coloradolady

TRUCK STARTED!!!

We are having a problem with the clutch!! It's not engaging the gears!! The petal has no resistance. There may be a spring missing on the back of the petal but it won't shift into gear at all. It's hydraulic and we have bled the lines. We pumped the petal, opened the valve, closed the valve and off the petal. We did this over and over and clear fluid is coming out but the petal is not getting resistance. We tried to shift and learned it won't go into gear. The 4WD is off. So even tho we are glad it started and a couple leaks are fixed, we are now trying to figure out the clutch. Can anyone help, please? We have come sooooo far and now this!!
Thank you!!

coloradolady

Skypilot check your messages please.......

skypilot

iTrader: (1)

Horray! Let the music play!

Ok; with the engine off look underneath at the throwout lever as the clutch pedal is depressed. Does it move? If no fluid comes out and the slave does not move, then the master cylinder is leaking by or is too short. Its possible the parts store gave you the wrong one. My son is in the parts business so it happens more than you think.

Put it in gear and start the engine if it moves jerky and terribly, shut it off you know it works, and its a hydraulic issue.

skypilot

iTrader: (1)

I'm kinda offline at work, long hours and no internet. Hope to get that fixed in a month or so. All I get is a little time before lights out to check messages.

mwisham

Everyone on this forum has differing skill levels so let's start from the beginning. When installing the clutch onto the new engine, did you use an alignment tool to hold the clutch disc in place while tightening the bolts in the pressure plate so that the splines on the transmission input shaft meshed with the clutch disc when putting the trans back in place? Since it bolted up, I am assuming you did but you never know.
When installing the new master cylinder, was the linkage adjustable? I just put one in my 1980 P/U and there was a locknut on the fork that connects the shaft to the pedal. That locknut needs to be broken loose and the shaft turned by hand to extend the shaft as far as it will go until the pedal reaches the pedal stop. That way you are getting full travel on the M/C to push fluid to the slave cylinder. There also should be a return spring on the pedal under the dash and another spring on the slave but they only return the pedal to the top position, they have no effect on clutch engagement. Early models also have an adjustable shaft between the slave cylinder and the fork for the throwout bearing. There will be a locknut and the end of the shaft at the fork will have a screwdriver slot to turn the shaft with. If the shaft is moving when the clutch pedal is depressed, it could be all you need to do is adjust this shaft outward. The key is if the slave is moving the shaft when the pedal is pushed. I know this is a long response, but I hope it helps.

coloradolady

The clutch depresses to the floor but doesn't have any resistance. It will not shift into any gears at all. It has a new master cylinder and new slave cylinder. mwisham, I'll tell him what you say and see what he says. Thank you!!

mwisham

Make sure the shaft from the slave cylinder to the fork is moving when the clutch pedal is pushed down. If that shaft is not moving, there is an issue with either the M/C or slave cylinder. I have seen a lot of complaints on this forum about aftermarket M/C's and slave cylinders from parts houses being bad right out of the box. Most everyone recommends going with the Aisin OEM parts.

coloradolady

I read your post to my husband and he says he did all those things but not the screwdriver part because the end of the rod is round and doesn't have a slot for a screwdriver. You might be right on the Master Cylinder and Slave Cylinder because they did come from a parts house, specifically Auto Zone. I can hear everyone saying "it figures!!" Thank you for your help............

FrankTorres

...to me it sounds like the clutch master cylinder needs to be bench bleed. There is an air bubble trapped in there.

Gook Luck

coloradolady

That means removing the master cylinder and how do you bench bleed it, please?

mwisham

You can bleed the M/C on the vehicle. Usually the M/C comes with a plastic fitting and short peice of hose. The fitting goes in the m/c where the line to the slave cylinder connects and you run the short piece of hose from that fitting back into the fluid reservoir on the m/c and then push the pedal down repeatedly until no bubbles appear. Make sure the end of the hose is submerged in fluid the whole time or air could be sucked back into the system.
Are you getting a strong flow of fluid at the bleeder on the slave cylinder? It should squirt a good stream of fluid out of the bleeder with the pedal depressed. If you are are not getting a strong flow of fluid, then either the m/c still has air in it or the m/c is no good.

coloradolady

H was getting a good stream. He took it to a transmission shop because he is just fed up with the whole thing. All this work and then this. Depressing. The guy at the shop is in it to make money and we all know that so this is his findings: removed transmission and installed clutch kit. Pressure plate, disc. throw out bearing, pilot bearing. Just so people reading this know approx the cost to have this done, it cost $440.00 to remove the tranny and install clutch kit. It cost $310.00 for the pressure plate, disc, throw out bearing and pilot bearing. Cost $20.00 for sublet freight and $18.75 for some damn shop towels and shop supplies!!! So the total was $813.90 and no senior discout!!!!!!!! We had to have it towed home which was another $111.50. Towing charge 75.00 and @$4.00 per mile equals $44.00 for eleven miles. Got a senior discount on towing so total $111.50. TISSUE TIME!!! We found out the heater control valve is leaking and Auto Zone, O'Reilies, NAPA and Checker don't have and can't order part. Had to go to eBay and found part. Will cost around $100.00 w/shipping. We are so deep into this damn truck we have had it and he says if there is anything else wrong, he's going to sell it. This is just rediculous!!! If we hadn't had people like you, mwisham, skypilot and ALL the great people on here who have helped us, I think we would have junked this truck back in march. So thank you big time. I just hope and pray that God will let us drive the truck and be done with all the $$$ connected to it's repair. This isn't cheap and wasn't cheap at any point. So if anyone plans on installing a new block, head, or complete engine, PLEASE THINK TWICE AND DECIDE WHETHER IT'S WORTH THE INVESTMENT OR BETTER TO SALVAGE IT AND PUT THE MONEY INTO SOMETHING ELSE!!!! We NEVER would have done this if we had known how expensive it would be. We ain't rich folks and this has really hurt the pocketbook. Thank you everyone and I mean that from my heart. I can't remember everyone's names but you were all angels and thank you...............

