Truck Gets Stuck in Gear

Soft_Click

Soft_Click

Member
I’m driving my 1966 IH Pickup in downtown Portland (which sucks even in a modern car!) and suddenly the clutch is engaging right off the bottom of the floor, way lower than normal. Next few stoplights are fine, then suddenly I can’t get the clutch to release at all. I held the brakes harder and the engine stalled. Now I’m waiting for a tow. The pedal is back working again, somehow just pumping it a few times seemed to fix it, but I’m sure it will happen again.

No obvious signs of leaking between the reservoir and slave cylinder. I’m thinking it must be the pilot bearing or something between the engine and transmission?

Any ideas?
 
When I got my truck back in my driveway last night, I checked the brake / clutch fluid reservoir and it was pretty low. (Also it’s completely fouled with rust, which may be part of the problem too.) I filled the reservoir, bled the slave cylinder until it was clean, then topped it off again.

The pedal firmed up right away, then I started the engine and the pedal went soft again. I have to think the engine running making a difference is just a coincidence, it shouldn’t matter I think.

Even when the clutch is weightless, it’s still moving the slave cylinder. Next step will be getting underneath and looking behind the inspection cover.
 
Everything behind the inspection cover looked great, although the transmission is leaking out of the rear seal.

What I’ve found is the slave cylinder isn’t holding the pressure. When the clutch pedal is depressed, the clutch is disengaged and then quickly re-engages as the slave cylinder retracts. I think at this point it could be the slave or the master cylinder. The slave is new from last year and < 500 miles on it from IHPA, so I’m betting it’s the original master cylinder now.
 
Good work on the diagnosis. If there is fluid coming out of the slave, then that's the issue. If it's leaking back into the MC then that's the issue.
 
I’m thinking master cylinder now. I ordered Binder Boneyard’s booster kit which I’m hoping will fix the clutch and improve the brakes
 
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