Hey guys, my first post and I’ll warn you that I only know enough to be dangerous!

I have an ’03 3500 dually 5.9 and have been having issues with the clutch pedal and I believe my problem is in the hydraulics. I can push the clutch in and shift gears fine in normal driving but if I am in a situation of slow moving where the clutch pedal doesn’t come all the way up, it feels like the fluid may be leaking out to the point the truck will be rolling forward under power but the clutch pedal is pushed to the floor. The only way out of this is to let the pedal all the way up and push down again to get a new bite and it is fine for awhile. When I check the clutch master cylinder for fluid, it is full so I’m not losing any fluid but that is just what if feels like. It has been getting progressively worse for the last month and I’m getting close to the point of being undriveable.

First thing I noticed and would hope that someone can verify this as normal or not, but I can grab the master cylinder and actually rotate it fairly easily. If it didn’t have a hydraulic line attached, I could probably rotate it around to where the fluid reservoir is upside down. Is this normal?

My theory is that maybe I haves some type of an internal seal leak in the master cylinder which might explain why I am not losing fluid but losing the hydraulic push to the slave cylinder?

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated!

-Tim [8D]

 

Sounds like the mastercylinder is shot.

 

It sounds like you have answered your own question.
What I would do to figure out if it's an internal leak in the MC or slave cylinderit to start it up ina parking lot where you have a little room. Put it in 1st gear and hold the clutch to the floor and keep it there. If there is a leak, it should eventually bleed off and allow the clutch to start grabbing. Then you'd have to change one at a time until it's fixed.
It might also be worth bleeding it, it may have gotten air in the line.

 

Yep, that is what happens. My theory is that it would be the master cylinder that is bad because I can immediately let the clutch out all the way and push it back down to get a new bite. I believe if it were the slave, there would be a delay in waiting for the fluid to work back up to the master cylinder.

-Tim [8D]

 

If you're not losing fluid, then you probably rolled a seal internally either in the master, or slave cylinder.


Good luck with your ride.