Clutch pedal being sucked down to floor >help

[mattleegee]

I bought my t4r last weekend and on my first week anniversary i ran into a problem. :cry2:

Nothing really happened, no loud noises or jumping the 4runner

I came to a light and had the clutch down (disengaged) and when light turned green the pedal stayed on the floor but let me drive in gear, i quickly got my foot under and pulled the pedal up and then shifted into 2nd gear, same issue, it stuck again on the floor. I pulled off to the side of the road and got it to a friends house that lived down the street.

Now i am able to "pump" the pedal >sometimes< without it sticking but then other times if i just put the clutch in 1/4 of the way it will actually pull itself to the floor
It is hard to pull up and "thuds" back into place while pulling up
Not really able to get into gear now either while truck is on, even with pedal to the floor, it does start though, and sometimes lets me in gear but then i cannot get out of gear


I got underneath and checked the slave, no major leaks, it didnt move that much when i had someone move the pedal in and out, master cylinder has a good fluid level, the fluid kinds looks dirty but am unsure

Alot of dead end threads with issues that slightly change, lots have been to bleed the system, lots end up being a spring debate, others dont have any final answers (already PM'ed a few members last night with no luck so far today)

Any help for a new guy?

2000 sr5 5sp, 135k

Previous records indicate clutch was "inspected" at 128k miles

 

[Gerdo]

I'm guessing (educated) that it is the clutch master cylinder.

 

[Jon]

Either the master cylinder is leaking internally or the pedal spring is broken. Can you clarify that it drove with the pedal on the floor, or did you have to pull it back up? If it drove with the pedal down, it's the master cylinder.

 

[mattleegee]

Yeah it let me drive with pedal on floor

Just went to napa and bought
clutch master
clutch slave
brake fluid
drip pan
one man bleed kit
10mm flare wrench
$145 OTD

hopefully this works, sucks because late last night t4r.org went down and was incredibly hard to find help, thank you for the clutch master suggestion, that is what i thought after the reading i put in

will be back in a few hours to see if it worked

 

[Jon]

Good luck bro!

 

[mattleegee]

master clutch cylinder did the trick, we checked out the slave and everything showed it was ok so we started by replacing the master and that did the trick, i was going to bring back the slave but i guess i will throw it in the truck box just to have it on hand

So what most posts dont get is the follow up

Dear reader, if having the problem i described it will most likely be your master cylinder and it isnt that hard to do, have a friend help with bleeding since it saves alot of time
and here is some help with install along with tools needed
4x4Wire - Toyota Hydraulic Clutch Assembly Maintenance

 

[mattleegee]

also would like to mention me and the buddy that helped celebrated and took it up in the trails and shot of a few hundred rounds, nice day trip and excited to own something i can take offroad and DO things!

 

[foo]

the pedal stayed on the floor but let me drive in gear, i quickly got my foot under and pulled the pedal up and then shifted into 2nd gear, same issue, it stuck again on the floor.

Now i am able to "pump" the pedal >sometimes< without it sticking but then other times if i just put the clutch in 1/4 of the way it will actually pull itself to the floor
It is hard to pull up and "thuds" back into place while pulling up
Not really able to get into gear now either while truck is on, even with pedal to the floor, it does start though, and sometimes lets me in gear but then i cannot get out of gear

This is a very interesting thread, because a typical "clutch pedal stuck" style search brings up this thread, but your symptoms are clearly that of a bad cylinder, and not of the more common classic worn QPQ bushings of the clutch pedal return spring.

Alot of dead end threads with issues that slightly change, lots have been to bleed the system, lots end up being a spring debate, others dont have any final answers (already PM'ed a few members last night with no luck so far today)

I feel your pain.

I searched, all last week, for answers to a clutch pedal sticking problem, and I ran into far too many dead ends and too many people just throwing parts at the problem (or worse, people swearing they greased the problem away).

So I'm glad that you not only figured out what the problem was, but that you posted a solution, for guys like me to find, in the future as we search for diagnostic clues about the clutch pedal sticking to the floor.

Either the master cylinder is leaking internally or the pedal spring is broken. Can you clarify that it drove with the pedal on the floor, or did you have to pull it back up? If it drove with the pedal down, it's the master cylinder.

This is wonderful diagnostic information, for those with a stuck clutch pedal.
The springs are always worn in all the pictures I've seen, but I haven't yet seen a picture of a broken clutch-pedal return spring.

If it did break, it would be right in the middle, at the missing P bushing spot:

Just went to napa and bought
clutch master
clutch slave
brake fluid
drip pan
one man bleed kit
10mm flare wrench
$145 OTD

I was heartened to see the flare-nut wrench in your mix of parts, as that's the right tool for bleeding, and is what I used last week also:

master clutch cylinder did the trick
So what most posts dont get is the follow up

Thank you for following up.

What seems to have happened is that the master cylinder must have been leaking internally (perhaps a seal blew, or a very badly scored piston?).

Dear reader, if having the problem i described it will most likely be your master cylinder

Thank you very much for being one of the rare people who write up a summary to close the loop. I'm trying to do the same thing over here on a different reason that the clutch pedal sticks.

In your case, the pedal repeatedly stuck to the floor, while in my case, it would only intermittently stick to the floor. I think these are diagnostic clues that separate the two totally different causes of a similarly sounding problem, which people will benefit from when they search and find this thread.

Thanks!