chaserthedog

All,

Last Wednesday morning I started my truck and started to move forward when I realized that something was VERY wrong with the clutch on my 2003 Ford F-150 with 4.2L V6 engine and 5 speed manual transmission (I have about 59,000 miles on my truck). The truck "lurched" forward as I let off the clutch pedal, and I immediatlely turned off the engine. The clutch pedal only partially sprung back up and I knew that I likely had an expensive and/or time consuming repair on my hands. Also, I had a small puddle of "fluid" on my driveway.

I typcially do all of my own truck maintenance, but after looking on this forum, it looked like a slave cylinder replacement required removing the bell housing and transmission. This was definitely not something that I am equipped to do in my driveway (especially since I have never done a transmission overhaul). I saw that people pay between $500 to $875 for this type of repair, so I started making calls to transmission shops. Out of the 6 shops that I called, only 3 were able to give me prices based on my description of the symptoms and the work that I wanted done. The others never called back.

I decided that if the transmission had to be pulled, then I was going to replace the clutch, new pressure plate, resurface the flywheel, etc...

The first shop took about 1 minute to quote me a price of $650 for this work. The other two shops that gave me prices took about 2 hours to come up with $875 and $950 for the same job.

I drove to the first shop ($650) in my wife's car to check them out and the shop was pretty scummy, but the owner was pretty cool and I felt confident that they could do a good job.

I had AAA tow my truck over there and work began. The owner called me the following afternoon and told me that the engine seal was leaking and told me that it would cost an additional $85. I gave him the go-ahead. On Friday morning, the owner called me again and said that they test drove the truck and they discovered that it also needed a new clucth master cylinder for $175 and I gave him the go-ahead.

So I picked up my truck on Friday. The owner said that they had conducted a final test drive and that the truck worked great. I got in the truck and noticed that the clutch pedal was about half way down from where it should be and I was not able to shift at all. I called the owner over and the mechanic re-bled the system. Finally it worked! The owner explained that sometimes, even after they bleed the system, that there may still be some air bubbles in the system.

So now my truck works pretty well. My main question is this: Prior to the repair, the clutch engaged close to the top of the stroke of the clutch pedal. Now it engages nearly at the bottom of the stroke...just as I starte to let off of the clutch pedal. I would expect this, but it seems almost too soon for engagement. Is this normal? Is this adjustable?

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,
Chaser the Dog

Bert

I'd take it back to them and have them check it out. It sounds like the job hasn't been done right. They may still have some air in the line, but until the clutch fells like it did before the original problem, I wouldn't accept it.

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Bert

chaserthedog

RTG143,

Are you saying that the clutch should engage at the bottom or top of the clutch pedal stroke? Also, how difficult is it to bleed the system?

Otherwise, it seems to be working quite well...just a change in overall feel and timing with the shifting because the clutch engages at the bottom of the clutch pedal stroke.

ChaserTheDog

Bert

They should engage closer to the top. When the clutch weras out they grab at the lower pedal travel.

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Bert