Put a heavy duty clutch in my 02 dakota (same as was in it), and now starter is moving the truck with the clutch pressed in. The clutch is very stiff.

I basically had to redo everything the guy I paid did... from aligning the clutch to putting a new pin on the ball end of the throwout bearing fork.

The only thing I didn't recheck is how the ToB is clipped in. I didn't see him take it out or put it in, but the new bearing works fine and has grease.

So... I'm thinking either the ToB is installed wrong, the slave cylinder is bad (went to bleed, no valve, found out it's a closed system. he took the slave off of the bell housing instead of using the connectors), or hopefully (crossing my fingers here), the cable needs adjusting for the new clutch.

Wanted to get some feedback before I go through all of that again to check the ToB...

Thanks!

 

It's not a cable needing adjusting since it's a hydraulic clutch.

It could be either the master or the slave cylinder, and you're correct, you can't bleed it. A bad slave cylinder can make the clutch very stiff.

Are you sure you have the correct parts? The right pressure plate, disc, and throw out bearing?

 

The cable was wishful thinking. I'm fairly sure they're the right parts. Only difference was the manufacturer. The ToB was the reason for the install in the first place, it had ground the bevel completely off and sounded horrible.

Read somewhere about submerging the slave in brake fluid and pumping to get the air out. I tried taking the cap off of the master cylinder and pumping the slave rod, no air came out, just fluid.

I'll probably end up replacing the slave/master assembly... already spent a half grand on this fiasco. The slave may have caused the ToB to grind out in the first place..

I could see the ToB being installed wrong, but the fork would be near impossible to mess up, right? It's over the shaft, one end hooked securely to the ball, the other in perfect align for the slave rod.

I torqued the pressure plate @ 35lbs, someone said that was the alldata specs.

Any other words of wisdom?

 

I had the same issue with the TOB. Mine finally "grenaded."

I'm looking at the FSM. Under "Clutch will not disengage properly" it lists:

Low fluid
Clutch cover loose
Clutch disc bent or distorted
Clutch cover diaphragm spring bent or warped
Clutch disc installed backwards
Release fork bent or fork pivot loose or damaged
Clutch master or slave cylinder failure.

On the clutch disc, the raised portion of the hub faces away from the flywheel.

Hope it helps.