Braked Hard And Now I Have No Clutch?

Apologies if this thread has already been done but I have been unable to find anything on TW or anywhere on google about an issue similar to this. This morning driving in town I was forced to stop hard due to a quick light change (as often seems to happen when driving in the city). I braked, and then when the light changed, I went to start again and the clutch was non-existent. In other words, the clutch would not engage in any gear (I tried 1st, 2nd, and eventually 3rd to see if I could get any movement at all). The trans. goes into gear fine. The clutch will not engage even with the pedal all the way out. I'm taking it to a shop and have an appointment with a towing company for this afternoon. That being said, I'd like to have some idea of what's wrong (if y'all have any idea, i'm stumped) so that i wont be slapped in the face with the quote.

The clutch pedal feels fine so i am 90% sure that it isn't the hydraulics. I know that the brakes aren't seized because, besides the fact that there'd be some amount of movement, me and a couple of buddies were able to push it off the road and into a parking spot with no issues. the truck does have the original clutch but it exhibited no signs of going out prior to 10:00 this morning.

for more info on the truck see my build thread.

so what do y'all think?

 

Did you check the brake fluid? Not sure about the 1st gen, but the 2nd gen shares the fluid reservoir for the brakes and clutch. I know you said that the pedal feels fine, but a lot of the pedal feel comes from the spring on the pedal.

 

on the first gens the systems are completely separate. Plus on the first gens the pedal return is completely hydraulic pressure, so if the hydraulic system was bad the pedal would go to the floor and wouldn't return without being pulled back up. i did check the fluid level though and did not see anything out of the ordinary.

 

You might consider bleeding the system, just because it's cheap and fast.

I had the exact same symptoms on my '94 Ranger - the pedal felt fine but I could not engage any of the gears while the engine was running. The culprit was air trapped in the master cylinder.

 

the trans goes into gear without any issue running or not running. it's only the clutch that wont engage.

 

Oops, misread your original post.

Is it possible that the clutch just finally let go? Those are some fairly close tolerances in there.

 

it's possible but i'd be surprised. the clutch was not showing any signs of wear prior to this. no slipping or anything like that. i just suddenly went. i do agree though, it does act just the same as a clutch that's had a few too many hot suppers. my reasoning for not thinking that it's the clutch is primarily based on the behavior of the clutch prior to this.

 

I assume you mean the clutch would not DISengage, which is why you couldn't get it form neutral into gear.

I can see the clutch having enough pressure to return the pedal, but not enough to disengage the clutch. There's gotta be air in the system, but not so much that the pedal doesn't return.

Definitely bleed it first. Cheap and easy.

From there (assuming bleeding worked), you need to diagnose why there was air in the system.

 

i repeat, the tranny goes into gear fine. i DID mean that the clutch does not engage. plus i bled the system on Friday.

 

Yeah, saw those posts after I posted.

ok, so basically the clutch seems stuck in the open position.

I assume you've verified that the slaver cylinder operates as expected. It's certainly possible that something let go and has jammed it open.

 

Hmm...that is really weird since the clutch is normally engaged. If you disconnected everything the clutch is pressed against the flywheel by the pressure plate. I'll stay tune to hear the solution.

 

When you did the abrupt stop did you push the clutch in the same time you hit the brakes hard ???

If you didnt push the clutch in you could have possibly broken the input shaft of the transmission !!!

 

I am guessing you stomped on the clutch as hard as the brakes .

Have you crawled under and looked if the arm is hung up in the engaged position

slave cylinder over extends and get stuck the boot keeps it from leaking

 

this seems like the most plausible answer. lets hope that's it because that'll be a lot cheaper than a new tranny. i haven't been able to confirm that the the slave cylinder operates as normal. i was on my way to school when it happened so i didn't really have time to stop and look to closely. i just checked to see if there was any leaks and then my buddy that i called arrived and helped me park it before giving me a ride.

yeah, i thought so too. hence why i posted . i'll throw up a post once i hear from the shop.

i can say with 99 percent certainty that i did push the clutch in. it's instinct now so i'd be really surprised if i remember to do it without even thinking about it on my mom's automatic but i forget on my stick shift.

 

might've but i cant say for sure. i dont remember stamping on it particularly hard. i haven't had the chance though.

 

Update:
it turns out that the clutch just disintegrated, or at least that's what the shop says. all the hydraulics are working fine. I asked the guy why the clutch never showed any wear signs and he said he didn't know but he was positive it was the clutch. oh well, shit happens right. might've been a little too much of this and it was on the original clutch anyways.

 

If it was old and tired quite possible the panic stop twisted the center out of the clutch disc.

I thought of this when I thought a little more what could happen.

 

Well at least you know now, and you can replace the parts and get that Taco back on the road.

What brand of clutch are you going to replace it with?

 

i am going with OEM parts. just figuring on playing it safe. besides... this one lasted 158k miles so i figure i'll stick with it

 

Good deal!