I started my 90' today and when I pushed in the clutch it had pedal at first then
just went limp to the floor but let the 5 speed go in 1st gear but didn't release so
I turned the truck off tried to pump up the pedal after checking fluid in the reservoir
and it was full. It did not pump up so I put the truck in 1st and started it in gear to
see if it would start in gear but the truck just started and then didn't even act like
it was in gear even though I felt it go in gear. It seems like the clutch is disengaged
from the flywheel even though the pedal is released not sure what is going on but it
drove fine last time. Will the hydraulic clutch stick disengaged like this? I figure i
need to flush the old fluid and refill with some new fluid and bleed all the air or
maybe need a slave cylinder? any advice appreciated.
Dave
You may have multiple issues going on.
The sudden pedal to the floor is quite likely a hydraulic failure.
Is the fluid dirty?
If the fluid on any hydrualic system be it brakes or clutch or whatever is dirty
It is either due to metal on metal contact or
Much more likely it has a leak.
If you push on the pedal and fluid leaks out, when the pedal retracts it sucks air in.
And air always comes with water.
And dirt and crud.
All of that becomes an emulsion.
Its kind of like making vinagrette salad dressing with a whisk.
If you let that sit overnight, the air comes out of emulsion and settles in all of the nooks amd hard corners of the system.
So you get a short lived hard pedal untill you pump that salad dressing into an emulsion again.
Contaminated fluid is not as effective as clean fluid.
There is a loss of function and a loss of effeciancy in that system.
The end result of that loss is that every time you push the pedal, the clutch disengages a bit less.
And the longer it takes for the clutch to release, the more likely you are to start slipping the clutch.
And that becomes a feedback loop.
The clutch drag chews and glazes the flywheel which eats the clutch and eventually grinds the clutch up and the pressure plate gets chewed up Etc..
And now the official disclaimer.
I have never owned a manual transmission OBS Chevrolet.
All that followes is pure Ford based specuallation.
A 90s Ford uses an aluminum casting that hangs off of the firewall amd uses a
common rod for the brake pedal and the clutch pedal.
That rod runs through the cheapest crap plastic split bushings you have ever seen.
Wall is about .020 on those.
When the bushings get chewed up that rod runs on the aluminum casting.
And ovals out the holes.
Eventually, you now longer have the pedal throw because the first quarter inch or better is slop in the bracket.
And the more you slam that clutch pedal into the floor, the bigger that hole gets, and the less clutch you have because it isnt releasing it is dragging and glazing the flywheel surface and chewing up the friction on the clutch.
And then one day you push in the clutch when its cold and it sinks to the floor because of salad dressing for hydraulic fluid and no clutch left and a chewed up pivot point on the clutch pedal that makes the pedal hit the floor before it can move the clutch.
Like I said, some of this is Ford nonsense.
I dont know what the Chevy setup is.
But I think its clutch time bud.
And surface the flywheel too.
Keep in mind that getting the air out of any slave cylinder can be a reall ******* to do.
At least it aint a Ford.
