The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Clutch weirdness

I try to drive my truck weekly during spring/summer. It’s been a couple weeks, but went out today to fire it up and run some errands.

It became immediately clear I had no clutch function. Grinding into any gear. Clutch worked perfectly fine when I last drove and parked it in the shed out back.

Figured something was stuck so I tried stomping and releasing over and over. Then I got the idea to start it in gear (reverse)….hoping that might free something up. Reversing out of the shed means reversing up hill. That worked fine, but still no clutch. Then when I shut it off, it was stuck in gear. Took me a minute to figure that out. Ended up chocking wheels and jacking rear off the ground and then she came out of gear just fine.

Rolled it back down the hill and into its parking place into the shed in neutral. Started it again and, voila! Clutch is healed.

Before I jump the the conclusion of needing a new clutch…..can someone help diagnose based on this sequence of events?

Explained all this to a mechanic neighbor of mine. He says it’s likely the pressure plate that stuck and outlined a procedure to unstick if it happened again.

Think it was just some weird animal and that I’m good to run it for a while like this?

Or should I do the clutch job ASAP because it’s likely to strand me somewhere?

I`d inspect the throwout bearing

Can that be done just by removing the inspection cover?

I’ve had this happen to Doughboy, after sitting for a while.
I just turn the key with the clutch disengaged (in gear) and the clutch releases from the flywheel.

No, you`d have to drop the drive shaft and back the transmission out.
When things fix themselves always makes me suspicious why. Drive it and listen.

I have had this happen before on a Jeep I used to have after it was driven thru deep water and now have it happening on a 46 Chevy I bought this spring.
On the jeep after I got the clutch wet, then let it dry overnight, the clutch plate stuck to the flywheel. Once I freed it up and drove it, It worked like normal and never happened again.
Now on the 46 with the 216 and crash box, it had a rear main leaking bad and was not drove enough, so it is sticking. That will be my winter project to pull the engine and tranny. Maybe a 235 and T-5 to replace it.

To get a clutch unstuck, start the engine in neutral and warm it up. Then shut it back down and start it in gear the direction you want to go with the clutch pedal down. Goose the engine a few times until the clutch breaks free. Then also drive it some in the city and it should be alright.

Another thing you might practice when you are driving alone. How to drive it without using the clutch at all. And I mean starting and stopping all the way home.
Let us know how it turns out.

Don

I pull the dust cover, block the clutch pedal all the way down with a piece of 2X4 between the seat frame and the pedal, and drive a thin putty knife blade between the clutch disc and the flywheel. There are a few places between the mounting points of the clutch cover where you can reach the disc.
Jerry

It’s freed up now. And I have several good suggestions on how to free it should it happen again.

What I don’t quite understand yet….was this just some weird anomaly or is it very likely to happen again? Perhaps that’s an unanswerable question and I just have to drive it and find out.

If you're going to park the vehicle for more than a few days, use a piece of wood (even a cut-off broomstick) to block the clutch pedal down. No more stuck disc that way. Set the parking brake or chock the wheels.
Jerry

Cars don't like sitting.

Ol' Roy has never had that problem but it gets used a few times a week. The clutch would do that on my brother's MG, which sat around a lot due to electrical problems.

I normally leave the truck in gear when parked. Will that cause the clutch to be more likely to stick?

No, what causes a disc to stick to the flywheel is the constant force applied to it by the pressure plate. Relieve that tension, and the disc will stay free to move. Just apply the parking brake and/or chock the wheels.
Jerry

It`ll stick after sitting for a couple weeks? that sounds wrong. never seen/heard of that.
whats out of adjustment?

Rusty flywheel. Drive the truck more often. That rust will go away.
We have a problem with disc brakes in the humid summers around here if you don't drive for a while.
When you start out for the day, it sounds like someone put a piece of 40 grit sandpaper on all of the pads, then when you hit the brakes it sounds like crush and run on the pads. After a while it self corrects.

Certainly not the first time the truck has sat idle for a couple weeks in hot, humid weather. But the first time it’s ever done this. All good suggestions.

I just need to drive it a bit and see what happens