So, I'm just bitchin'.

Yesterday, I took the Eff 2fiddy* to town to pick up a piece of furniture that was too big to fit in the station wagon
(yes. I'm secure enough in my masculinity to drive a station wagon.)

By the time we got to Ballard, the clutch pedal didn't want to come off the floor.
As in, it was sticking pretty badly.
A toe underneath the pedal made for a couple of pretty ugly first gear launches,
and by the time we parked at my friend's place, in first gear, engine off, it rolled back out of the driveway.
As in, the clutch was stuck disengaged...

After a bit of chitchat, a drink, and loading the furniture- maybe 45 minutes-
the first clutch engagement was digital- as in, I let off the pedal, nothing happened,
and then there was a pop, and the engine stalled.
The next try, after a restart, it behaved almost normally for the trip home,
and was starting to get sticky by the time we backed up to the house to unload.

I'm GUESSING that the (why on God's green earth is this POS made out of PLASTIC???)
concentric secondary cylinder's done, and binds when it gets hot.

Does this sound about right?

There are a lot of unrelated things going on, so I'm psychologically prepared
to swap the secondary cylinder (drop the transmission) and since the clutch engages
at about the top of travel anyways, it's about time for a new clutch.

Life with antique transportation,
t

*1993 F250 extended cab long bed 351W with a ZF5 and 3.51 gears on 285-75-16's. Red. Exhaust leak. Sticking brake on the driver's left.

 

I've attempted to repair a clients Ford Ranger clutch hydraulics. Never again. in the two years I tried to keep it on the road, every few months it would not apply the clutch. Several sets of hydraulic components, several bleeds, multiple part suppliers, and nothing worked. I gave him back all of his money and just gave up. The truck was eventually fixed because it was totaled.

I feel your pain and I wish your luck fixing it right the first time.

 

Look closely ab the pedal support and the bushings
They like to wear out
Especially on old ones where the clutch has been hard to push for years and years
Plan on all 4-5pieces of the clutch needing to be replaced
That being the slave, TO bearing, plate, disc and pilot bearing
With a new internal slave cylinder like you have you get a new T/O bearing
Then it's only 4 parts
Best of luck

 

Replaced the clutch master and slave with prefilled units from Luk. Worked great until the trans had to come out to replace the rear main seal (under warranty). Got it back from the shop and it barely works. Hard to get into gear when stopped and shift. Bleeding made it “drivable” but not by much.

 

Thanks all- I am still embracing the concept of changing all the clutch parts.
I know it's the only way.
I just have to give my attitude time to adjust.
Also, I realized, I ought to stick a little camera into the bellhousing
and see what's transpiring in there.
If I can.

Yeah, I had just cleaned and plasti- lubed the pivot into the main cylinder, and shot
a bunch of plastic- safe lube into the pivot tube.
I had really hoped that would improve things a bit.

I probably jinxed myself.

Ok. Off to drown my sorrows, and maybe crawl under the truck and have a nap.

thanks for listening,
t
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