[alhafiz]

Hello to everybody. I have a 2000 7.3 6spd manual transmission. Lastnight i was driving it and came to a point where i had to reverse. I push the clutch down and it wouldnt go into reverse, let alone any gears. I finally got it into reverse after many attempts. This has happened before, but not on this level. I started to realize that the clutch was alot easier to push down now and when the brake was applied the clutch would go down with just my foot hovering over it with slight pressure. I have never had a truck before and dont know the first thing about what diagnosis can be made for this particular truck. I know things can get real expensive, so I left in the driveway for now. Thank you for helping.

 

[Superduty1atwork]

Look at the hydraulic system first. It is prone to failure. A complete replacement (clutch master to slave) can be purchased realatively cheap

 

[peterbuilt]

Sounds like hydraulics. You should get resistance from the pedal when hydraulics build up pressure as you push down. Otherwise it goes almost to the floor and you get a short stroke where clutch engages/disengages. Pedal will also likely not come back up as high as it should. Slave cylinder probably not getting enough pressure to move the fork as it should. Could be a leak in the master cylinder, line, or slave cylinder.

 

[Alan_Hicks]

What you're describing are classic "wet clutch" problems. A wet clutch works on hydraulics, much like your brakes, only in the opposite fashion.

When you mash the brake pedal, hydraulics force the brakes to engage the hubs and slow the truck down. Letting off the pedal disengages the brakes from the hubs.

Now when you mash the clutch pedal, hydraulics disengage the clutch from the flywheel, allowing the motor and input shaft on the transmission to turn at different speeds; this makes it easy to change gears. When you let off the pedal, the clutch engages the flywheel so the motor turns the transmission's input shaft.

What is happening is that the hydraulic system isn't doing its job, so even when the pedal is mashed all the way down, the clutch is still at least partially engaging the flywheel, and the motor wants to turn it. This makes it very difficult to put the transmission in any gear, especially at a stop.

 

[arisley]

[ QUOTE ]
What you're describing are classic "wet clutch" problems. A wet clutch works on hydraulics, much like your brakes, only in the opposite fashion.

When you mash the brake pedal, hydraulics force the brakes to engage the hubs and slow the truck down. Letting off the pedal disengages the brakes from the hubs.

Now when you mash the clutch pedal, hydraulics disengage the clutch from the flywheel, allowing the motor and input shaft on the transmission to turn at different speeds; this makes it easy to change gears. When you let off the pedal, the clutch engages the flywheel so the motor turns the transmission's input shaft.

What is happening is that the hydraulic system isn't doing its job, so even when the pedal is mashed all the way down, the clutch is still at least partially engaging the flywheel, and the motor wants to turn it. This makes it very difficult to put the transmission in any gear, especially at a stop.

[/ QUOTE ]

Great explanation.

 

[alhafiz]

When I posted earlier, I didn't see any responses...I thought that nobody would answer. Thank you so much for such great information. Ive been stressing all day, and finally got back to my computer.

Thank you Alan_Hicks, I will definetly check the hydraulic system. Does it consist only of the clutch master and slave or is there more? Also, how expensive should it be?

Thank you all

 

[alhafiz]

So I am going to buy a single assembly slave and master. Stealership is gonna take $156.00...not bad, I guess. I am actually going to attempt this myself, well really, an old man is actually going to do it, but he drinks a lot on the job. If anyone knows or has done one before, I would greatly apprecitate all the advice and information. Thank you

 

[Alan_Hicks]

Assuming you haven't managed to get it done already, it's really not a big deal. You may need an extra pair of hands and/or eyes to make sure everything lines up right, and it can be hard to push everything in as tight as it needs to be.

Basically, down under the truck you'll have a metal rod (mine was nice and shiney, easy to spot) running roughly perpendicular to the clutch pedal, and it goes inside the clutch master cylinder, which is pushed through the firewall. You'll have to disconnect that rod from the clutch. A big screwdriver helps for this, but you have to be careful not to break the rod of the little plastic insert it has. If you do break it, you'll be going back to the parts house, but it's a relatively inexpensive part.

Next, you'll have to disconnect the master and slave cylinders. You just turn them about 45 degrees and they should then pull out easily enough. Once you get them out, it'll be obvious how they are held in. Remove the two little plastic dowels that hold the resuvoir... resevoir... thingamabob on and remove.

Assembly is the reverse of dissassembly with one little exception. Install the slave cylinder first (it's the lowest part on the assembly). The slave cylinder has a couple of plastic tabs that hold its push rod in place for easy assembly. If you install the master cylinder first and apply any pressure, it'll break those little plastic tabs and make installation of the slave cylinder just a little bit harder (found that out the hard way).

HTH, and sorry I didn't get this to ya sooner.