Clutch Problems

[SilverThrone654]

This is my first winter with this truck and it got down to 6°F while I was at work and upon starting my truck, everything was fine-ish. Shifter felt like jello when switching gears so I let it warm up for about 5 mins before I headed out, after driving for about a mile I got to stop light and while sitting in 1st gear with the clutch in, the truck began to try and drive forward under power. I threw it into neutral real quick however, when I tried to go back into first to get going after the light changed I could not disengage the clutch. The pedal went to the floor without any force, it did return just like normal though. I kept trying to disengage it by pumping the clutch to no resolve until, eventually it randomly let me disengage the clutch and get back into gear but immediately after, the clutch would not disengage and the pedal once again went to the floor with no force. Does anyone have any idea what would cause this? I am assuming its something with the hydraulic clutch system, maybe water in the system that froze up or a bad seal somewhere? Its in the garage now (limped it home in first) so I'm going to try and check anything I can and will replace the trany and clutch fluid as soon as I can. Thanks in advance.

 

[VIPR PWR]

Appear to be in the hydraulics ,,, moisture in the fluid probably froze possibly causing a seal in the master or slave cylinder. Or air in the system ,,,, How is the fluid condition and it it filled to the proper level . I had that happen to my Dakota … I had to start the truck in gear no clutch pedal , had to try and shift it based on speed and had to turn the engine off just to get it out of gear ,, that was a bitch getting it to a shop .. I ended up getting it back home and bought a master and slave cylinder and replaced them .. then couldn’t get it to bleed out .. found out that using the manufacturers all in one master and slave was needed and found on thru JTVSP.COM .. got it fast and installed and everything was back to normal …

 

[Chrstn]

This sounds like a classic cold weather hydraulic clutch problem. At six degrees Fahrenheit, old or moisture contaminated clutch fluid can thicken or partially freeze, and worn master or slave cylinder seals can shrink and start bypassing internally. That explains why the truck began to creep in gear with the clutch pressed, why the pedal went to the floor with no resistance, and why it sometimes worked briefly before failing again. The most likely causes are water in the clutch fluid, a failing master cylinder, or a failing slave cylinder. To fix it, check the fluid level and condition, flush and bleed the clutch system, and if the problem persists, replace the master and slave cylinders. The transmission and clutch itself are very unlikely to be the source of the issue.

 

[SilverThrone654]

Its been a while but here is an update for anyone else with a similar problem. I thought this problem was fixed after I had the clutch fluid replaced, however I was told that it was low by the mechanic when they replaced it. Everything seemed fine after the fluid swap until the weather started to warm up. This issue then happened again and I decided to check the clutch fluid reservoir. This was low but not empty so I filled it back up and continued on like normal until it happened again, and again, and again. Turns out, I had a leak in one of the seals on the salve cylinder/ throw-out bearing and due to a bad habit of mine, leaving the truck in gear while traffic and just throwing the clutch in, I made the leak worse by increasing the pressure in the slave cylinder for extended periods of time. It got to the point to where I would need to refill the reservoir twice a week until I was finally able to get everything fixed. Actually I replaced it all with the upgraded kit from JMB performance that has the center force clutch. This kit is nice though so that's a plus, and I swapped out my reverse synchro ring and assembly and fork/pads since those were toast due to that pesky plastic fork pad having broken off cause the synchro to never full engage and in the process getting shredded. Also, turns out, somehow, the brass synchro ring can not only wear itself down, but also the teeth on the steel synchro assembly, who knew.

 

[Wifey]

Good you got it taken care of!! I'm sure others may do that same thing leaving in gear at stop - good to know