Hi everyone. After searching the forums, I've come to the sad realization that the clutch in my '97 SR5 V6 needs to be replaced. It's been slipping, mostly in 4th, but lately in 3rd-5th. Basically after shifting and pressing the accelerator, the engine revs, but the truck doesn't accelerate for a few seconds.

I know different driving styles can have an influence on how long a clutch lasts, but is it "normal" for a clutch to need to be replaced at only 73k miles? I guess we're all spoiled driving Toyotas, this is really the only thing that has needed work, (other than the infamous clutch pedal bushing). I got a quote for $489, which seemed reasonable to me. Thanks.

 

Mine's still going strong at 110k ('98 Tacoma V6), but if the truck's been driven hard, I guess it could go out earlier. Maybe it was abused by a previous owner?

 

clutch life depends on how you drive it. if i wanted to, i could probably kill a clutch in a matter of days.

 

Well we're basically the original owners, we've had the 4Runner for about 63k of the 73k miles and we got it when it was about 1 year old. So if there's been any abuse, it would be from my wife and me! It's her daily driver, if you want to call it that, we obviously don't drive it much.

A few months ago I had the clutch pedal bushing replaced at a dealer. The slipping started after this work was done. Is there anyway that the slipping could have been caused by what was done to replace the pedal bushing, or is it just a coincidence? Thanks again.

 

maybe the adjustments got out of whack while the bushing was being replaced????
by the way, how much did they charge to replace the bushing?? I think it's time for mine to be done.

 

73,000 miles really isnt horrible clutch life. It really depends how the vehicle is driven. If you do a lot of city driving or do frequent stops, the clutch wont last as long as if you do mostly highway driving.
Cap'n

 

mtxride, I'm not sure about adjustments because one independent clutch shop told me the 4Runner has a hydraulic clutch that isn't adjustable. When I take it in to be replaced I will ask them to check for that kind of thing though. We do mostly city driving, with a long road trip maybe once a year, so maybe lasting until 73k is okay.

As for the clutch pedal bushing, it was like a $2 part and maybe 1.5-2 hours labor. I think the total damage was like $120 or so. Not terrible for having it done at a dealership. It's nice and quiet now which is the important part to me.

 

The stock clutch in my truck lasted 155,000 miles with lots of city miles. It probably could have gone a few thousand more but I elected to replace it.

 

My 4Runner will be almost 20 years old by the time I reach that mileage, but if it needs to be replaced, I guess I gotta do it. Thanks everyone.

 

hmm... according to the chilton manual, there are 3 different clutch adjustments (pedal height, free-play and pedal pushrod play). I haven't tried any of them yet, although i'm planning on going through the adjustments sometime this week, probabally hasn't ever been done on my 4runner. so I don't know if it would help you are not, but i was thinking maybe one of the adjustments got out of whack enough to not let your clutch fully engage

 

I replaced mine at about 85k. Mine was fine up until I had to slip the clutch in 4-low to get over a large steep boulder. Then the distinct clutch smell rolled out from under the vehicle and I knew it was time for new. I also replaced it because of the annoying throwout bearing.

 

i literally smoked a clutch in my '84...tried pulling my friend's dead mazda MX6 up a set of ramps so he could get to the starter. i had it in 1st gear and my foot was off the clutch, and still wasn't going anywhere! i gave up when i saw black smoke pouring out from under my pickup. still never had any problems with it before or after, until i sold it. saw it driving down the road the other day

 

I'm taking it into be looked at, or replaced tomorrow. I will definitely ask them to check for any adjustments before they replace the thing. The tricky part is, the clutch isn't slipping constantly, it's like in the early stages of going bad I guess, but it is slipping in 3rd-5th more and more. I don't know if they'd be able to tell if something was out of whack and after adjustment the slipping would stop, but it worth checking before spending $500 on a new clutch!

 

Yes it is definitely worth checking. I bet that this is not a coincidence at all. Dealerships tend to do silly crap like that quite often : truck comes in for a busching - mechanic replaces busching - truck leaves shop : so its not to be ruled out.

The clutch can slip very easily if its adjusted improperly. If the clutch seems that it engages a little higher that normal than this may be the case. If its adjusted to high up (engages high) then it may not even be fully engaging with the flywheel - hence the slippage.

Definitely take it in and make sure that you tell them it happened immediately after they replaced the busching. Just make sure you trust them, cause even though all it may need is an adjustment, they may try to get you for a entire clutch assembly. I have 130k on my 97' 5-speed and there is only about 10k of those miles done on the highway and the rest is all city (still on 1st clutch).