finny

I have what i'm assuming to be a clutch problem but didn't really come up with anything searching. I have an 88 4runner with the 22re. My father had the truck today and from what he said happened was while cruising down the highway in 5th gear the rpm would rise but the vehicle wasn't accelerating. It did this in 4th gear made some misc noises and at that time I pulled off the road. It occasionally gave a similar slippage in gear around 2500-3000 rpms prior to this.

After doing so when in gear the truck would not move. The clutch master fluid is full. The clutch pedal feels normal. I tried engaging the 4wd and that made no difference. 4hi/4low both felt to engage. The truck will shift into gear as if the clutch pedal was depresssed. All forward gears and reverse appear to be engaging. Simply in gear the truck does nothing.

I didn't really get a chance to do anything with it as it was getting dark by the time I got to look at it. Supposedly the clutch was replaced by the p.o. prob within the last 15-20k. Any input or ideas on what to check/replace are appreciated.

Shibumisan

Finny, definitely sounds like the clutch is slipping completely. one method that has been used to determine the extent or possibility of a slipping clutch, is to apply the emergency brake, assuming it works well, with engine running, engage first gear and begin to try and move the car forward, normally. If the E-brake works well, and the clutch mechanism is working properly, the vehicle will stall, other wise it will try to move forward under some mild acceleration. Again, it definitely sounds like itis shot.

Targetnut

It sounds like clutch to me, and usually when they are that bad you can smell it as well.

finny

I don't get anything with the vehicle in gear. Won't stall or move in any direction. Does a clutch generally go from a slight slip to nothing at all in an instance?

Targetnut

what could have happened. could have happened. The clutch disc may have gotten hot from slipping and the friction material came apart, or pieces from the clutch may have come loose and wedged in the pressure plate,

It is also possible that something is wrong with the clutch hydraulics that is holding pressure and preventing the clutch from engaging.

crack open the bleeder screw on the slave cylinder and see if it starts working, if not take out the trans and see what happened.

thook

Even though you can shift gears, the friction plate isn't grabbing under torque. 15-20k miles? Either someone had a lot of fun hot rodding, didn't put it in right, or just a plain defective clutch. Buggers. That's not a fun job.

904_runner

I think the only thing to do is take the tranny down and see whats going on!

finny

So the concesus seems to be clutch. I guess i'll try cracking the bleeder on the slave as Targertnut mentioned see if that gets me anywhere. Otherwise looks like the truck will be sittin somewhere for a while.