i have a 2000 F-250 ext cab short bed 4x4 with the 7.3L PSD and the ZF-6 manual transmission, with 133,000 miles. i have had a low pedal since i bought the truck a month ago. i changed the slave cylinder and clutch master cylinder as a prebleed unit and the old slave push rod was worn almost through by something in the transmission. Now the clutch wont fully disengage. Did i bend the clutch fork or does this sound more like a pressure plate issue. Previous owner put new clutch in 7500 miles ago. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Is there a lot of free play at the top of the pedal stroke?

 

The free play in the pedal is at most a half inch, the clutch pedal starts moving the clutch master cylinder almost right away.

 

Sounds like a bent fork, then. Tranny has to come out. It's an easy job. I'm getting ready to do mine again for the third time to answer a question in my mind about the pilot bushing.

 

can anyone direct me to step by step directions for pulling my transmission. i don't have the luxury of a hoist to do this, can it be done with the truck on the ground? Any tips would be great I know my way around a shop but i have never pulled a trans.

 

It can be done on the ground, but you will not be able to get the tranny out from under the truck unless you put it up on stands.
That's the method that I use; stands, and utilizing an old transmission jack to handle the weight.
Disconnect both ground cables from the batteries.
Go underneath and disconnect the tranny cooler lines and stick a pan underneath to catch the fluid. Leave that there and go inside the truck.
Inside the truck, lift the shifter boot and disconnect the handle from the selector lever. It will leave behind a stubby little shift lever. I also remove the six allen head bolts and pull that out because it makes removing the tranny a lot easier. Plug that hole with a rag to prevent dirt and other debris from falling in. You're done inside for now.
I'm going to assume you have stock exhaust.
Separate the downpipe at the two bolt flange where it joins the exhaust. It will leave behind the downpipe which will make a handy lever for rocking the engine and realigning the pilot shaft on reinstallation of transmission. If you have a 4" DP I think there is not enough clearance for the bell housing to exit the truck, so I always disconnect my DP. But the first time my tranny was out I had a stock DP and that's the method that I used, DP connected.
Unbolt the drivelines from the flanges.
Unmount the starter.
Unmount the clutch slave cylinder.
Remove the 4x4 lever from underneath by removing the two bolts that hold it down in similar fashion as the gear shift lever.
Remove all but one bolt from the bell housing, leaving the last one with the easiest access to get out. Loosen the last one a tiny bit so you won't be struggling with a stubborn bolt with the tranny jack in the way.
Now take your tranny jack and secure it to the tranny with a rope, shipping strap, chain, whatever to prevent it from slipping off. Supporting the weight of the tranny, now remove the crossmember, the last bolt from the bell housing and that will do it. Out it comes.

 

Yep that's probably a bent fork. I pulled the zf-5 tranny in the 95 dump and did something similar to what dan said.The top two bolts are the worst to get to but can be done. Also the 3 starter bolts are tricky, take your time there. It's a heavy monster, we used two 1" wide light duty straps to secure it to the trans jack, the truck was on the ground and we did have to lift the front end of the truck up about 6" to get it to clear the pinch weld of the body when we removed it from out under the truck.

 

kindof hiackin the thread here, but how much work is involved with takin out hte manual tranny and replacing it with an auto?

 

Brians Truck Shop has a page about that. It's rather involved. Changing steering column, etc.

 

The only thing I would add to the removal procedure that Dan gave you would be to remove the transfercase first don't try and drop them together its to unbalanced and heavy.

 

I guess that one boils down to what you want to deal with, I always leave the Tcase on. One less thing to wrestle.
For those that are curious, that little tranny sitting next to the ZF-6 on the jack is 4 speed out of a VW Dasher.


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The tranny jack I have avalible is much smaller than what you have there.

 

I used a simlar jack to what Kwik has shown, it is a simple 2 or 3 ton jack fitted with an attachment for transmissions. In addition, I had a second jack that I placed under the TC to make sure the tranny was fully supported.

I was able to replace my clutch without "dropping" the tranny, I was able to detach everything and simply roll it backwards to gain access to the clutch.

Also you may want to buy an extra couple plastic clips for the Fork. I broke two of the stupid clips that hold it to the tranny. It is a PITA to have to find a dealer when your in the middle of the job for a $2 part.