Clutch Woes!

[ajones]

Help! I am two clutch slave cylinders into a repair(s) and am scratching my head. Several weeks ago (too many to admit) I was coming out of a parking lot when I heard a pop, clutch pedal goes to the floor, engine revs. I use a few descriptive technical terms as I coast into a parking spot. Get out fluid dripping, so I think hydraulic prob, could be worse. After a tow home, I investigate and find the piston of the slave cylinder wedged in the end of cylinder at angle. I pull it out and order a brand spankin' new one and hose. Hook it up, bolt it in, bleed it and re-attach linkage. Get in the cab, pump the pedal a couple of times thinking, oh this is cake, when I hear fluid hitting asphalt! Same thing piston wedged in the end of cylinder. My associates tell me I have a clutch linkage issue allowing the piston to travel too far down the cylinder, but is it possible I have a master cylinder not allowing pressure to bleed after you take your foot off the pedal thus building up pressure in the system until...Bham!
Any ideas? VMT.

[daveb]

scratching won't do any good. did you check the linkage? did you maybe break one of the clevis pins where the crossshaft enters the bellhousing?

assuming it is a IIa 'box

Help! I am two clutch slave cylinders into a repair(s) and am scratching my head.

[scott]

alex

i had a simular issue. it came after i r/r my master cylinder. i had mal adjusted it such that the m/c piston did not return to a position that let the fluid bleed back. pressure builds up and i blew out the slave flex line. have you messed w/ the m/c?

[ajones]

I haven't done anything to the m/c, and the clevis pin where the vertical rod connects to the cross shaft is good. Is it possible that the opening that allows the pressure to bleed off from the m/c has become clogged?

[luckyjoe]

Check the WSM - make sure pedal height is set properly.

Tom P.

[jp-]

Remove the slave and try to turn the linkage by hand or gently with a wrench. If it turns too easily, you have broken a clevis pin as others have suggested or worse, broken a clutch fork. The return pressure of the clutch plate is necessary to re-seat the slave cylinder piston after every push of the clutch pedal. Without this return pressure, hydraulic pressure will continue to build in the system until something gives; as you have witnessed.

[daveb]

not that clevis. closer to the bellhousing there are two that pass through a cylindrical sleeve, pinning the two halves of the clutch cross shaft together

I haven't done anything to the m/c, and the clevis pin where the vertical rod connects to the cross shaft is good. Is it possible that the opening that allows the pressure to bleed off from the m/c has become clogged?

[ajones]

In true LR fashion, this afternoon, in the rain with a flashlight, I got underneath and looked for this broken pin. If the sleeve the clutch cross shaft goes into only has one hole then I have found the problem b/c there is hole in the end of the sleeve with no pin. Once, I fix the slave cylinder and replace the pin I will let you guys know!
VMT

[scott]

i'll keep my fingers crossed for you, there' a 2nd pin in the cross shaft inside the bell housing.

[daveb]

both accessible from outside. BTDT. You need to check both as they do wear, and the extra play adds up to alot of lost pedal. And use the correct pins. bolts will either wear the sleeve or break off.

i'll keep my fingers crossed for you, there' a 2nd pin in the cross shaft inside the bell housing.

[ajones]

Would a large diameter cotter pin work? or at least until I can get the correct clevis pin? Also, do you often see both pins shearing at the same time?

[daveb]

no. the clevises are available from our hosts or any of the other suppliers.

Would a large diameter cotter pin work? or at least until I can get the correct clevis pin? Also, do you often see both pins shearing at the same time?

[scott]

both accessible from outside.

i just got out from under mine and i can't see that inboard pin. how would you go about accessing it? there's another of us out there, jeff, aka badvibes, that can move his slave linkage by hand having the sleeve rotate with the linkage. this seems to indicate that the inboard pin is gone.

[badvibes]

get me up to speed...

i just got out from under mine and i can't see that inboard pin. how would you go about accessing it? there's another of us out there, jeff, aka badvibes, that can move his slave linkage by hand having the sleeve rotate with the linkage. this seems to indicate that the inboard pin is gone.

To get up to speed. I too was driving around, pull up to a light, maybe "felt" something give. Try to pull away from the light and no clutch. Had to restart the truck in gear and was able to drive home by shifting without the clutch. Tranny seems to shift fine with the truck not running. Replaced the clutch slave and a "weeping" flex line to the slave. Still no workee. Have @ 1/2" of travel in the lever arm I can move with my fingers. The 1st pin I can feel and seems to be holding the sleeve, it moves with the lever arm as I move it with my fingers. It looks to me like to access the 2nd pin which I suspect is broken/missing I would have to pull the tranny. Here's a bad diagram trying to show what I'm talking about.

Jeff

[jp-]

It's a tight fit, but you don't have to pull the transmission. You just have to work around the boot that goes into the bell housing.

With the cotter pin out of the clevis, I have pulled out the second pin with needle nose pliers.