Clutch question...

I have a 99 with 212300 miles on it. 3.4 v6 4x4- it is difficult to shift sometimes if you do not first put your toes underneath the clutch pedal and raise it a bit. After that it shifts buttery smooth in all gears and reverse.

The dealership quoted me 2300 bucks yesterday saying my clutch was on the way out. It isn’t slipping gears, difficult acceleration- in fact truck runs and drives great. I even just did the timing belt and water pump, new rotors and brakes-

Any chance this could just be a slave and master cylinder problem or does it sound like new clutch time to y’all as well? And $2300 for all that is crazy right?

Just looking for some sense-

 

does the peddle stick to the floor?

 

It doesn’t stick to the floor- just doesn’t return the last inch or two- when it doesn’t it is nearly impossibly to get into gear- but you kinda reset it with your toes and everything is fine- no grinding of gears or anything either

 

thats a lot of miles but if its not slipping in the 5th gear its probably still good. My old Tacoma was still working but if I gave it gas in 5th it would slip. could easily be the master and slave cylinders..

 

I'm interested what people say about this issue. The same thing is happening in my truck. Also a 99 3.4 4x4 but my truck only has 211200 miles on it. lol
I've been driving it like this for about a year now.

 

Wow- we are almost the same miles... gives me some hope being as you have driven it a year like this.

Wonder if it’s a return spring and bushing thing- I am not smart enough to know and will rely heavily on y’all and videos if I try and repairs

 

I have the exact same problem, 3.4 v6, 234,000 miles. I know it's either the master or slave cylinder because I had the same issue on both my Prelude and Ranger. If you're worried about it just replace both of them. They aren't too expensive and the job isn't too bad. The reason it does that is because the seals in one of them are going bad and are allowing air to pass into it. Bringing it up with your foot pushes the air out and sucks the fluid in.

A bad clutch could give you these problems too but if you are driving fine with no slipping I doubt it is the clutch itself.

 

And as far as price, my dad just replaced the clutch in his 2000 Silverado and they charged him just under $2500. It was pretty expensive but it was the best quote we got from a reputable shop, so I guess that's about what they are charging now. Call around and see if other shops have better prices. There is always someone who will do it cheaper but they may skip steps or do a crappy job.

 

You are going to have to determine why the pedal does not fully return to the upright position... there could be a pivot point issue and/or the return spring is known to wear a groove and not fully return the pedal. The fact that lifting the pedal then pushing the clutch in allows it to work normally indicates that you are not getting a full stroke on the master cylinder. If the pedal is depressing the clucth master cylinder a small amount there is the possibility that the spool valve in the master cylinder is not retracting past the charge port so it can get a full shot of hydraulic fluid and thus a full stroke.

 

I had this issue right after I got my clutch replaced last time...pedal would only return 3/4 of the way up and I'd have to pull it the rest of the way with my foot.

Bleeding the system was what fixed it for me

 

I have the same issue with my 04 V6 3.4 4x4. I replaced the clutch this summer at 215k. Did it myself in the craft shop on post and cost me about $300 in both clutch and bay rentals. Please post what fixes your pedal issue. Thx

 

Try bleeding it and if that doesn't work you might be looking at a master or slave cylinder that's going bad

 

Bled the crud out of it in the last two/three days and the problem persists

 

Is there any how toos on master and slave install?

 

Unfortunately you might be looking at a bad master or slave then, I really can't say for sure but from what I've read that's where it points to next

 

Are you having any fluid leakage in the cab on the floor driver side? This is an indicator that the clutch master cyl is the issue. If not this, id lean towards the slave being the culprit. I did not have any issues with the pedal not returning when my clutch master cyl was on its way out

 

not that I am aware. Doesn't seem to be any fluid on the push rod or on the floor but its not the cleanest down there so I need to check again this evening.

 

Measure your clutch pedal height. It should between 6.5 - 7.5 inches above the floor board, if I recall correctly from the factory manual.

Have you made any modifications to the clutch pedal spring? The original torsion spring will wear a groove in the pedal if the plastic bushing is not replaced when it breaks (it always breaks), and the symptom of this is the pedal not returning fully. A cheap fix is to replace the torsion spring with a standard Toyota linear clutch pedal spring from a 4-cylinder Tacoma.

Does your clutch engage while the pedal is near the floor or near the top of the pedal stroke? If it engages near the floor it could be a hydraulic issue or a worn clutch disk. I recently had my hydraulics go out and replacing the cylinders solved it.

To help identify a hydraulic issue have someone push and hold the clutch pedal down while you are under the truck watching the slave cylinder push rod. It should extend and push the clutch release fork and not retract until the pedal is released. Watch closely what happens to the push rod when your helper lifts the pedal from resting position to fully up.

 

Any links to the right parts for the bushing and linear spring?

 

I'm on the road, so I don't have any part numbers handy. I stopped in my local dealership and they looked it up for me. I think it was less than $5.
Ask for the 4 cylinder Tacoma clutch pedal spring.

The bushing won't be needed if you switch springs, but if you want to keep the original spring it's important. Problem is, it's a pain to install, as it's recommended you remove the clutch pedal assembly so you can get to it. It's a U-shaped plastic bushing, and there are threads on here about it because it's notorious for breaking.