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Hello!

Now that I have my engine running, I finally took out the trans in my truck to see about the clutch. When my uncle (The original owner) had it, he went to press the clutch at a stop sign, and heard a pop - then the clutch lost pressure and went straight to the floor. After that you could change gears without pressing the clutch, and the truck wouldn't pull... while I had the drive shaft disconnected from the rear axel and while the engine was running the drive shaft constantly turned, no matter what gear- it turned the right was for reverse, but even turned in neutral... is this normal, since it wasn't hooked up to anything? My great-uncle was messing around with the transmission after I took it out, and said there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. It shifted all gears right, but still wanted to turn in neutral --- he, nor I, know if this is normal, since it isn't connected to anything, and easy to stop from turning... anyway, we took out the clutch and it is in good condition! The throwout bearing is a little worn, but not enough to stop the clutch from working... so any ideas on what it may be, being that I do not believe it's the trans, and I know it's not the clutch... could it be the slave cylinder? How would I test it?

Thanks! I hope some of that made since ... heh...

Robbie.

The driveshaft that continues to turn in nuetral is normal. It's the "thickness" of the gear oil in the trans making it turn. There's no real torque being applied to the driveshaft and won't take much resistance to stop it. The other problems sounds like the pressure plate broke, but I've never heard of that happening before. If you replace the clutch, replace it all as a kit so you won't need to pull the trans for a long time. Lube the throw out bearing surface so it slides smoothly and lube the pilot bushing so it doesn't wear out prematurely.
Good luck,
Scott

The pressure plate is in relatively good condition, aside from several raised (I guess bent up?) splines... could that have been enough to stop it from working? The ones are not severely raised, just a little higher than the others.

The thing is, it's almost like the clutch is engaged, but, while not attached, the drive shaft turns... you press the clutch in and nothing happens, it keeps turning.

Thanks for the info about the transmission turning! I kind of thought that might be the case, but wasn't sure...

This is a tough one. There must be something wrong with the pressure plate. Sometimes a spring comes out of the clutch disc & lodges back in the pressure plate holding it open. Look the clutch over real good. Those fingers should be pretty even.

The fingers on the plate aren't real even, it's like a staircase, really... although I cannot remember how sever it was, I don't have the clutch with me here, my cousin has it to see if it will work with a clutch kit he has... well, speaking of, will a clutch kit off of a '69 with a 250 work with my '61 235?

Where are the springs at on the clutch disk? It looked all there...

There are 4-5 coil springs in the clutch disc that take the shock out of engagement. They are between the lining & the center hub. I fone was missing it would be quite obvious. The 69 clutch might be the same. Compare them. Be shure to use a t.o. brg. to match the clutch.

Yeah! I checked out the springs and they are all still there...

What is a "t.o. brg. to match the clutch"?

Thanks!

Throw out bearing where I come from. A bad throw out bearing can really do a number on the fingers of a diaphragm clutch in short order.

Sometimes a clutch linkage can overcenter and the return spring can keep the clutch disengaged.

Ah! Thank-you! Yeah... the throw bearing is really bad, the entire time my uncle had the truck it rattled (at least someone told him it was the t.o. brg.) and when I took the clutch out, although it looks alright, you can hear it griding and rattling when you turn it... like it was right about to give out!

The clutch seems like it is more engaged, than disengaged... as you can shift all day long, but (like I said when disconnected) the drive shaft turns. When attached it doesn't turn, though... just won't pull.

Now, the clutch in my truck is hydraulic... does it have linkage? How would I check that? I was pulling the arm out from the slave cylinder (Slowly) to see what happened and it came right out, and popped sideways due to the return spring... Is there anyway to tell if it is the slave cylinder? Or is there any chance of that at all, from what I have described?

The clutch pedal in normally disengages the clutch and the clutch pedal out normally engages the clutch.

I missed that you had indicated you had a hydraulic clutch, sorry. It may be possible for the slave cylinder push rod to go out too far and stick. You should be able to check by observing the operation of the slave cylinder while the clutch pedal is depressed. You may need to restrict the travel of the slave cylinder if the clutch isn't installed.

Thanks!

I checked the slave cylinder while someone pressed the clutch, and it did everything it was supposed to, or seemed to. The push rod was pressed out, but it didn't engage/disengage the clutch. Now that the clutch is out, there is even less pressure and the slave doesn't do a thing. It doesn't seem to be stuck out, although I guess I could have been wrong.

I said in my original post that he heard a "pop", he said it was actually more like a metallic snap, right over the trans.

Also: I did accendentally yank the push rod out of the slave, while messing around under there...

Check the clutch fork pivot ball. I've seen them break off before,
Scott

Thanks! How do I check it?

Robbie.

Grab ahold of it from the outside of the bellhousing and pull. If it pulls towards you, it's not connected to the bellhousing. It will feel really loose in there,
Scott

Ok, I went in and messed about with the clutch fork... and it came right out! but everything is fine there - the pivot ball is there - clutch fork (I'm going to clean up) Then it'll look new!

Now also, I probably knocked the fork off when messing with the slave cylinder and pulled the push rod out. (I just, uh, can't get it back in now...) I'm going to replace the Slave anyway, and put my new/used clutch in and see what happens... everything seemed to be fine though - but the clutch was stuck on.

Thanks for all the help!

Robbie.