Last night i was out drivin around my 87 yota pickup and all of the sudden the clutch pedal got really soft and wouldn't engage. I have never had a clutch go out on me so I think this is the first. When I looked under the truck I noticed that there was some dark fluid (black) coming out of the from diff where the driveshaft meets up with it, I also noticed some coolant leaking from some where. any ideas? Any input would be greatly appreciated..


-Brad

 

does the truck still start without the clutch start cancel? if it does then that means our clutch is fine.

 

x2. Fluid from the diff and coolant have nothing to do with the clutch. If it doesn't start without using the clutch cancel switch first check the fluid in the master cyl. plus check the pedel linkage under the dash. How old is the clutch now?

 

Can you put it in gear? If it just blew out then I would say it is something on your clutch line. Run a troubleshoot on the cylinders. Pull off the slave cylinder and plug the line with your thumb. Have someone press in the clutch pedal and if the fluid doesn't come out with some hefty pressure, it should squirt your thumb off at least, your master is bad. If you still get really good pressure then it could be your slave.

 

have someone push the clutch in while you listen underneath around the bell housing too anything other than nothing is a bad thing. shouldnt even hear the the throwout bearing moving. you can also just look at the slave while the clutch is being worked and see if its moving.

 

don't know about the coolant but I had my master go this past winter.

Not bad to replace.

do as previously mentioned. crawl under and watch the lever move, tell a friend to hold the pedal down.. lever should stay out.. when my master went the lever would go out.. then slowely return to original position. Turned out I was getting flow plast the plunger in the master cylinder, you could also see the fluid level change in the Master Cyclinder as the pedal went down and held.. the fluid came back up.

Somone here also gave me the advice that if your slave is gone, you should see a tonne of fluid when you pull back the rubber boot.

Good luck.

 

clutch cancel switch has nothing to do with the clutch actually.

It's a button your pedal depresses when you push it to the floor that allows the ignition to connect. .. same as the BRAKE light when you pull the parking brake or when you open your door and the dome light comes on.

If the pedal just flops the floor without resistance that isn't your clutch either. It's your hydrualic system. There is a rubber flex line, about 4 or 5" long that connects the hardline off your body to the hardline connecting to the Slave Cylinder. It can completely rupture or it can crack and expand which as a result means not enough pressure is being exerted on the slave thus not moving the throwout fork = no clutch

For what its worth when a "clutch goes" it slips. You won't feel it in the pedal. The truck just won't move, or will move very slowly, you might get some noise possibly some vibration (tho not usually) but definetly will get some SMELL, burning clutches smell like poop, literally.

Anyway check your hydrualic system. The Master Clutch Cylinder for the clutch is on the driver side next to the Master Brake Cylinder.. It's small.

The Slave Clutch cylinder is on the passanger side up near the front of the bellhousing behind the starter. Might also, who knows..check to see if the slave arm didnt pop off the fork for some freak reason... if that happened itd just be pushing air =)

 

i can attest to what Drew just said. my clutch was going when i got my truck and it would slip on inclines and if i got on the skinny hard. but it just didnt go all of a sudden. i agree in that you have something between your foot and the actual clutch itself thats gone wrong... which is probably good for you time and money wise.

 

The clutch pedal just goes strait to the floor with out any resistance, also it will not go in gear what do ever. I was driving down the road and it slowly stopped working within about 30 minutes. . I don't know how old the clutch is, I bought the truck with 272k on the motor but it was rebuilt sometime not sure when tho. I'll check the hydraulic lines from the master cylinder when i get home which wont be for about 3 months . thanks for all the input guys greatly appreciated.

-Brad