The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Clutch Replacement

The clutch in my truck doesn't release. It is a 53 with a 235 engine and 4 speed transmission. My question is, if I remove the shift lever, speedometer cable, and the floor cover, can I put in extra long bolts in place of the tranny mounting bolts and slide it back far enough to have room to work on and replace the clutch components?

No. You must pull it all the way out.

Just as Wrenchbender said. Also, If your truck has been sitting, a clutch disc can stick to the flywheel. You can try to drive the truck in low gear with your foot down on the clutch pedal releasing the clutch. Do this in an open area with plenty of room around you. Hit the gas and let off several times and most times the shock will release it. It's worth a try before you tear into it.

Yeah, I was afraid I would have to pull it. I was hoping someone knew of an easier shortcut. The truck has sat for quite awhile and I thought the disk was stuck to the flywheel. I tried to shock it loose but it still doesn't release. When the engine is idling the linkage from the clutch pedal to the fork really jumps, and a squeak is coming from the clutch area. By putting a little pressure on the clutch fork the squeak goes away. It looks like I'll have to replace the clutch if I want to make it drivable.

About how much does the 4 speed tranny weigh? I'll have to manhandle it out.

Don't know the exact weight but the 4 speed out of 41 was about 40-50 pounds at most. You should be able to manhandle it out if you are taking out through the cab I would either get help or a hoist just to be sure. It is kinda of akward otherwise

40-50 pounds at most? Maybe for whatever tranny was in a '41, but the SM 420 that came in a '53 is closer to 135 lbs.

Your best bet is to use a hydraulic engine hoist with the arm.

The 41-46 3spd is about 40 lbs but the 4spd is easily 3 times that much. Watch your back on the 4spd!

I use a floor jack to help take it out and to put it back in.It makes the job alot easier.

How can I get the floor shift lever off without using the special tool shown in the book?

To do it without scratching it, you can use a short piece of PVC pipe of a size that will grip it and turn it. If you aren't worried about scratches, use channel locks.

As truckman said, recently I removed 4 speed tranny from my 52 truck, I used floor jack and remove the floor cover and put a pipe across in floor and run strap around to hold the tranny and slowly move it back wards.

It worked pretty good for me

Ganesh

If you don't use an arm lift to hold it from the top, here's some tips for doing it with a jack.

Trust me, if you can use the arm lift you'll have a lot less trouble.

Cletis,
I trust you on this one. I'll see if I can rent an engine hoist with a long boom to pull it. I looked at your link for using a jack, and it looks like a hoist is the best way.
Thanks for the advice.

You might want to look at HF. They have a couple of transmission saddles that are pretty inexpensive. One that fits on a floor jack and one that is a dedicated unit with it's own casters.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I'm a little confused here. Does the transmission need to be removed completely from the vehicle? I know that would be ideal, but it looks like I only need to slide it back about 10 inches to give me the clearance I need.

You need it out of your way so you can insert the alignment tool in the pilot bushing.

Even though the manual says I can lift my 3 speed up thru the floor I found it easier to drop it down. It was even easier when I removed the crossmember.

OK, the clutch is out. The pressure plate is shot along with the throwout bearing, the clutch plate looks like brand new, there's not even surface rust on it. What do you use to remove the pilot bushing in the end of the crank? Does it take a special puller?

Believe it or not sometimes you can pop them out by forcing grease in there.

Jim,

How strange that the pressure plate would be bad but the clutch plate is OK. Maybe you meant the reverse...clutch plate bad, pressure plate OK?

Drew has a good plan. With a relatively tight fitting piece of bar stock, you can fill the cavity with grease...or wet gobs of toilet paper, insert the rod into the pilot bearing and give it a real hard blast with a BFH. Sometimes it works...other times not.

They make internal pullers for slide hammers. Maybe your rental joint has one.

It isn't natural for the pressure plate to be toast but the clutch to be OK. Keep a sharp eye out for a reason this happened. It's possible the clutch plate is full thickness, but cooked and glazed and has lost all its friction ability, frying the pressure plate in the mean time.

Any oil leaking into the bellhousing could have caused this, and will do the same to your new assembly if it isn't repaired.


Stuart

Stuart,

You're right, it isn't natural. When my neighbor saw the clutch plate he thought I had just gotten a new one.

I can only surmise that the PO replaced the plate for a clutch problem and shortly after it stopped working. The clutch plate still has the paint on the springs and the sticker for the flywheel side is still on and looks like it was printed yesterday. There is no glazing and very little wear. On the otherhand the throwout bearing is shot and the diaphram springs in the pressure plate are all tore up and distorted. The pressure plate and flywheel surfaces are clean. There aren't any oil leaks in the bellhousing, although at some time in it's history there was. The clutch wasn't slipping, it wouldn't disengage.

This leads me to a question I've got. When I removed my 235, I couldn't figure out how to get the bellhousing off the back of the engine. I couldn't imagine having to change a clutch without removing the bellhousing.

There were 6 bolts holding the bellhousing to the back of the 235. 2 were on top and accessible from the outside, but 4 of them are inside the bellhousing BEHIND the flywheel!!! The bottom two can be backed out with a wrench, but the two that are above the crank, there is no way you can reach those.

How exactly does one remove the bellhousing to change a clutch on one of these stovebolts without having to remove the flywheel by removing the crank and clutch with it, just to get to those bolts?

I know this sounds retarded, but I couldn't figure out how in the world to change a clutch without disassembling the engine, which seems absolutely ridiculous.

Just curious.

You do it thru the clutch cover opening at the bottom. Once the tranny is out, the throwout bearing and fork are removed. Then, all the clutch bolts are loosened one turn at a time (so you don't warp the pressure plate housing).

I used a slide hammer to remove the bushing. Was a cinch. Some pics on the following site:

http://community.webshots.com/user/geezer

The fork on mine was about 2 mm away from the clutch on mine and no room to pop off the ball. That's what made me wonder how the heck to take that thing off.