Intermittent slipping clutch
 

Hey all i have a 91 V6 and the clutch slips intermittently... Some days it will work perfectly, other days, generally when it is cold or rainy, it slips. sometimes so badly that i can barely move. any ideas?

? How many miles are on this clutch??

? Time for a new clutch??

Just thinking out loud.

Andrew

40,000-50,000 miles on the clutch. I suppose it's possible for it to just "be time" but why would it slip intermittently?

When things are cold they shrink. You need to replace the clutch, and when you do, get the flywheel turned.
I would spend the extra cash and get a Toyota clutch.

I had a 90 Pathfinder that did something very similar to this, but only when it was hot. The only reason I say that is I think that both Toyota and Nissan use the same master and slave cylinders. I had the clutch replaced and flywheel resurfaced, and it still did the same thing. It drove me crazy and I never totally figured out what was wrong, but... I think it had to do with either the master, slave cylinder or hard line. Something was slowing the fluid returning to the master cylinder when the clutch was released. This held some pressure in the slave cylinder that would build up and cause slippage. I would bleed the system or let it cool down and it was fine. I replaced the master cylinder, which helped but didn't cure the problem. Next time it slips bleed it right away and see if it helps. I would just crack the bleeder nipple when it was slipping and fluid would spray out. Just a thought.

It's been my experience that a clutch will be ok when it's cool and start to slip really bad after it's warmed up.

That being said, are you sure that it's your clutch that's slipping? I had a problem in my 4runner recently that I thought was the clutch, in fact, I pulled the transmission and replaced clutch, pressure plate, throwout and pilot bearings, and resurfaced the flywheel, only to find that it was still 'slipping'.

If only I'd done this quick test, I could've saved myself A LOT of time:

With the car stopped and in neutral, put the emergency brake on. Shift into first gear, and slowly let out the clutch.

If the truck stalls, your clutch is fine.

~Bill

Sometimes a clutch will chatter (and slip) when it is cold outside too - its not always heat that produces symptoms.

My clutch chatters (i guess slipps) only in the morning after its sat overnight and its cold. After a couple of starts and stops its fine and engages smoothly.
Is this a symptom of a worn clutch or is this "normal."

93 4Runner, 5 speed, 78K.

CMD93 -

Assuming that it is the clutch that is chattering, it sounds like the most likely cause in your case is a small leak on either the main seal or the transmission input shaft seal. I say this because what is probably happening is that when the vehicle is sitting overnight, small amounts of oil are leaking onto the face of the clutch/flywheel. When you start it up, this will cause initial chattering, but after the oil is burnt off, then the clutch engages normally.

Of course, there are half a dozen other things that could be causing your clutch to chatter (warped flywheel/clutch, worn splines), and there are things that may appear to be clutch chatter but are actually caused by other things, such as a driveshaft problem.

If you want to quickly eliminate driveshafts as a possible problem (assuming that you have 4-WD) disconnect the rear driveshaft (mark it before you take it off so you can put it back in the same position), shift into 4WD, and go for a spin. You'll be only using the front driveshaft, so if the rear driveshaft is the problem your chattering should go away.

~Bill

Clutch master cylinder. Trust me, been there. Umm, 38 bucks w/ core @ NAPA.

Bill,

Thanks for the advice. I hope that no seals are leaking. Yea its 4WD, so I might try that trick on disconnecting the rear axle.

1Runner,

Was that last post for me or for the original question that Tatsuo posted?

Thanks,
Chris

Chris, I guess I'd try the clutch master cyl. if I were you too. It's an easy swap, & cheap to do. If your clutch is the orig. ,you're getting close to trouble time either way. It really depends on how its been maintained and driven. If the original owner was hard on the clutch (or if you are) your clutch could be going. My 85 XTRA cab went 13 yrs and 110K on the original clutch.

I spoke to a lady on the phone the other day who had 260K miles on the original clutch.

She owns a 1996 Toyota 4Runner SR5 3.4L. Needless to say, she does some serious highway driving.

I had a Pathfinder with a similar problem. Local mechanic pulled a rubber plug from between the tranny/engine and drained about a gallon of water & mud from in there.
Once it all dried in there, worked fine. Don't know if Toyota has one of those plugs or not, but it was an inexpensive repair.

It could maybe be something leaking onto the surface... this is a recent problem that appeared over a period of about two weeks and has been constant for about another 4 weeks since... since this has started occuring.. my clutch feels like its almost going out until i drive it for about an hour. after that.. it seems only like its getting warn out.. but still usable without slipping

That'd be my guess, too. Though it's a pain in the rear, because to get at the things that are most likely leaking (seals), you have to pull the transmission, and if you're going to pull the transmission, you might as well replace the clutch, pressure plate, bearings, and resurface the flywheel anyway. Unless you really, really like pulling transmissions or your clutch and flywheel show little signs of wear.

~Bill

Grr.. just what I wanted to do over christmas break... anyone else have any ideas?

I just had my clutch replaced and the guy that I had replace it said that the rear of my valve cover was leaking and to get that fixed too cause it could cause some problems with the clutch slipping. Might want to check that or just the back of the block for some blowby.

Just wanted to let you know the solution... so ya'll can be a little bit smarter... the throwout bearing was getting hung up.. all this water in washington here degreased the poor bugger and so its hanging up occasionally.. the solution is to get som lithium grease on it...

Tatsuo

from the looks of your user picture it probably is your clutch... and you will want to throw in some new tires with it too. ;)