Clutch Problems

[armonster24]

Hey guys,

So a few weeks ago i noticed what felt like my clutch slipping, the rpms didn't jump unusually high but my 4runner acted like it was being lugged and i just had a new clutch put in a year ago, i took it to my mechanic who said that i had a small oil leak in my rear main seal and that the oil had gotten onto my clutch which is what caused it to slip. so here are my options, replace the clutch and the rear main seal, do an oil change and switch to thicker oil (i'm currently running 5-30 and was thinking of switching to 10-30 with lucas oil stabilizer) and see if i can burn off the oil there. my main question (aside what should i do) is whether or not this even sounds plausible i mean has anyone else heard of an oil leak that messed up their clutch? and wouldn't it get around the flywheel for that to even happen? the problem is also intermittent and i noticed today that while it's slipping its making a ticking sound.

any of the guru's wanna weigh in this?

thanks guys

[04 Rocko Taco]

What year is your rig? Is it the 95 from your sig?

It definitely sounds plausible for the rear main seal to leak oil into the bellhousing, I have seen it happen before. If you are doubtful, have another shop take a look. (Don't tell them what the first mechanic said) See what they come up with.

Another thing that I would check, assuming you pull your own tranny and are both able, and inclined to do this work yourself, is the thickness of the actual "friction surface" on the flywheel.
This is the difference between the smooth shoulder of the flywheel (where the pressure plate bolts go) and the slightly raised area that the clutch disc comes into contact with.
I think Toyota spec says to stop using it after it gets much thinner than around .0016" Marlin sells thier resurfaced flywheels with a .0025" friction surface. From personal experience Autozone or other such places usually sell around .0019" - .0021" friction flywheels.
If you go through the trouble of dropping the tranny, then truthfully a clutch and flywheel set are relatively cheap. It's the rear main seal thats going to be tricky if you are hesitant to dive into that alone. You don't want to put in a new clutch set and have it ruined the same way from the leaking oil.

Also - out of curiosity, why the need to switch to a thicker oil after replacing the main seal?

[armonster24]

ya, she's a 95 4runner 5spd 4x4. the big bummer with the whole situation is that the engine is a remanufacted one that i put in a little over a year ago (hence why i had a new clutch put in then as well) honestly i was hoping it was a cheaper less time consuming answer then the clutch. My only thought/hope of running a thicker oil is that since my mechanic said that the leak was very small that a thicker oil might not be able to get through the seal seeing as it's supppose to be practically new, this was more of a long shot then putting in the actual money to repair it but honestly idk how much longer i can stand driving her in this condition. is there any chance it could be a bad or sticky slave cylinder? i sometimes have problems shifting into reverse which has been an issue even after the new clutch was put in, again a long shot hope.

[04 Rocko Taco]

It COULD be the slave, but that is a pretty long shot. Slave isn't a terribly expensive part nor is it that hard to change. Just a couple of bolts, and a fitting, but it does involve bleeding the clutch, and is sort of the "shotgun approach" to fixing your issue.

I'm not judging in any way, some people are mechanically inclined, others are not. Are you in a position (tools, space, time, knowledge, ability) to do any of this work yourself?

[armonster24]

I'm pretty mechanically capable i've never had to screw with a transmission before though which is what gives me some pause on the matter i do have a buddy who's done a lot of work on his 4runner i was just trying to figure out if it was something worth bribing him to help me with or just let a shop take care of

[Obi..]

*Side note, I've personally seen quite a few non Toyota Techs call things a "rear main seal leak" because they see the usual 3.0 oil dripping down around from the top of the bellhousing which is actually caused by improper prep and use of FIPG around the cam seals on the heads. It leaks through the rear corner edges of the valve covers on down.

If you were to crawl underneath your rig and look up at where the trans meets the block and the main scatter shield there's about a 1/8" half round weep hole on the bottom of the bellhousing. Take a small piece of piano wire and bend it so there's about a 1/2" leg to it at 90 degrees, fish that into the bellhousing and drag it along the inside bottom then pull it out and see how much burnt clutch material and oil's there. *If it's a bad enough leak it'll already have been dripping out of the week hole in the first place.

Also, where the heck are you that you need to be running 5w30 b/c 10w30's the standard do it all spec these engine call for unless we're talking upper Canada/Alaska type weather temps, and even then you're better off with a block warmer dipstick to preheat the oil anyhow. Your sig line says San Diego, you should never have been running something so thin in spec. 10w30, period if you want to get fancy use an oil filter that's the Tundra spec instead (D3 vs D5 IIRC).

[04 Rocko Taco]

Good advice from Norcal.

Don't let 'working with transmissions' scare you off. Just keep in mind that you aren't getting into any of the complicated parts.
In my '84 Runner with the 22R and the G series 5 speed transmission, there are 7 bolts (and 1 nut for the starter) around the bellhousing, 2 small bolts for the slave cylinder, and then of course pulling the driveshafts, and the crossmember. Voila, trans and t-case dropped.

Clutch work is never as complicated as people make it out to be in thier heads. If you have much mechanical ability, and a decent place to work, then you should be fine swapping clutches.

Also - In regards to Norcal's post about your oil, I thought he might be mistaken, and in fact, I was wrong. The 3VZE engine does spec out at 10W30 motor oil. Given the 3.0's inherent internal issues, I would run exactly what is spec'd.

[Obi..]

:spit: :ban:

Also - In regards to Norcal's post about your oil, I thought he might be mistaken, and in fact, I was wrong. The 3VZE engine does spec out at 10W30 motor oil..
:flipoff: http://images.obesityhelp.com/_shared/images/smiley/msn/bowdown.gif :drink:
~What you are more than welcome to question is my direction as far as the D3 or D5 filters. Factory spec is a D1 size while the D3 is off of the Tacoma and Tundra Spec Sheet and the D5's off of a Lexus Spec Sheet. Both the D3 and D5 are of a higher capacity and slightly larger size which lets you run a little more oil and also have a little more filter media, which in the end is always a good thing to have. http://th15.photobucket.com/albums/a384/themarbleintheoatmeal/smilies/th_character0303.gif

*An even easier trick is if you were to run a quart of factory oil and then take the empty bottle and cut it in half across the middle or a little more towards the bottom. The bigger top that's on them isn't just for a fast and easy pour, it also screws nicely into the valve cover acting as a topple proof oil funnel.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-HUTNvCCqZu4/TfVgNdIZ6yI/AAAAAAAABG4/5fQ9TmgcXhQ/s800/IMG_0002.JPG :wrenchin: