Isn’t that used on Flathead V8s?
I am not seeing any fluid leaks coming from the master cylinder. I pulled the carpet and sound deadening material back and it was dry. I also looked on the other side of the firewall and nothing….
I will get under the truck in a bit. At the rate I have added fluid there has to be some coming out at the bell housing if the slave is leaking.
I had this happen twice before and both times it was the slave. Once was on this truck and the other my 1997 F250 light duty that I let die a few months back.
The symptoms were as follows. Clutch became harder to disengage until fluid leaked to where it wouldn’t. Adding fluid and pumping a few times restored function. If you really let it go to where it is hard to drive, you have to add it a second time in quick succession. At this rate if I look there will HAVE to be fluid somewhere.
And by most manufacturers. Well into the 1960’s as well.
I’m 56 years old and I recall replacing rope seals (front and rear) during the beginning of my career. Thankfully those days are gone now.
You probably also recall replacing things like distributor caps and rotors and radiator hoses with regularity, and replacing brake pads every 30,000 miles. All things that have improved in the intervening decades.
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So true, my daughters 17 Corolla LE w/CVT has over 105,000 miles on it with the original factory installed brake, at the rate they are wearing, I am thinking they will go 150,000 miles on them…
A lot of the Tacoma guys are getting 70,000 plus miles out of the brakes…
I know the Chevy Express vans were getting 100,000 miles out of their brakes (around here anyway)…
My Grand Caravan had 196,930 miles on all the original hoses, 06 Corolla had over 180,000 miles on the OE hoses, I don’t remember the last time I replaced a radiator/heater hose, unless I was replacing the radiator already…
Same here. And when’s the last time you saw a car by the side of the road with a broken hose? They used to drive into the gas station I worked at in the ‘70s all the time.
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Well I got under the truck today. The master cylinder looks pretty clean. I can see where I have dripped by constantly adding fluid but there is no leak at the firewall. I pulled the carpet and sound deadening back and nothing is oily.
On the other hand, fluid is just dripping from the transmission/engine interface and everything down there is just coated. This appears to be the slave cylinder which requires the engine and transmission come apart. This failure has happened to me twice before and it was always the slave. I guess I just got unlucky. Once with this this same truck and another time it was the 1997 F250 light duty that is done for.
You still are making sound like you have to pull the engine and trans, then separate them… You only need to pull the transmission, the engine just hangs from both the engine mounts…
I guess you are right on that. This still involves some labor and not a super quick fix. There may be a few other problems with the truck as well. It looks like the 2WD models do not hold their value at all so if I am not planning to keep this truck long-term, spending the money needed might not be a good idea.
Also, the ABS light just came on within the last week and I have maybe started hearing a suspension noise. The ABS is likely a simple wheel speed sensor. A chain tire shop I had to use due to a flat also told me that both my inner tie rods are on their way out but would be passable in an inspection for now. Others tell me this shop tells EVERYONE they need some new part to drum up business so am not sure I trust that diagnostic.
There might be a few things wrong with the truck but need to take the time to jack it up and look at the suspension or have a shop take a look. The truck will not be needed so was thinking it might be best to sell it as is if it isn’t worth much more with all the problems fixed.
Something else…. The oil pan was cracked when I ran over some metal in the road at night. I patched this probably over a decade ago with JB Weld and it is still holding fine. I do have a spare pan that I had planned to have swapped the next time something like the clutch had to be done. The oil pan on these isn’t just a small stamped metal deal. It is like a structural part of the engine and the transmission partially mounts to it on these trucks. I have a good used part on hand but the job of swapping this is more work and cost.
I wouldn’t flinch if I knew I was keeping the truck but am not sure at this point. I get the feeling that fixing all that might or might not be wrong with this thing is probably not worth it. The KBB value of the truck in excellent shape is only around $3000. My example is probably more of a $1500-2000 truck.
I know it would probably go on a while longer as the fundamentals are all good if all repairs were completed.
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Inner tie rod ends look just like outer tie rod ends, nothing fancy and just as easy to replace, RockAuto sells them for under $10.00 each… But my money would be on the center link and maybe the idler arm… lol… still not a bad job…
It’s aluminum, if it ain’t leaking, I wouldn’t think about it again, it looks fancier than it is…
Is it a short bed or long bed, standard or extended cab??
Someone looking to do a V8 swap and do some drag racing or street strip might be looking for it, so if you decide to sell it, try to add the hot rod truck crowd to the mix, I know several people running S10’s on the strip…