I bought my 94 f350 idi (232k miles) a couple months ago, and last week i started having issues with my clutch not disengaging all the way (having to start truck in gear, grinding when shifting).

i thought my slave cylinder was going going out, but when i took it in the shop, they said that the clutch was so worn down that the slave didnt have enough travel to pull the clutch off the flywheel.

turns out thats it has the ORIGINAL clutch in it. my mechanic said 100k to 150k was normal.

is 800 a bad price for new clutch kit, installed?

 

depends on what type of clutch, oe or what? seems high to me but i do all my own work.

 

I have to wonder if your problem is actually a cracked fire wall.

Have someone push in the clutch pedal while you watch the clutch master cylinder.

If it moves much at all, your problem is the firewall, not the clutch.

My original clutch lasted just shy of 300K miles.
And the clutch was still fine, the throw out bearing had no bearings at all left in it.

So while I was changing the throw out bearing, I replaced the clutch.

 

the firewall has no play in it, i checked for it, then, the shop checked again while they were diagnosing the problem.

I belive that the problem may have made to show its ugly face sooner then it should have because of the last time I was pulling a buddy out of the ditch, i was runing the old girl harder then i should have.

now, i have heard that there is a reinforcment plate for the firewall, where would i be able to get this and how much is it?? (as a preventive measure)

 

Dave, when the bearing was going bad, what did it sound like?

My clutch "rattles" when resting, but if i put my foot on the pedal with a little pressure (not really depressing the clutch) the rattle goes away.

Is this something i need to stop ignoring?

 

just to let you know, that 800 will quickly get to 1500. if you have the factory clutch still, then you have the factory dual mass flywheel (dmf) and those tend to go bad, springs wear and break. the single mass flywheel (smf) will run you about 1500 complete installed.

 

Was chatting with an experienced diesel mechanic, has been working on these and PSD engines for years (and drives one himself), and he said if you're in there for the clutch anyway, it is WAAAY worth it to do put in the flywheel conversion kit.

so, just his 2 cents, but a trusted source (at least to me).

 

If your hydraulics are OK it will pull the pressure plate back the same distance as always. How worn out the clutch disc is would have no effect on engagement. Is it possible the disc is so bad it is fusing to the flywheel? To me it sounds like a hydraulic problem of some sort. Or some other linkage problem.

 

we'll have to see what the mechanic says about the flywheel and the hydradics...

mine should be dual mass, shouldnt it? (94 idi non turbo)

either way what needs done will get done, no if ands or buts about it

 

on a side, almost unrelated note, whats the tallest tires i can run in the back with stock wheels w/o spacers?

Ive tried searching, but im no good at picking the right phrases to write, and then the searches turn up jumbled and almost unrelated

 

When the throw out bearing started to go bad, I would hear a squeel when I had the clutch depressed.

I think I made it two days from the time the squeel started till it locked up.

There are several things that can cause the clutch to not release, none of them are a worn clutch plate.
A worn clutch will start slipping, at first in higher gears.
As it gets worse, the slipping gets easier in high gears and also shows up in lower gears and reverse.

I would look at the under dash linkages for any play in them.
Worn bushings in the linkage can reduce the clutch travel considerably.

Also inspect the clutch pedal brackets for cracks, I have read about more than one of the 87 and newer brackets cracking.

While down there, how much does your pedal move before you start to feel resistance from the pressure plate springs?
More than 1/2" and you have probably found your problem, you just have to track down why you have so much free travel.
A good place to look for the free travel is the pin in the clutch arm where the clutch master cylinder piston rod attaches.
Ford used a nylon bushing between the steel pin and the aluminum push rod.
When the bushing wears out, the rod eye and pin start wearing against each other and in no time both are a mess with way to much play.

The firewall cracking was more common on the 86 and older trucks, Ford did have two different repair plates to cure the problem.
They are probably obsolete by now.

Your clutch master cylinder may also be going bad, fluid leaks past the seals inside the master cylinder, so you have no obvious fluid leaks.

When a slave cylinder goes, you will have a fluid leak where the piston rod comes out of the slave cylinder.

I would also inspect the throw out bearing arm and pivot ball.

When a clutch slips, I look at the clutch plate and pressure plate.
When it will not release, I look at linkages.

 

yes, dual mass.... stock rim, i wouldnt run wider then a 11.50 tire. think 32" is the largest standard tire. metric, you can go 285/75r16 and thats 33x11.40x16

 

Ok, I got off of the phone with the mechanic earlier....bad(altho kindof expected) news about the flywheel.

He said that when they pulled the clutch out, the flywheel was in BAD shape...

we are doing the single mass conversion, and now, were looking at about $1200

 

Why would you replace a DMF with a SMF?

 

You can put in the SMF conversion for less than just the cost of the DMFis the main reason. I have done this conversion on 5 trucks with no ill effects.