*&#^ CLUTCH!!!

[RangerX]

it's just the 3 hex screws for my transmission, others i think it's 4. i accidentally dropped one in, but i don't think that could be the problem, i'll try to drain the tranny fluid and get that sucker out!

I'm no tranny genius, but dropping a bolt down into the tranny seems like a problem to me! You don't think that could be jamming it in gear?

 

[hatched91]

no because it was doing it before i dropped the bolt. it is a small one too, not a big one. about 3/8" long and very small in diameter. i really doubt it's causing any of my current problems, just thought i'd let everyone know so they know my exact situation to better understand my problem.

 

[410Fortune]

I doubt that little screw made it down to the pan, yet. Even if it does I doubt it will make it to the drain hole.
Ouch.
It will likely get mashed up in there.

Can you turn the motor over, with a socket on the crankshaft pulley?
I am assuming the battery is dosconnected, the key is not in the truck, etc.

 

[hatched91]

no no, i disconnected the drive shaft and started it, that's what i mean i can't get it into neutral. i tried starting it to see if that would help. i think i just need to get the clutch bled, then connect the driveshaft and see what happens when i let off of the clutch. maybe moving it a little foward or backwards will knock things into place.

 

[410Fortune]

It sounds as if the trans was not stabbed properly, the clutch is binding up against the the flywheel / input shaft to trans is ****-eyed


Is there any way you can look under another Ford to open the instpection panel and see how things should look?

 

[hatched91]

i really dont think anything is binding, the trans stabbed smoothly and well this time i put it in. my friend that is a mechanic said he just did a clutch on a mazda pickup and he said he's never going to do it again because it's such a huge PITA. he printed me up the exact procedure. summed up it goes like this:
1)open check valve on the plastic rubber hose, depress clutch pedal, close valve, repeat.
2) connect line into slave cylinder, remove cap and maintain fluid.
3)open bleeder valve and let fluid run out until there is a solid stream.
4)close valve, depress clutch pedal 5-10 times, wait 1-3min, repeat 3 times. 5) open bleeder valve, depress pedal, close bleeder valve.

Now when i tried this, i got to step 3 and all it was doing was dripping about 2 drops per second. i eventually got tired of watching it after about an hour and closed the valve and proceeded onto step 5. when the clutch pedal was pushed out there was a solid stream that came out. i think the new master cylinder is just a faulty one. i'm going to take it back tomorrow and retry the process. if the line is disconnected from the slave cylinder, shouldn't the clutch pedal have resistance because it's trying to push fluid that has no where to go?

 

[justsomeguy]

Are the two plastic bushing halfs there? There should be one on top and bottom of the ball for the shifter. I lost mine twice over the years they just melt away. It was not till I put the two new bushing halfs in did the shifter play really go away. It should be a very tight pattern. Also look at the two steel pins that come in from the sides in to the shifter ball they should be round not worn done flat. As you look into the top of the trans you will see three plates with notches they should all be together forming a square. Each plate is actually the shift fork for two gears. If they form a square and the trans is still stuck in gear you have an internal issue. And find that missing screw it'l ruin a lot of work and money if it goes thru gear mesh. You can get most of the stuff from a dealer pretty cheap I think I paid 15$ for the pins and plastic bushings last summer.

A thought and a far stretch is maybe you pilot bearing or input shaft are hanging up? If the trans turned over fine before you put them in the it MUST be something common to the two trans. I had a pilot bearing fail and it tore up the input shaft I had to replace the shaft to get it my clutch to disengage after I changed the clutch.

As for the bleeding of the clutch...I question my manhood and felt like an idiot when telling my friends I could not for the life of me get my new master cylinder and slave cylinder to bleed out. I tried everything I could think of pressure bleed, vacuum bleed, gravity, small short strokes but nothing worked. Untill I took the master cylinder loose and turned it upside down so the resivior hose is above the pressure hose. and twisted my arm and put my finger in the push rod hole and kept actuating the piston with my finger. It was difficult to stand and twist my arm backwards and do it, but the bubbles started coming up to the resivoir and I started getting pedal. sounds stupid but if you are half a frustrated as I was you'll try any thing to get it to work. sorry for the poor english I am a mechanic not a teacher. Good luck in 185,000 miles I had to replace 3 clutches and slave cylinders, 1 master cylinder, rebuild the trans, and replace those bushings 1 time so I uderstand your frustrations.

