GuitarMike

Hi,
For the first time this winter, and since I've owned this old Yota, it went way cold last night (near zero). I went to start my truck this AM, and first the starter went "zzziiinnngggg" once, then engaged on the second try. No panic there - it was cold, and the starter is old. No big deal.

So the truck fired right up, but went up into high RPM right off (no tach, but like 2800, 3000 RPM? Rippin' fast) I was getting nervous for a minute, but it settled back after say 3 minutes.

I go to take my foot off the clutch (it was parked in 1st), in N, and the truck wants to go forward and chugs down, like I was in gear and taking off without giving it gas.....I had to hold the clutch in for 10 minutes while it warmed up. That didn't go away; when it was time to go, I just put 'er in 1st and left. Sluggish shifting for a minute or two of driving. After a few mins driving, at a stop sign I tested it - fine. Has been fine all day now.

So I think my pressure plate & clutch must've frozen together overnight, and friction heat freed it? Or could it have been something else (water in the slave cylinder, for example? Probably a dumb thought...).

Question is: why did/does this happen, and how do you avoid it??? Anyone know?
Til I remedy it, I guess I have to sit there with my foot on the clutch til it's warm and ready to drive - THAT's a pain!

Thanks.

OrRunner

iTrader: (1)

maybe some condinsation built up in the case after driving it the night before, then as it cooled they stuck togther? Kind of weird, but being that you did not have any prior problems, I would give it another night and see what happens.

Do you have any fluid leaks that could work its way back there and freeze?

GuitarMike

Yeah, that's what I thought, OrRunner....no leaks that I know about. I had a leading valve cover gasket that I changed out in the fall. Not leaking anymore. I degreased up there and hosed behind the cover, on top of the bell housing - but that was like 3 months ago. Have gone thru NO water since then....
I am kind of dumbfounded by where any freezable liquid in there could have come from. What I really found strange was that the truck wanted to go forward in N if you took your foot off the clutch!!!

It did go from 35 degrees to zero in about 6 or 8 hours last night, so condensation is a REAL likelihood!

I will see what it does tomorrow, I guess. It went from 25 today and will be in the teens tonight, not such a big change. Maybe it's something that'll be 'occasional'......I hope! Last time something like this happened on a Ranger I had, it took out the clutch entirely at -20....bleh....winter sucks.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

The gear oil in the trans and transfer case is just that thick.

Around the same temp here the first time I left off the clutch it stalled.

I need to let my foot on the brake as I leave out the clutch once the gear oil gets warm you had no more problems. Sometimes give it more rpm till the shafts are spinning

If it was windy it makes it worse

I would bet your rpm was closer to like 12 to 1500 then as high as you thought.

GuitarMike

Thx, Wyoming. No troubles today, just the 'normal' ever so slight engagement of the clutch and lowering of RPMs when letting the pedal out after you start it. No 'pulling' though....was a nice 18 degrees last night.
I wonder if that's bad for the clutch??

I put that NAPA 80W/90 oil in the tranny and tcase...wonder if the thicker stuff is why that happened (?). Specs call for 75W, but we don't have that round these parts.

As long as it isn't going to total my clutch, it doesn't worry me TOO much.

DixieThunder

The high RPM until warm is normal I think. My truck always does it until it's warm and a couple of people who I've known that have had these older trucks have had the same thing happen.

alltracman78

Very high idle is normal for a Toyota in the cold.
2000 RPM ^ is normal when it's that cold. It warms the engine up faster.

I'll second the very thick oil causing it to try to move foreward.
That's most likely what it was. I highly doubt it was your clutch; if that was the case putting the clutch in wouldn't have had any effect.

93toyrunner2

I switched from bulk gear oil to Royal Purple, and my hard shifting on cold days nearly disappeared. I read on here that it makes the gears shift smoother, and I am a believer. I will have an occasional 1st gear hard to enter on a cold morning, but within the 2-3 shifts to 1st, this is gone away as well. 2k miles on a Marlin clutch kit.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

I think I run the same gear oil as my e-brake is always on mine does not try and run away

I just let it idle a few minutes while I fill the stove with wood and turn off the lights

then were good to go goes right in gear runs just fine.

Since the garage is over flowing again I think a block heater is in order for the one living outside.

4runr1990

When i had my 4runner in Canada, there was one really bad time last winter.... -45C (-40F=-40C fyi) anyway there was a windchill that made it -50C.... make long whiney story short - truck froze solid.... even the AAA couldn't start it. Had to tow it to some friend's parking lot where they had outside plug, to "warm" it over night with block heater.... then next day another truck gave it the "paddles" and it jumped back to life - reluctantly...
probably traumatized it permanently.....

GuitarMike

Wow, good replies, guys! I guess a lot of the 'stickiness' is just the way a Yota is. My '88 that I had years ago would do what my '93 USUALLY does....just 'catch' a little when you let the clutch out and idle down. The 'hard stick' scared me, but nothing since so I bet it's either a REALLY cold thing or just a passing glitch. They get old, seals dry out and let a little moisture in, not much you can do but pull the tranny (not til I need a clutch!).

Mostly, up here, it stays in the single digits or a little better at night....we'll have a week or two of below zero, so it's something you can live with if you have to.

Good call on the 'NO' clutch if it was failing, alltrac....

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

I have seen gear oil with so much water it froze now that was a interesting problem to figure out

I was up at Sugar Loaf had to be back in the seventies it was minus 50 F

boy it sucks to get old

GuitarMike

Now THAT is nasty!!

Sugarloaf killed my '88....lost a coolant bypass line, and it was zero out. No way to fix it...snapped a bolt at the water neck, and called it quits. A guy I was working with up there bought it from me for a song. Wished I'd never sold it and should've just had it towed!

So I bought this '93. Now we have the internet to figure out these things!!! ha ha