Stovebolt.com Forums The Shop Area Driveline 47 3800 clutch problems

Hi all,
Sorry if this is long winded but thanks in advance for your thoughts/advice. I've been working on my truck and finally have it running pretty well. The engine was gunked up to the point you couldn't see the timing hole let alone the timing mark so I soaked it good with degreaser and hit it with the power washer. Bad mistake I think. After the cleanup my clutch didn't work (clutch not disengaging) and I think it was working before but not positive. I pulled the inspection cover and found that my pressure washing did a great job of soaking the mouse nest in the bell housing and the next engine start did a great job of packing it in the pressure plate. So, I blocked the clutch pedal against the seat with a 2x4, got the pressure washer back out and washed out the bell housing with the engine running. Everything looks pretty clean now but still no clutch. I don't have a helper so I crawled under the truck and scribed a line on the pressure plate housing at the back of the pressure plate then blocked the clutch pedal again and crawled back under the truck. The pressure plate didn't appear to move back any at all. I'm stumped. I think I'll try adjusting the clutch but don't want to damage anything worse than it is. Any ideas?
Many thanks,
Les

Hi Les, I'm not an expert but if after scribing your reference lines on the pressure plate housing and clutch disk and the engine was running and clutch engaged and the marks were still lined up (long sentence) I would suspect the clutch disk is stuck to the flywheel.
I'd try (with engine not running) using the 2x4 to depress the clutch pressure plate, and get under the flywheel to try to pry the clutch disk away.
Someone with more sense than me might have a better idea... just sayin'
Jerry

If I were in a large open area I'd even try starting with the truck in low gear. It might twist it loose... but it's going to want to move. Did I mention large open area? ha!

Hi Jerry,
thanks for the reply. I checked for pressure plate movement with using my scribe line with the engine off and the pressure plate didn't move back toward the transmission any. I should see that if it was working properly I think.
Hear you about the large open area. I don't have that nor do I have any brakes at this point. That would be an exciting experiment I think
Les

Well, I got it figured out and fixed. I guess my first power washing was enough to allow the flywheel/clutch disk to rust together or maybe ground up mouse nests make a real good adhesive. Anyway, some aggressive rocking back and forth broke it loose and we are all good now. on to the brakes!
Les