope, I havent yet. I guess I can be a smart **** and say I've only put on 4000 miles on my truck though.

Okay, I replaced the master cylinder, and was going to bleed the system, but it got dark on me so I'll do it this afternoon. I have found the allen screw on top of the slave cylinder, but whats the presedure of bleeding? Do I leave that screw open enough for fluid to flow all the time, or do I open it up when I have somebody push the clutch in, then close it when they release the clutch and repeat it every time?

I hope its the master cylinder thats the problem, and not the slave cylinder.

 

[hahn_rossman]

It's a little late to mention this, but check how far the slave moves when the pedal is fully pushed in. It should move 3/4" or so (Mel what is the figure?). It's easy to verify if the master/slave is working before tearing into parts that may or may not be the problem.
Bleeding is a challenge! Ideally you would have the nose of the truck up so the allen is higher than the rest of the slave. You can actually bleed it your self by first filling the master (duh, make sure the little rubber flap came out with the cap), then using a pry bar to push the throw out bearing arm against the slave while loosening the allen with your other hand. It's a little tricky, but easier than trying to get the slave back into it's bracket with out the little plastic doodle.
I would also mention that a good diagnostic is that you shouldn't have any problems shifting gears with the motor turned off. If it's still stuck in 1st, or what ever gear when the engine is off, you probably have a mechanical problem with the transmission. In which case I recomend a ZF! Ha! Good luck.