Clutch won't disengage

[Eacook1]

Yesterday out of the blue my clutch wouldn't disengage. I couldn't get it to go in gear when the engine was running. If I started it in gear with the pedal to the floor then the truck would creep forward. I did a bunch of reading here and Yotatech I bled the system and that didn't make any difference. I checked the pedal bracket assembly which apparently can fail and that is fine. I checked the free play and pedal height and what not per the FSM and it all checked good. There is plenty of fluid. The slave cylinder is working as I can watch it move in and out as my wife presses the clutch. I pretty much gave up for now. When I went to back it out of the garage it suddenly was fine! It was back to normal as if nothing was every wrong?

I am at a loss.

Car details are 93 runner with 194000 miles. I just bought this a month or so ago and I have no idea if the clutch has ever been replaced or any maintenance details for that matter.

Any ideas as to what to look at next?

 

[Bad_Vision]

i would start by putting an NEW master and slave cylinder in it
if you don't build pressure you cant disengage, its recommended to replace both master and slave together or they will fight with pressure differences do to new and old seals.
RockAuto Auto Parts you can get the exedy master and slave for 35$ + shipping and that's name brand stuff, cheaper is available if your on a budget

 

[Eacook1]

Bad vision that was what I figured would be my next step but it seems that if one or both of those failed they wouldn't suddenly work again right? Also I do remember now that the PO said he had just replaced the slave cylinder.

 

[Bad_Vision]

if he just did the slave it would have new seals and didnt do the master the new slave would have blown out the seals in the master.
its a simple o ring plunger set up and it has 3 o rings on it, if one failed then it could build pressure like a hit or miss.
i would start with doing both new so that eliminates the those a failing items. then your only left with pressure plate and fork.
i dont think it could be the pressure plate because that wouldn't fail closed it would fail open if the tension springs broke. and the fork would have to take a huge hit on a rock or log before that would cause issue+ it would not work at all if ether the fork or plate was the issue.

 

[Bad_Vision]

if he just did the slave it would have new seals and didnt do the master the new slave would have blown out the seals in the master.
its a simple o ring plunger set up and it has 3 o rings on it, if one failed then it could build pressure like a hit or miss.
i would start with doing both new so that eliminates the those a failing items. then your only left with pressure plate and fork.
i dont think it could be the pressure plate because that wouldn't fail closed it would fail open if the tension springs broke. and the fork would have to take a huge hit on a rock or log before that would cause issue+ it would not work at all if ether the fork or plate was the issue.

 

[CAN-03runner]

Yesterday out of the blue my clutch wouldn't disengage. I couldn't get it to go in gear when the engine was running. If I started it in gear with the pedal to the floor then the truck would creep forward. I did a bunch of reading here and Yotatech I bled the system and that didn't make any difference. I checked the pedal bracket assembly which apparently can fail and that is fine. I checked the free play and pedal height and what not per the FSM and it all checked good. There is plenty of fluid. The slave cylinder is working as I can watch it move in and out as my wife presses the clutch. I pretty much gave up for now. When I went to back it out of the garage it suddenly was fine! It was back to normal as if nothing was every wrong?

I am at a loss.

Car details are 93 runner with 194000 miles. I just bought this a month or so ago and I have no idea if the clutch has ever been replaced or any maintenance details for that matter.

Any ideas as to what to look at next?

Is it still working? I had a similar problem, and I had to pump the pedal 50 times if it wasn't 100 times before bleeding started to do something. The shifting difference was then night and day, so I had problems even before it failed.

At some point in the bleeding process it ended up working fine and I could drive and shift then failed again. Have you noticed any fluid spilled anywhere or traces of fluid in the engine bay body?

After tracing the tubing that leaves the clutch master cylinder, it snakes down under the brake master cylinder and is held against the body with a clip. It was moist there, and it leaked through a tiny hole. The clip was keeping it together.

I have now cut off a portion of the tubing, and inserted new tubing 3/16, with compression fittings. Not the right way to do it, but compression fittings will do until I can do it right and replace it all. At least now I can move it around the garage and driveway if I need to.

 

[Eacook1]

Is it still working? I had a similar problem, and I had to pump the pedal 50 times if it wasn't 100 times before bleeding started to do something. The shifting difference was then night and day, so I had problems even before it failed.

At some point in the bleeding process it ended up working fine and I could drive and shift then failed again. Have you noticed any fluid spilled anywhere or traces of fluid in the engine bay body?

After tracing the tubing that leaves the clutch master cylinder, it snakes down under the brake master cylinder and is held against the body with a clip. It was moist there, and it leaked through a tiny hole. The clip was keeping it together.

I have now cut off a portion of the tubing, and inserted new tubing 3/16, with compression fittings. Not the right way to do it, but compression fittings will do until I can do it right and replace it all. At least now I can move it around the garage and driveway if I need to.

It was still working last night. I didn't drive it to work today. I will drive I this afternoon and also trace the line to make sure there's no leaks. Weird that it fixed itself. I didn't even pump the pedal at all and it just suddenly worked.

 

[CAN-03runner]

Well that is my experience, just giving you ideas. If it isn't that, at least the good thing is that the release cylinder is on the outside and not burried inside the transmission or something like that.

 

[Eacook1]

I finally had time to install master and slave cylinders. Clutch still won't dis-engage. Well at least that's ruled out. I will start going down the list as per the FSM.

 

[Eacook1]

I ended up taking it to a my friends shop. He said it's time for a new clutch. I guess nearly 200k on a clutch is a pretty good run.

 

[Bad_Vision]

good thing you already replaced the hydraulics so thats done!

 

[Eacook1]

Clutch is done. In the friction plate there are 3 springs. The pcs that hold the springs in place had broken on two of the springs. So the prices were bouncing around in there and that's why the problem was intermittent. So I got a new clutch and my AC fixed for $640 bucks. Not bad huh?

 

[awbartley]

Glad to read this, I have the same issues. I know I need a clutch kit. Also I can hear noise when I press the clutch...Its time, it has 293k on it. I am going to do all hydros. and clutch kit at once, then timing set.