Okay, I have a 87 Dakota, 2wd, 3.9, 5spd. Pulling out of a parking spot in reverse slipping the clutch and all of a sudden the clutch fully engages without me letting out the clutch and I stall it. Start it back up and it wont go into any gear. Turn the truck off and it goes into gear fine.

History, clutch, throw out bearing and friction plate were replaced about 5000 miles ago so one of those items being faulty isn't likely (but possible).
It was to dark for me to check to see if the slave cylinder was moving when the clutch pedal was moved. Am I on the right track?

Simply put the clutch wont disengage and I wanna fix it.

All and any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

Sounds like a leak in the hydraulic system to me. First check to make sure there is still fluid in it, and if there is, you likely have an internal seal that is leaking fluid in one of the 2 cylinders... as in the fluid is getting past the piston or somthing similar. I don't know for sure about the '87, but I know on my '95 that the hydraulic system is serviced as a sealed assembly and should not be taken apart, so you'll have to replace the entire thing. Basically it doesn't matter which part is leaking.

 

Thanks 95. First thing I did was check the fluid and it looked fine. Truck is bieng towed home as I type this so first thing in the morning I'll be tinkering.

 

My guess would be on the master cylinder, but it could be the slave. Also, just to be 100% sure check to see that the pin that holds the slave to the fork is still there.

 

I'll check that out. Thanks.

 

I have an idea WAY different than a hydraulic issue... which I've seen and had happen to me numerous times.

I've had a dampening spring dislodge from the disc and jam in the pressure plate which results in no release...

How does your pedal feel? if it feels normal for resistance, you have a pretty good chance my guess is right. This has happened to me with cheapo discs more over top quality. Since this has happend 4 times in my race cars over the years, I ONLY buy quality discs from www.clutchnet.com in the race cars I get the solid hub 3 puc of street vehicles I get the Kevlar discs

another possible issue (but rare) is the throwout bearing failed and came apart... but you'd hear bad noise... so I go back to my original statement.

 

Oh dear, my clutch pedal does feel normal! I'm assuming to check for the lodged spring in the pressure plate is to pull it all apart. NO quick fix there.

 

anyone know how to test the slave cylinder? Do I have to take it off the tranny first? I can feel fluid moving inside from the master cylinder but I'm thinking the slave isn't doing its job.

 

Sure, there's a lot of EZ ways. if you loosen the 2 nuts that hold it in, have someone push down on the clutch pedal and see if you can push the slave back in.

 

Another option without removing the slave cylinder is to remove the dust cover from the front of the bellhousing, and have someone push the clutch pedal down while looking to see that the clutch pedal actually moves the throwout bearing assembly. One problem with taking the slave cylinder off to test it is that if there is an internal leak, it may not act up when there is no load on it.