Hey Guys,

Last night I was getting the truck ready for my 2,200 mile camping trip next week by changing the oil, fuel, and air filters, and I didn't get the gasket on quite right on the fuel filter.

Needless to say, as soon as I started the truck, I had "Lake Diesel" on the garage floor. As soon as fuel started gushing out the fuel bowl I turned the truck off and began the cleanup; it was unbelievable how much fuel pumped out in a matter of a couple seconds!!! I noticed a bunch of the spill was dripping out of the drain in the inspection plate on the bellhousing of the transmission.

Now I'm paranoid I just trashed the clutch by soaking it in diesel. I took the truck for a test drive last night, stopping and starting on some steep hills, and I didn't notice any problems, but I also don't have my 6,500 pound trailer hooked up to it yet.

As soon as I got back, I peered inside the drain hole has best I could and it looked like the pressure plate was totally dry. I'm hoping that means diesel didn't get all over the clutch lining, but I have no real way to tell.

What do you guys think? Did I luck out and not soak the lining or should I pull the inspection plate off and take a better look? I certainly don't want to get stranded on this trip 1,000+ miles from home, yet I leave next Tuesday and have very little time to swap the clutch if necessary.

Thanks for any input!

 

I don't know but the inspection plates easy to remove, and if I was going 1000+miles from home I'd be checking anything that was on my mind to check.

 

I think you're good, but checking it certainly won't hurt anything.

 

I doubt you got any on the clutch. Any leak in the valley runs down behind the flywheel. If you are still worried you could clean the clutch with brake-kleen spray, most come with a straw to get it into tight places. Just have someone depress the clutch to open a space between the flywheel & pressure plate...crank the engine over...repeat

 

You're fine. If you did contaminate the friction material you would have noticed chatter and grabbing driving unloaded.

Happy camping.

 

Thanks for the input everyone. It's good to hear I probably didn't do any damage, but I think I'll pull the inspection plate off tonight and get a better look so I don't worry about it the whole time.

I avoided taking the inspection plate off last night because it was already late and the shop that replaced the clutch last time RTV'd it to the transmission for some odd reason and I didn't want to deal with scraping off that mess after mopping up all that diesel. Mopping up that spill hurt even worse since I just filled up at $4.09/gallon earlier that day! Oh well...

 

If you were not driving it, you probably fine.

I know when I had the cover on mine, the oil coming down behind would fly up and land on top of the clutch.
But I was driving too. I've left the cover off since. No more problems.

I duno if it will effect the organic clutches much from Valair.
If your concerned about it, call Dan or Gary and ask.

I think its more Dependant on the clutch material with getting fuel on it.

 

I soaked my clutch with fuel. Slipped like a son of a gun over 2,000 rpm's for a few days until it burnt off. I did spray some simple green and run the garden hose in the valley for about 5 minutes to help clear the smell.

After 3 or 4 days the slipping stopped but I must have worn a rough spot on the disc because the truck would shudder every time I tried to take off from a stop. Had to pretend I was a teenager learning to drive a stick and slip the clutch a bunch when taking off. That lasted 2 days then was back to normal after I wore the rough spot smooth. It's been fine ever since.