Clutch Pedal Stiff! Help!!!

[Jarrod]

I need some help from the SHO gurus. Tonight, after driving the SHO for about 30-40 minutes, I was coming around the corner to park in front of my dorm complex. There's a long, wide corner before a regular 90* corner to get to my dorm complex. Coming around the wide corner, I pushed in the clutch, put the transmission in neutral, and let the clutch back out to coast around the corner. Well, here comes the problem. I go to push the clutch pedal back in and it doesn't budge... not an inch. I'm coasting towards the final corner, freaking out, wondering what's going on, keeping my foot on the clutch pedal, pressing and releasing, hoping it will heal itself. Sitting at the stop sign, probably 50 or 60 ft from my parking spot, the pedal "pops" and goes in a little, hardly at all. I can slide the transmission into 1st, and limp to my parking spot. I sit with there, with the clutch pedal moving a little. Finally, I turn the car off. The clutch pedal will move some now, but doesn't feel right, and won't go down all the way. It will barely go down far enough for me to start the car... What happened?

Some of you might remember a while ago, when I posted pictures of my original clutch, that I have recently had a new clutch and flywheel put it. Now, I didn't do the work myself, but took the car to a trusted mechanic who had done work on vehicles for my family and family friends before with no ill reports. The clutch has about 1500 miles on it now...

HELP! I need this car back ASAP. It's not my only mode of transportation, but I'd rather drive it everyday than my 9 mpg '85 K10.

 

[SASHO91]

Have you checked under the hood for anything that might have wrapped around the linkage?

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

How many miles on this clutch?

If it isnt a linkage problem, it could very well be PP finger wear/failure, and the TOB is pushing it's way thru the PP fingers.

 

[Jarrod]

SASHO91,
Haven't taken the time to look under the hood. This happend about 40 minutes ago.

Kenny,
Clutch has about 1500 miles on it.... brand new clutch kit purchased from TYSHO. It's the kit he advertises as being comparable to the CM Stage I. It's was installed with a brand new Ford OEM flywheel.

 

[SASHO91]

could be a problem with the quadrent as well.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

Which TOB did they install? If they didn't install a Rev. B kit and installed an old style TOB it may very well have bound on the quill.

 

[Jarrod]

Quadrent..? You guys will have to excuse my ignorance when it comes to manual transmissions and clutches. Engines, brakes, steering, suspension, and anything else, I'm well versed in. But my tech school doesn't have a transmission section in the curriculum...

 

[SASHO91]

Also,to add to Chris's post, was a quill sleeve installed?

EDIT:
Its the gear mechanism that automatically adjusts the clutch. After time the clutch wears down(duh, ) and the quadrent adjusts so the pedal is always in the correct position. However, after posting that, its proably not the quadrent..

 

[Jarrod]

I bought my TOB from RCM automotive. It's described as "Revised Throwout Bearing with Repair Sleeve." See it here.

 

[SASHO91]

go take a look under the hood....

unless it was installed wrong, i dont see any problem with the clutch.. unless it has failed allready(highly unlikely).

 

[Jarrod]

SASHO91 was right! There was something messing with the linkage!!!

This.


Size comparison.


So, does this look like something that should be holding my transmission to my engine to anybody else????

I'm off work tomorrow, and I'm out of class by noon. So, I think I'm gonna go raise some ****..

My best guess is that my "mechanic" didn't get this top bolt torqued correctly and it's managed to work its way out. It fell down and was resting between a piece of "webbing" on the top of the transmission and the linkage. Moved it, and everything feels as good as ever.

I'm going to look around tomorrow to see if I'm missing any others. How many am I supposed to be looking for..?

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

Looks to be a tranny to motor bolt. Some of those are a bit fun to get to.

You should be glad its an EASY fix

 

[Jarrod]

Yeah.. I was very relieved (annoyed, but relieved). Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[SASHO91]

Take each bolt out one at a time, and loctite each one.... TRUST ME......

 

[93rev2sev]

Time to check my tranny to engine bolts...

 

[Jarrod]

UPDATE:

Just got the car back. My mechanic was very apologetic, double checked all the other bolts, and the linkage and everything to make sure nothing else seemed out of place.

It's good to see someone stand behind his work like that.

 

[SASHO91]

Glad to hear it went well.

 

[Jarrod]

Thanks Again Everyone!