coloradolady

UPDATE AND FINAL MESSAGE!!

I'm sure many of you are happy to know you won't have my posts to bore you or take up your time anymore. To the rest of you, it's been a journey. A wild journey, a scary journey, a sad journey and a very expensive journey but I wanted to post one last thread to let you know that husband has been driving the truck to work for several days with no problems. After the clutch incident and we got the truck back home, we noticed a leak. All this work and time and we are down to the very end and now there is a leak!!! Tracing the drips we learned it was the heater control valve and we went to a parts store and they said they can't get one and they probably aren't made anymore. You talk about your heart sinking into your stomach. Don't even suggest that all of this has been in vain because now you are going to tell us we can't get a HCV? Noooooooo, God help us!!! Went online to eBay and found just what we needed. So to NAPA, AUTO ZONE and O'REILYS....nanner nanner....WE GOT ONE!!! Installed it and no more leaks. Everything is just right. You can place the palm of your hand on the head and you feel very little vibration. It drives much better, much quieter and shifts like a charm. Husband is sooooo happy and I must say, there were a couple tears shed and a couple high fives!!! I wish you all were here because I would give each of you a big hug and thank you for sticking with us. We wanted to torch the thing, we wanted to shove it off a cliff, we wanted to give it away and then I would read him a message from you and his hopes were revived and he would have me print out the post and he would take it out and using magnets, he put it on the inside of the bonnet, above his head and he would follow each step. Sometimes we ran into more problems, sometimes we could find the parts you told us to check and sometimes we thought you were joking with us because we couldn't do what you had told us to do but in the end, you were all right in what you were saying. So now we are going to chalk this whole thing up to the biggest project we have ever tackled and we don't want to ever go thru it again. So to those of you who have done this numerous times, a special salute to you because we don't ever want to do it again. I will post a picture of his truck for my very last post but this one will be my last worded post. Thank you just seems so small when we owe you all so much more. I hope all 10 of my pages will somehow help someone else who is just starting on this same trip we took and I hope if you use all this information, please post and give us a high five for the information or a thumbs down for doing a poor job. I'm a wife, not a mechanic. I tried to tell you all what was happening but in my own words, not the words of a Certified Mechanic. So I'm sure alot of what I posted is jibberish and a foreign language to those of you who do this type thing for a living. For that, I'm truly sorry. I have found my calling thru all this.......back in the kitchen baking bread, crocheting, ironing clothes, cleaning house, etc. I'll leave the vehicles to you all and to hubby. LOLOL So again, thank you and may God bless each of you, protect each of you and I hope your journey is a pleasant one. Thank you ALL!!!!! (Now I'll try to get a picture of his truck)LOL.....................

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like it has been a journey for the both of you. Even though there was some frustrations, sounds like it had some rewarding experiences along the way. Drop in and give us an update from time to time. Other issues pop up don't hesitate to ask. Great job for the two of you getting it fixed. Not sure how I missed this thread but you got me interested in it and want to see what all you had to deal with.

skypilot

iTrader: (1)

I'm happy you got it going!

NBRanger

There is more than one way to look at just about anything.

You got into a bigger project than you expected.You were challenged.It was painful. I hear you.

There are a lot of new to newer vehicles you could have bought for $25,000,or $30,000,or $40,000....
You would pay a lot of interest,insurance,tax,and high plates.
And you would have to work a lot of long,hard,stressful hours to earn all those $.

Now you are driving a pretty darn good ride.You have gained an education.You know every nut and bolt on that truck...or close enough.

You have the confidence to know you CAN fix about anything that goes wrong.You been there,done that.

What do you do when some modern iron you are making big $ payments on gets a belly ache?They ALL do,sooner or later.
You trade it in and start over on a new loan,or you take it to to big $ mechanic,because the brand new stuff takes equiptment and training to work on.

Time to love that Toyota!.You earned it.You paid your dues.

One more thing.Assuming this vehicle is paid for.You never drive for free.
Have a jat that you pay your Toyota in. Pay it $50 or $100 a month .Pay maintenance AHEAD.

You will have to fix something some day.

I have driven old iron and kept it running my 44 years of driving.Always somethi
ng over 20 yrs old.

Only my 63 Volvo came close to an old Toyota for "change the oil,and turn the key" dependability.

Same with being basic and easy to work on.

Give that Toyota some time.

And Faith!!.Don't abandon all you have done at the first hiccup.

And congratulations!