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Blown clutch?

2K views 33 replies 7 participants last post by  MrJohnWayne 
#1 ·
So I was pulling into work today, pushed in the clutch to downshift, and the clutch never popped back out. The truck stalled, and luckily I was able to get it started again and towed it with a work truck to the mechanic. I just stopped by, and they weren't sure what was going on yet, but they seem to think it's the clutch because "the fingers appear to all be stuck in." Not really sure exactly what that means, but they said they were going to drop the transmission tomorrow to get a better idea of what is going on. I just want to make sure that I'm not paying for a clutch when it could be a master/slave cylinder, clutch fork, etc. Can anybody give me any guidance to make sure I am not getting screwed? I have had the truck for about a year and a half, and so far I've been able to do all of the wrenching on it so I don't have a repertoire with any mechanics.
 
#6 ·
How can you tell if it's actually the clutch or just needs this slave cylinder tube kit? I would appreciate a quick response as they are planning on pulling the tranny in the am, and I sure don't want to pay them to do it if it doesn't need to be done! How much should it cost me to have them pull the tranny? How much is an estimated cost if they have to replace the clutch? Any clutch recommendations? I'm not running a lot of extras-just intake, stock exhuast with a muffler delete, and I'd like to do a programmer soon. Thanks for the help, guys!
 
#4 ·
Same as above but I would recommend that if theey are going to yank the tranny you should go ahead and replace the clutch anyway!
 
#9 ·
From what I've read Ford sells the slave/master cylinders as a unit that are pre-bled. So I should just ask to start by replacing that? Does it make sense when they said "the fingers of the clutch are stuck in?" I have no clue what they mean by that...
 
#8 ·
hey my two cents is to pull the slave and check to see if it working. Just push it in and turn it counter clockwise and it will come right out. No tools needed. I personally had a similar problem. My problem was the little plastic end that clips on to the pedal under the dash broke. It turned out to be a $5 fix. Just offering some simple checks you can do yourself.
 
#12 ·
One more thing-I think they said that I would have to do the master/slave cylinders along with the clutch, so it couldn't hurt to have them start with the master/slave, and if that doesn't work move on to the clutch? I've also heard the clutch forks bend-could that have anything to do with it? I've just read about this stuff on here-I don't even know where to look for this stuff!
 
#19 ·
I don't think so-I'm not sure what "clutch chatter" is, but the truck was running for about 15 minutes after I got it started and left it in neutral, and nothing sounded any different.
 
#23 ·
I can't find a detailed step by step procedure for removing and replacing the master and slave cylinder. Would anybody be kind enough to run me through it, or post a link to where I could find it? Pictures of where the parts are located would help enormously!
 
#24 ·
So I talked to the mechanics at the shop today, and they feel confident that it's the clutch, clutch throw out bearing, clutch fork, or something inside the transmission that they need to take apart and inspect. I told them that I just wanted to replace the master and slave cylinder and see if that does the trick, and they said I was welcome to do that, but I would most likely just ruin the new parts and have to replace them again because they were positive that it was more than just that. I would hope that they are competent mechanics, and the truck does have 166k on what I believe is the original clutch, so I don't doubt that it needs to be replaced-just scared of the big bill!

What kind of clutch should I get? I don't plan on ever selling this truck, so I have been trying to upgrade parts for longevity and reliability (and of course performance!) whenever I can.
 
#26 ·
Ya just do the tube. The clutch sounds like it is fine for the most part!
 
#27 ·
I agree with all above. sounds like the slave or master cylinder pooped out (more than likely the master) Has happened to me 2 times in these SD's. And I also agree that changing the slave/master will not damage it if that is not the problem...
 
#28 ·
Thanks for all the replies. I'll call them in the am and see what's up-they are right around the corner from my work and didn't pull my truck in the shop until around 3:00 today, so I hope they haven't started pulling the tranny yet. I believed them when they said that it would just ruin the new tube kit and I'd be throwing my money away since I'd just have to buy a new one again.

Regardless of what the problem is, I can't imagine a clutch would last much more than 166k anyway, so I feel like I'll be replacing it in the very near future if it isn't toast. Has anybody gotten any more than that out of a clutch?
 
#29 ·
I just stopped by the shop and they had my clutch laying on the floor in pieces. The clutch fork was bent bad-almost snapped in half. The springs gave out and are now just shards of metal. I could see the excessive wear on the clutch fingers, and some part of the shredded metal hit my starter and took a chunk out of the top of that. They're going to charge me about $1600 to replace the whole thing-clutch, flywheel, master and slave, clutch fork, etc. Damn my *** hurts.
 
#30 ·
yeah... Ouch is the word for sure... Don't know what they charge for labor but southebend could of hooked you up with a new clutch, pressure plate, throwout, pilot, flywheel, fork etc.. for 650... all you would of needed would have been the slave/master combo and labor.
 
#31 ·
The "repair book" slates a clutch as a 6 hour job, so 6 hours x 80/hour=$480 just in labor. I confirmed that with the dealership for the hourly job to do a clutch. So I guess that leaves $1120 for the clutch, slave and master assembly, clutch fork, flywheel, and whatever else. I wish I could do the work myself! The mechanic was under the impression that "performance" clutches have more problems.
 
#32 ·
i did a clutch in my driveway with my buddy and a floor jack all you have to do is be careful and take your time it isn't really that hard to do
 
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