Clutch/ tranny problem

[mudflies]

Hi. I have a 97 4.0 4x4 5 speed. 370,000 km. I have a shifting problem and I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction. From neutral when I try to go into first or reverse it is very hard to get it into gear. After first its hard to go into second and so on. It feels like the clutch isn't disengaging completely. Once I'm rolling, I can make it shift if I give it a shot of throttle. This problem started off as just a little clunk into first or reverse but has now worsened to include allgears. My friend had a look underneath while I pumped the clutch and he says he can see the slave cylinder moving back and forth about 3/4 of an inch. There is no fluid loss from the reservoir and no leaks. When engaged my clutch is good. Like burn rubber good with no slippage. If anyone has any suggestions I would really appreciate hearing them.I would prefer to not pull the tranny if I can avoid it, but I will if I have to. This is my daily driver so I don't want to have alot of downtime and would prefer to not take it to a shop... Again any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Earl43P]

Your symptoms point to a clutch slave/master problem.

Since you don't wish to pull the transmission, replace the Master and see how that does.

Try depressing the clutch fully (engine off) and slipping your foot off the pedal, letting the pedal pop back up on its own. Do that several times, then start it up and see if it helped the problem. If it does, that confirms it is a slave or master problem.

To get by, simply shut off the engine when you stop. Put it in 1st and then restart it.

 

[mudflies]

Thank you for the reply earl. I will try that this aft

 

[BlackBII]

Have you tried bleeding the clutch yet?

 

[bigtruck94]

Had that problem too. Try bleeding the clutch. Have a buddy come over and pump the clutch while you bleed it. I did this many times and only lasted me 2 weeks and kept on doing it until it just quit working. Replaced the slave cylinder and clutch. It was expensive and hard work, but all that work paid off big time! Made life much easier! Not only was it cheaper for me to do it myself, but I actually learned a lot doing this!

 

[mudflies]

I haven't tried bleeding it yet. My logic being that there is no leak and no lost fluid. I will try it though. I have already bought a new slave and have a friend who is going to pull the tranny and replace that and I'm going to replace the whole clutch at the same time. He has access to a shop and lifts and what not so this seems to be the way to go. He's going to charge me 500$ for the re and re Labour. I am going to supply the parts. Seems fair to me... I don't really have the time and he needs the money so... Im curious if there was any visible damage on the clutch when you replaced it?... At any rate I appreciate the quick reply and will update when the job is complete. In the meantime I will be taking wifeys car to work or my vstar if the weather ever gets nice. Have a great day everyone and again thanks for the replys

Stan

 

[bigtruck94]

I haven't tried bleeding it yet. My logic being that there is no leak and no lost fluid. I will try it though. I have already bought a new slave and have a friend who is going to pull the tranny and replace that and I'm going to replace the whole clutch at the same time. He has access to a shop and lifts and what not so this seems to be the way to go. He's going to charge me 500$ for the re and re Labour. I am going to supply the parts. Seems fair to me... I don't really have the time and he needs the money so... Im curious if there was any visible damage on the clutch when you replaced it?... At any rate I appreciate the quick reply and will update when the job is complete. In the meantime I will be taking wifeys car to work or my vstar if the weather ever gets nice. Have a great day everyone and again thanks for the replys

Stan

Only way you could find out is unbolting the tranny and separate it a couple inches and maybe take a peek at it and see if it does need to be replaced. Plus you would have to take the transmission completely off to replace the slave cylinder anyways. I also replaced my flywheel too. If the teeth look chipped or damaged, that would be the time to replace it while you have the tranny dropped. Flywheel costed 60 bucks.

 

[bigtruck94]

Ignore the first sentence, I was having a stupid moment lol. But the way to know the damage on the clutch is seeing if the ridges were worn down all the way down to the plate. That is a sign that it needs to be replaced.