 

[hatched91]

thanks a lot for the info. i have had a lot of trouble with my trans. the bushings are both there and look fine. the two pins also look fine. i am completely stumpted here. i took the shifter out of the tranny at the junkyard, brought it home, put it in and the trans in smoothly, no problems. i really don't get how it's not shifting or going into neutral. i'm about ready to pull my hair out over this issue! my daily driver has been down for almost two weeks now and i've been having to drive my moms camry . i'll pretty much do anything to get this thing working. i'll go buy a magnet and stick it down in the trans to try to get the screw out. isnt there some inspection plate that i can take off to try and see the screw? when it dropped in, it fell right on top and i could see it, tried to get it out with some tweezers and it fell towards the tail of the transmission and out of sight. i think i might still be able to get to it with a magnet. i don't get it, something just isn't adding up here. if i just took out the trans at the junkyard, put it in my truck w/o dropping it, or shoving it in or mistreating it, nothing should've moved or been messed up. but for some reason the shifter seems to go in the middle and to the right and maybe into 5th gear. it doesn't want to go left or more than half way into any other gear. i really doubt it's internally messed up, just doesn't seem possible. any more advice? just for reference it would be more efficient for me to go pay $100 for another transmission than try to rebuild this one. but this would be the 3rd tranny i will have put in and i really don't want to do that!

 

[rallywagon87]

i think i may know the problem... only because i battled the same thing or atleast what sounds to be the same thing about 6 hours ago... i think your shifter isnt in correctly... if you removed it at any point this is probably the problem...

when you put the shifter in the joint through the top (3 torques screws) theres a notch in the center when you look down in that hole, it stays there.. theres one on the passenger side that clicks back as soon as you pull that shifter out, use a flat head to make it line up with the center one. also on the left side there is a spring "hook" or "arm" it swings forward when the shifter is removed. after the peice on the right side has lined up swing the "arm" back with a flat head screwdriver and slide the shifter into place while holding the arm back. after you get the shifter in the guides you can slide the flat head out and place the shifter all the way down.

on mine... it would start with the clutch in and die as soon as i let the clutch out no matter what... this solved my problem, hope it helps you


rallywagon87

 

[hatched91]

oh also, can you explain the upside down master clyinder thing again? the way my master cylinder is, you detach the pushrod from the pedal and the whole unit comes out. i don't think i am supposed to take it apart. but i can still take out the mc and flip it upside down and activate the piston. also i want it still connected to the hose from the mc to the slave cylinder, right? what about bench bleeding it?

 

[hatched91]

rallywagon, i'm going out into my garage right now to try to see if i can get this trans aligned.

 

[hatched91]

NO WAY i do not believe it! it worked!!! it goes into all gears now! your method worked great, took me about 5min! now only two problems left, the screw in the tranny and bleeding the clutch! i had a feeling that something was just misaligned, but since i don't know anything about transmissions i was left in the dark!

 

[rallywagon87]

awesome... those one man clutch bleeder kits that have the sack or the magnetice cup work well. i used those on many slave cylinders from fords to toyotas and mazdas and rarely have someone to help..


good luck

rallywagon

 

[hatched91]

yeah i really do think the only way to get the screw out is by a magnet, or tear the tranny apart. i can't get it to engauge in reverse. i guess the front end of the shaft needs to be moved.

 

[410Fortune]

Excellent progress finally!

great advice fella's

 

[hatched91]

yes, finally some progress. i went and got a replacement master cylinder, i'm going to bench bleed it then i'm going to put it in and see what i can do to try to get some pressure.

 

[hatched91]

okay, finally i've got pressure and i can see the throw-out bearing move. when i started it and tried to put it into gear it wouldn't go so i guess i don't have it bled enough. i've got a steady stream, i guess it's just a matter of going until you've finally got it all out! how far should the throw-out bearing move? when i'm watching it, it's going about a 1/2" or so. the clutch pedal has a good amount of pressure about half way down. i guess it's just back to stepping on the clutch pedal and letting that valve open!

 

[rallywagon87]

will it go into gear with the vehicle not running? all of them including reverse?

rallywagon

 

[410Fortune]

Yes keep bleeding!
Now you know why they say this system is such a PITA.
You need to get ALL the air out and have a full pedal, these clutches need to open fully for the 5 speed to have a smooth N-1 and 1-2 shift

 

[hatched91]

OMG i'm going to burn my explorer! okay so pressure was building up, then suddenly, no pressure!