Clutch Adjustment Advice

On my other truck, I changed my clutch at the advice of a mechanic who drove it in the process of doing an alignment. He said the friction point was really high just like yours, and that to him was a sign of being worn out.

It wasn't worn out. It had _lots_ of life left, at 130,000 something miles.

My taco is currently at 193,000 and on its original clutch (near as I can tell, I have records going back to 80k and I don't see anything about the clutch...). I bet yours has more life in it.

 

I'd agree with you. Until it really shows slippage, I'm just going to let it ride. I've got bigger fish to fry (aka other monies to be spent on this truck than a clutch right now). Preventative maintenance has been my priority since the age of these trucks dictates replacing of certain critical things.

Thanks @0xDEADBEEF for sharing

 

that is some good mileage!

have you tested it in the higher gears (4th/5th) going uphill at a faster rate of speed, notice it slipping and engine revs?
that is how I knew two of my early used cars many many years ago were toasted (bot from women drivers lol) before 80k miles

 

The clutch on my '03 has been doing some funny stuff for a bit...it's time to fix something. Not sure what though. Engagement range seems a bit narrower than it should be; it hops a bit if I don't get it just right; and sometimes a bit of a squeal. I need to get the pedal to the floor to get the clutch to engage and even then it can be tough to get it into 1st.

So I got the truck in the garage yesterday and started poking around - looking for adjustments and whatnot. I did note that the fluid level is lower than it should be and a pretty dark color. I replaced it 3 years ago when I replaced the master & slave cylinders. I don't know if it works the same way, but with brakes you can tell that your pads are getting worn as fluid level drops in the reservoir - was thinking maybe that's what I'm seeing? Then again when considering the interface mechanism on the clutch housing, it almost seems like that would not be the case in this situation. I guess there could also be a small leak in the system. I replaced the bad parts with Aisin OEM.

Any dead giveaways there? I'm thinking it's time for plates, but maybe I get lucky?

TIA!

 

when you do have to replace the clutch do yourself a favor and take the flywheel and the seperator plate off and look at the core plugs on the back of the block, especially the one on the drivers side. The D/S bank sits farther back and there is a projection in the casting for coolant to get to the back side of that cylinder. That lower shelf of that projection is where all of the shit it the cooling system collects and rusts out the core plug. You are right there doing the job and it would be a real pisser to have to take the trans back out in 6 months.

 

It actually wound up being a matter of adjustment here. I bled the hydraulics - still the same (although it badly needed a fluid swap after only 3 years). Then I pulled the pin on the pedal, gave myself a little more rod - about a full turn and put it back together and it's all good now. Clutch engages about halfway through pedal stroke. Before the pedal was sticking on me a bit - had to pull it out a little with my foot. But no more of that. I've never adjusted the clutch before and almost lost the nylon bushing that sits in the hole...didn't notice it when I pulled out the pin but found it when I was finishing up and getting ready for a test drive. 185k on what I'm pretty sure is a stock clutch and it seems like there's plenty of life left!