I was driving in the snow following my friend in his yota. There was about 2" of ice on the road and i slid into the ditch in my '91 explorer sport. I got out to lock the hubs and was confident i would back out easily. When i got back in i put it into reverse and let the clutch out. I was amazed that the explorer didn't move an inch. My friend motioned to me that the wheels weren't spinning. And then the smell hit me!! I burned the hell out of my parking brake, but i din't seem to do much damage to anything else. If anyone has suggestions on anything else I might have torn up and should be checked please let me know. I'm sure tacking out in reverse with the parking brake on in 4WL isn't good!

the other day i drove my explorer for about 2-3 miles with the parking brake on before i noticed the smell at a red light next to myhouse .... when i got home and got out of the truck i realized that i did. They were hot as hell ... i could feel the heat coming from them if i put my hand near the tire.

Well, if the X didn't move at all that's not the e-brake that you burned...
That smell was your clutch !

Originally posted by dbarale
Well, if the X didn't move at all that's not the e-brake that you burned...
That smell was your clutch ! Yeah, that was your clutch. Just hope you didn't smoke it so bad that it's ruined. Pay attention when going up hills and stuff for the next couple days. If you notice your RPM's increase, but MPH doesn't, then the clutch is toast.

I did that a year ago in my mom's Aerostar, thought it was stuck on ice and a big pile of snow/ice. I even called a friend of mine to pull me out with the ol' F-250 Turbodiesel. It pulled it out without slipping a wheel. Then I realized I left the e-brake on and I felt beyond dumb.

I was told that a good way to see if your clutch needs replaced is to put it in 5th gear and hold the brake and feather the gas to 1000-1200rpm then let out on the clutch slowly, if it stall's it should be good for a few more K-miles probably just adjust it, if it stays running your clutch is fried, you could adjust it but it wouldn't last to long...

the way ive heard to test out a clutch is to put the parking brake on then put it into 1st then let out the clutch. if the engine dies right away you know its ok if it runs you prolly need to replace it. Or if your like my friend drive it till your going up a hill but begin to roll backwards because the clutch is gone. And if you do need a new clutch i recommend doing it yourself. just get a few friends, a haynes manual and some half decent tools and it can be done easily.