Clutch sticking to floor

[josiah]

has anybody here had problems with the clutch peddle sticking to the floor?

sometimes it stays pressed down after i take my foot off it and slowly comesback up, other times ive had to reach down and pull it up and once or twice it had to pump it to engage it.

any advice? bleed the slave cylinder maybe?

[Matt0987]

I had an 83 that the slave cylinder went bad. Acted the same way. It is next to the tranny. Driver's side as I recall. It's not a bad fix. Just remember to leave the plastic strap on the new one until you get it installed.

[FordIH6.9]

I agree your slave cylinder is probably bad. The same thing happened to me

[chuckster57]

CDNSARGUY (Pete) has posted about the firewall cracking where the pedal mounts also....Might want to check that too.

[josiah]

Hello, thank you guys for the replies, I actually left my truck at a friends in K.C. And haven’t messed with this problem yet but I’m about to fly there and drive the truck back to Georgia so the time has come to fix it.
I had another question though; since I posted the problem got a little worse. Right before I parked it when I was taking off from a stop it felt as if the cutch disengaged then reengaged and it did this a couple times, does that still sound like the slave?
Thanks a lot, I would much rather replace the slave cylinder at my buddies before the drive then rebuild the clutch on the side of the road between there and Atlanta.

[Joe Mc]

If the clutch works a little when the truck is cold and gets worse as it warms up, have someone push the clutch pedal while you watch the clutch master cylinder. If it moves then you have a cracked firewall, Ford sells a repair kit for about $125.

[josiah]

Ok thanks, ill check that out,
The slipping while accelerating from stop is what was really worrying me. It started with just the clutch sticking down every once in a while. Then it got to be the clutch wasn’t engaging when I pushed it and I would have to pump it to get it in gear and when I would got to stop and press the clutch I would stall because it wouldn’t engage.
It was only a few times in the last couple days before I parked it that it would slip out, almost like what a torque converter on an auto slipping is like.

[Joe Mc]

With what you have just posted I think you have a bad pressure plate in the clutch.

[josiah]

hhmm ok, is there a way to further test that?

i just got to kansas city, where my truck is, and i pulled the lid of the clutch cylinder and its really gunked up. would it be worth changing the clutch cylinder and the slave for only 110 bucks and see if that fixes it?
also would the slave cylinder being bad and me not fixing it have cuased clutch damage?
Thanks abunch

[Joe Mc]

My Ford manual say if the slave rod extends at least 0.53 of an inch (13.5mm) with the clutch pedal fully depressed the the hydraulic system is working correctly.

To test for slippage try starting off from a stop in 3rd or 4th.

The first problems you listed pointed to the hydraulic system, but then you added the clue about slipping when taking off or accelerating, that is a clutch problem. Could be a worn disc, oil contamination, or a bad pressure plate. Because of your problem about the pedal not always coming up off the floor it sounds like a bad pressure plate.
Since you have to disassemble the clutch to find which part failed it is best to just plan on replacing the the disc, pressure-plate, throwout bearing and pilot bearing while you are in there. AutoZone and other part stores rent a free puller for getting the pilot bearing out, be sure to ask for the slide hammer with the puller.
Several companies offer a 12 inch upgrade clutch kit, it is a bolt in replacement for the stock 11 inch clutch. A bigger clutch is like a longer wrench, it handles the torque better.

Brief clutch class(skip if not interested): With the clutch fully engaged the pressure plate holds the clutch disc tightly locked to the flywheel causing the engine and transmission input shaft to turn together. Pushing in of the clutch pedal moves the throwout bearing against a mechanism that retracts the spring pressure from the pressure-plate releasing the clutch disc and allowing the engine and transmission input shaft to turn independently.
While there is a spring under the dash pulling on the clutch pedal, the power for lifting the pedal for the first half of it's trip comes from the releasing of the springs on the pressure plate. The spring under the dash is there to disengage the throwout bearing from the pressure plate.

[josiah]

thats great man, thanks so much.

ive always done my own wrenching but was a little intimidated by doing the clutch just because ive never done one before. your post makes me feel better. keep in mind im doing this in my friends front yard, as soon as this melted snow clears out, yup its going to be fun.

oh ya, can i get the adapter for the 12 inch clutch at autozone? also that wont mess with my housing or anything will it?

Here is an intresting up date...

i went out to start the truck up, pressed clutch in and crancked and the truck lunged forword (the clutch didnt engage). take my foot off and the pedals stuck to the floor. uselly when it does this i can pull it up and pump it a couple times and it is fine. this time i pull it up, press it down and let my foot off and the pedel will come up a few inches then slowly suck back down to the floor. this is after i took the lid off the clutch master cylinder to check fluid and saw it was all guncked up.
what do you make of this?

[Joe Mc]

Autozone offers 2, a duralast part number NU0080-1 for $170 in my zipcode, and a LUK part number 07-065 for $200. Both of these are kits containing the disc, pressure-plate, pilot and throwout bearings and alignment tool.
Oddly enough the zone wants more for the stock 11 inch kits than the 12 inch upgrade.
This is a direct bolt-in with no modifications required. If your flywheel is chewed-up or grooved you would want to have it resurfaced with either size new clutch.

Rereading all the problems you are having, have you looked under the truck to see if the transmission and engine are tightly bolted together?

With the clutch master cylinder gunked-up someone might have mixed brake fluid types, in that case you may want to replace both cylinders. If you replace the clutch master cylinder I would install the small reinforcement kit if the firewall is not cracked, $25 from ford. Cheap insurance for a fairly common problem.

[josiah]

excellent, i will check all the above. thanks a bunch!!

i had a friend press the clutch while i looked at the cylinder to see if it moved and i really couldn't tell but it looked like it might have moved very slightly, unmeasurable almost. so i will do the reinforcement.
25 for the small one and 100 something for the large, which one would you do?

[Joe Mc]

As I said above, I would do the small one if the firewall is not cracked.