Clutch went out on my truck. 2001 Ram V6. Clutch parts are not available and cannot be serviced separately. It is one hydraulic release assembly (dealer only). Clutch pedal goes to the floor with almost no resistance and makes an "airy" noise. I cannot shift into or out of gear while the engine is running. Does anyone know if there is a valve to bleed the clutch and if so where?
HELP PLEASE!

 

If there was one, it would be on the slave cylinder, at the bellhousing. I don't think there is one though, as they are serviced as a unit.......

Unless you go to advance auto, where you can buy the individual parts...... just checked their website. They have slave, and master cylinders available separately.

 

What parts are not available?

 

hey, first question is can you see or have you seen a puddle of fliud under your truck. if so the slave is shot. and yes you can get a new one, if i remember right mine was something like $80.
now the tranny you have is a NV3500, same as in my truck, it has the slave cyl and release bearing bolted to the housing inside the bell. 6 8mm bolts
also there is a fork that pivots on an assembly right beside it, the fork points towards that drv side of the bell housing horizontal to the ground. the hyd line that comes from the clutch master on the firewall (beside the brake master) goes into a small tube that has a little piston in side of it, on the end of the piston there is a small ball that sits inside the fork.
bad news is that the bleeder valve is on the inside of the bell, but you may be able to get your hand on it though if your remove the inspection cover thats beside the oil pan,
first check your fluid at the master. next look at the piston bolted to the left side of the bell ( cant miss it ) make sure theres no leaks
next remove the inspection cover.
if you find anyleaks replace the part as needed..

i believe it's DOT3 brake fluid for the clutch master, i may be wrong but it will say on the cap.

hope this helps
keep us posted

 

I have a Hayne's auto repair manual that says my truck has a hydraulic release system that is all one assembly. I checked with Oreilly auto parts and they too show separate slave and master cylinders for my truck but also showed a "hydraulic release assembly". They told me there was no price listed and that meant it was a dealer only part. I called the dealer and their parts person tells me that Chrysler designed that hydraulic release system so that the components cannot be replaced or serviced separately. They said that the hoses and machine pressed on (or something like that), and from the looks of it that seems to be the case. I am hoping to try bleeding the clutch or something else before buying the part from the dealer. Does anyone have any ideas or information that would helpful? Also, any ideas as to why auto parts stores show separate components available when the truck cannot be serviced that way?

 

@ jco_cowboy - there was no fluid leaking and the fluid level looks fine. So hopefully I can bleed it? To add to my frustration, this problem occured two days after I replaced the rear-end! Grrrrr!

 

if the master and slave cylinders are available from the parts store, then i'd buy those and replace yours.

cylinders can fail without external leaks. the o-rings wear out and no longer push the fluid.

bleeding an old cylinder would only have benefit if the system had been opened up and got air in it. if its been sealed and used to work, bleeding is not going to help.

the dealer only story sounds like BS to me.

 

Crawl under the truck, look and see what you have. Go to the parts store, look and see what THEY have. You need to figure out if this is a master, or slave problem. If you have no leaks, I would guess master.

 

Update: I took a look at it today and the hose that goes from the reservoir to the master cylinder came right off when brushed my hand up against it. I replaced it with a new hose and hose clamps. Now the clutch pedal has zero resistance and no longer makes that airy noise. So I'm thinking the system would work properly after being bled. Any thoughts?

 

Yep. It's a pain to bleed though, requires two people. (and sometimes three.....) One to pump the pedal, one underneath working the bleed valve, and possibly, one to dump fluid into the master.....

Keep in mind, you are trying to pump air out of the system, the air is naturally going to want to rise to the top, so, you are forcing it in a direction is doesn't really wanna go. The way we did it, was have one guy pumping the pedal rapidly, another guy keeping the reservoir full, and a third guy with the bleeder open, and his finger over it. It makes a mess, but, if done right, gets ALL the air out of the system fairly quickly.