Clutch problem and war of the shops
 

Hi guys, it's been a while as I've been busy with work and the truck had been running smoothly. A while back I finally decided to get my chronic oil leak fixed and had the valve cover gaskets done (been too busy to do it myself). Leak was still there. Later I had the rear main seal done. Since my synchros were pretty worn, I decided to put a rebuilt transmission in from Marlin Crawler while the transmission was being dropped, for a minimal extra labor cost.

Rear main seal didn't fix the leak, but the truck shifted great. They put in the rebuilt transmission and a new clutch kit, plus resurfaced the flywheel. Oil still leaking. Fast forward about a month and a half and I notice my heat's not working, engine temp skyrocketing. Pulled over and steam pouring out. Had it towed to the nearest shop, which has done good work for me before but didn't do the transmission, and the shop said the water pump failed and then the head gasket blew.

OK, this is an old engine, I replaced the rod bearings last year, the labor for a swap is less than a head gasket job, so I had a rebuilt engine with a great warranty put in. When I picked it up, though, I had trouble shifting in and out of gear from a stop. When rolling, no problem.

I took it back to the shop. They said it was the slave cylinder. OK, my clutch fluid is pretty dark, I buy it, they replace that. Doesn't fix it. Replaced a hydraulic line with a hole in it from rubbing against another part. Doesn't fix it.

Now they're telling me they're stumped and called a friend at the local Toyota dealership, who told them if the flywheel was resurfaced and the clutch isn't disengaging the flywheel should have been shimmed when it was resurfaced. Original transmission shop says it wasn't shimmed because it is stepped, and only if a whole lot of material is removed is a shim necessary, which wasn't the case. I buy this because the thing shifted fine after the transmission and clutch job.

Bottom line I've got the engine swap shop telling me they need to drop the transmission, which is beaucoup more $$$, and I think it's their fault from screwing something up with the engine swap.

I'm a really busy guy with two jobs and I just want my truck back and working, I don't have time to dig into this stuff in my garage. Other than getting into a pissing contest with the engine swap (second) shop, any pointers or suggestions on the situation?

Thanks!

according to what you are telling us ....

yes , I think it is there fault as well !! .. I think they have contaminated the clutch disc , or maybe even in re installed it incorrectly .
there is NO shim on a MTM .. they are feeding you garbage !


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Yeah the manager at the shop will be in in an hour, in the meantime I'm trying to think about how I want to handle this. We'll see what he says this morning, but I'm tempted to say "fix it or I'll have someone else do it and send you a bill."

What has me stumped is that it shifts fine while rolling but not at a stop.

that seems reasonable. but you will get further with the shop by being nice, and not threatening.

perhaps there is an issue with the pilot bearing?
I believe those mount in the crank, and not the flywheel like some engines. so when they swapped motors, they would have had to install a new pilot bearing. maybe it got put in wrong, or was somehow damaged.

something is causing the input shaft to continue spinning, that's why it wont shift while stopped. I have seen the pilot bearing cause this issue.


stopped and in gear, how far up does the pedal go before it starts to move?

Being nice with this shop got me a month-long wait for a motor swap that they said would take a week. I'm really regretting bringing it there at all. Now they're backing down about the flywheel shim after talking with a Toyota pro and trying to blame the transmission gear oil. I think they're lost. I'm going to pick it up as soon as I can and do some of my own testing so I'm not without my work truck another month. Thanks for the pointer on the pilot bearing.

I'll have to check about the pedal when I get it back.

I read up more on the pilot bearing. That sounds exactly like the problem. Maybe I'll ask them to drop the transmission and check with me there, see what the problem is, I'll pay if it's not their fault, but if it is I'll want them to cover it.