EastCoastMojo
EastCoastMojo GRM+ Memberand Mod Squad
1/11/14 6:37 p.m.

So last night while driving my truck to a friends house I was stuck in rush hour traffic in the rain, so I should have expected something would happen.

I was in stop and go traffic, creeping up to a red light when my clutch started feeling a little...odd. Sure enough the light changes, I push the clutch pedal down and shift into 1st, release the pedal but the pedal stays on the floor and the truck died. It's dark, did I mention it's raining, and now everybody behind me is pissed off. So I switch on the hazards and start cussin'. I managed to wedge my foot under the clutch pedal and pry it up off the floor and at this point it feels fine, like nothing is wrong. I manage to start the truck and drove on to my friends, and then home again without issue. Today (also raining, great) I head out to run errands and at first it feels fine, but as the day progressed it began to happen again, and always at inconvenient times like on hills or at lights.

What seems to be happening is I press the pedal down, the clutch disengages normally, but then the longer the pedal is held down the clutch slowly re-engages, to the point where it stalls, even though the pedal is still down. And the pedal stays down and has to be pried up with my foot. At this point the shift lever is stuck in gear as well, and will not come out of gear easily. I did not try to force it out, I have a curse of forcing things so I try to play nice with it. Once I pry the pedal up I can operate it normally and shift normally, until at some point when it gets stuck again, most commonly at stoplights. One small difference is that it now feels as if it is engaging when the pedal is about 1/2" off the floor, when it used to engage much later, when the pedal was mostly released.

Doing some internet research it sounds like the likely culprit is the slave cylinder (also seen this referred to as the release cylinder), or possibly the hydraulic line that goes from the master cylinder to the slave. I have also seen recommendations that if the slave or master needs to be replaced to go ahead and replace them both, as they have the same parts in them, with the same age and number of cycles on them, so if one goes, the other is on it's way out too.

I have checked my fluid level, and it is sitting squarely in between the max and min levels, but I don't know where it was a week ago, could have been right at the max. I have taken quick glances at the area around the clutch master cylinder and inside the cab at the pushrod that goes through the firewall when you depress the pedal and no signs of any wetness at all. Tomorrow I will check the slave cylinder and I expect to find fluid behind the boot where the pushrod engages the transmission. It is dark and still raining, so none of that is happening tonight. Truck has over 263K miles on the drivetrain, engine is newer.

Question: is there anything I have missed or need to also check? Any recommendations from the hive mind? Thank you in advance!

JtspellS
JtspellS Dork
1/11/14 6:48 p.m.

Seems as though you are on it, the fluid level does not necessarly have to be low for a diaphragm to be messed up.

stanger_missle
stanger_missle GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
1/11/14 8:59 p.m.

It is smart to replace the master and slave at the same time because chances are they are both in the same condition. I had an old Supra some years ago that the clutch failed on me on my way to work. The master was leaking down the inside of the firewall. It was so bad that it would leak all of the fluid out in the 2 miles I drove to work. So I replaced it. The next day, I had the same thing happen. The slave was toast as well. When I went to replace it, it came off in two pieces

It sounds like its bleeding off hydraulic pressure when you have the pedal pushed. If it (master or slave) is leaking, it will be obvious but it may be contained in the boot.

You are on the right track

EastCoastMojo
EastCoastMojo GRM+ Memberand Mod Squad
1/12/14 8:58 a.m.

Awesome, thanks for the replies. Good to know I've covered my bases. Off to see what I can find...

crazycanadian
crazycanadian Reader
1/12/14 9:53 a.m.

Its not a slave issue.. Its a master cylinder thats bypassing... Do both at the same time though..

EastCoastMojo
EastCoastMojo GRM+ Memberand Mod Squad
1/12/14 11:35 a.m.

Well, there is definitely wetness around the slave. Went to the parts store and the master and slave together was $62 after tax. If I had only known the other day, I wouldn't have done $200 worth of swearing.

N Sperlo
N Sperlo MegaDork
1/12/14 1:23 p.m.

You're just lucky that wasn't a 92 instead of a 93. You'd be dropping the transmission and doing much more cussing.

EastCoastMojo
EastCoastMojo GRM+ Memberand Mod Squad
1/12/14 1:57 p.m.

Really? I thought they were pretty much the same from 1972 through 1993.

All fixxored now, clutch feels like it did before it started acting up, maybe even a touch better. Thanks for the support guys!

imgon
imgon New Reader
1/12/14 4:06 p.m.

How was the color of the fluid, clear, brown or black? My RX7 was having similar problems and I replaced both Master and slave and all was well for a few weeks and I had problems again. It turns out the rubber hose was deteriorating and clogging up the system. Replace the hose as well and flush the system.

EastCoastMojo
EastCoastMojo GRM+ Memberand Mod Squad
1/12/14 4:53 p.m.

Good point, I was wondering why it was so dark. There were three rubber sections in the line. I may wait until the warmer weather hits to tackle that if it doesn't act up again first. If the job wasn't already done I would definitely have done that at the same time. Thanks for the heads up.

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