I'm impressed Toyota had the foresight to disengage cruise when clutch is down.
It's interesting that there is a switch at the bottom of the clutch pedal travel, and another switch at the top. The bottom, I think, is for starting, and the top is for cruise control.
I haven't had a problem with the clutch since I greased it.
If you have the same problem that almost everyone else has, the grease can't do anything but mask the problem for a while longer.
Your P bushing is most likely missing, which means you have metal on metal, which is what caused the internal cabin squeak most likely. Putting grease on that contact doesn't stop the spring from destroying the clutch pedal metal tab.
It's easy enough to tell if you snap a photo using your cellphone camera (it's too tight to get your head up in there) or if you use a mirror.
Inexorably, the spring is rubbing against the metal of the clutch pedal, which ruins both. So you have to then replace the $100 clutch pedal and the $15 spring eventually.
Here's a picture from last week of what the metal-to-pedal looked like when I finally figured out where I needed to look.
All the grease in the world isn't going to change the fact that, without the P bushing, eventually, the angles will change (ever so slightly every day), until the spring will kink, and bust one of the two Q bushings, and at that point, your pedal will stick due to the increase in friction.
If you replace the P bushing once every year or two, this doesn't happen.
If you replace the torsion spring with a linear spring, this doesn't happen.
But if all you do is grease it, it will happen (there's nothing to stop it from happening).
Here's a picture, many years after the P bushing failed, where the Q bushing finally failed:
My 4runner has 178K miles. Changed the clutch, pressure plate, master and slave out in '12 at about 145K miles so that may be contributing to the pedal returning smoothly. It still does make a squeaking noise but I don't have to do anything to make it return all the way.
The problem with the squeak is that eventually it will cost you a new pedal, which is the most expensive part.
If you're going to stay stock, then you have to check the P bushing once a year. The check is simple, if a bit uncomfortable.
1. Pull back the driver's seat and lay the back down & raise the steering wheel to give you as much room as possible (it's never enough).
2. Lie upside down with your head looking up and snap a photo of the center of the spring where it touches the pedal. You may have to snap about 20 photos before you get up and over the bracket enough to see what the spring contact with the metal pedal tab looks like.
I'll bet yours looks like everyone elses, which means you now have to buy a new pedal. If you're lucky, your P bushing is still there; but I'll bet you're not that lucky.
Notice in the photo above, the lack of a P bushing cost the owner the price of a new pedal, and the lack of the Q bushing cost him an additional amount to replace the bracket assembly.
The moral of the story is this:
a. Everyone should realize their P bushing is likely toast.
b. The squeak is the first sign, but if you don't replace the P bushing at the first sign of the squeak then it is too late.
c. If you try to replace the bushing using the OLD worn pedal, it will break in a day or two (almost always, as noted in the retrofit photos below).
You can also adjust the play by removing the lock nut and turning the rod. You want the slightest amount of play left in the pedal so that it's not engaged but not enough that it flops around.
Thank you for that suggestion. When I was testing it, it seemed to engage very high up, almost 3/4 of the way up in the travel. It's not my 4Runner; I'm helping out a non-technical family member who owns it.
The clutch was replaced probably 50,000 or more miles ago, so, it's certainly worn but still engaging (it's not slipping).
Where in the pedal cycle should the clutch engage?
