Hey guys I have a 96 F150 4.9 6 cyl. The problem I'm having is where the pushed for the master cylinder connects to the clutch pedal there is a plastic bushing that goes thru the eye of the pushrod and snaps onto a little stud that connected to the pedal itself. The original bushing wore out so I replaced it. It lasted about a week until last night. Again I replaced the bushing. But with this bushing about every 3 or 4 pushes of the clutch pedal the pushrod pops off. Any ideas on what's causing this to happen or how to fix it? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks and have a blessed day.

 

if you reach up there and feel the back side of that little round ball that the bushing snaps onto, you will likely find that it is badly worn, because of metal-to-metal contact. it's a pretty common occurrence with these old trucks.

 

^^^ +1; the eyelet on the pushrod might also be worn ("egged" out or ovalized). Either/both can happen if the truck has been used much with the original craptastic plastic bushing worn through and there's been metal-on-metal contact.

Two fix options:
- "Faincy" fix: Heim joint - requires cutting the eyelet end off of the pushrod. Dude on eBay sells a "complete kit", but the component parts can be had for a lot less at your friendly neighborhood hardware store
- "Cheap/easy" fix: brass bushing - buy a piece of 1/2"OD x 7/16"ID brass tubing, cut off a piece just big enough to slip into the eyelet, and a 7/16" drill stop collar. Assemble the pedal arm stub into the pushrod with the fabbed bushing, then put the stop collar on the end of the stub that sticks through, and tighten the set screw. That keeps the stub from slipping out. Brass bushing might wear over time, but since the tubing you bought is probably 20x what you need, just cut off another piece and re-assemble.

Note - option 2 really only works if the eyelet of the pushrod is not egged out. If it is, your only options are a new pushrod, or the heim joint fix.

 

Ok I figured out that the clutch pedal lever needs to be changed. I watched a couple YouTube videos and the job looks simple. I took the nut off that holds it in place. But the clutch lever won't come off no matter what I do. Any suggestions to fix this?

 

^^^ TWO big screwdrivers or pry bars. Put the nut back on, but very loose. Then start prying behind the lever with one screwdriver / pry bar, then keep that one in place and pry with a second one opposite the first one. Keep alternating prying the two. This is where the nut comes in. When it finally comes loose, you don't want it flying off abruptly. The nut will allow it to come loose from the splines, but without it flying off. Then remove the nut and slide off the arm.

So the pin/stub on that lever is worn? IIRC, the eBay Heim joint kit includes a pin or bolt that replaces that stub.