Stiff clutch

[garrett]

We were talking about the clutch fork inside the transmission, the part that moves the throwout bearing. Interestingly some people have had issues with the pivot punching through the fork, which is a common problem with diesel Land Rovers since they have a stamped steel fork.

http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=193199

- Matt

wow, that's not encouraging.... i guess the only way to see this is to drop the transmission?? probably not happening for me unless it stops working all together or clutch needs replacement, which may be a while...

i am jealous of his 'light as a feather' comment however...

[slomatt]

I borrowed a borescope from a friend and plan to inspect the inside of the 4Runner's bell housing to see what there is to see. My Land Rover has much more serious transmission problems so have to debug that also.

- Matt

[slomatt]

VICTORY!

The heavy clutch in the 4Runner has been causing issues with my left knee, so I decided to take the plunge and try to get it fixed. I was going to replace the clutch myself but I haven't had time, so I ended up taking it to a shop.

Here's what was installed.

Marlin Crawler HD 1200lb-ft pressure plate, clutch, throwout bearing, and pilot bearing.
https://www.marlincrawler.com/clutch...-lb-clutch-kit

New flywheel.

Aisin CMT-093 Clutch Master Cylinder
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o03_s01

Aisin CRT-014 Clutch Slave Cylinder
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o03_s01

Originally I was just going to change the clutch, but the new master and slave cylinders are not that expensive so I decided to replace them as insurance. I also previously made sure that my clutch pedal bushings are in good shape, see http://www.ultimateyota.com/showthre...t=heavy+clutch.


Ever since I bought the truck the clutch pedal has been very stiff and there is a groaning noise when you depress it. There was also some shudder in the morning when first engaging the clutch, and the throwout bearing whined a bit when the clutch was out in neutral.


I'm happy to report that all of this has been fixed! The clutch is now amazingly light, to the point where when I first depressed it I thought they had forgotten to hook up the hydraulics. It's like driving a completely different truck. My clutch was definitely worn (114k miles), and there was play in the pilot bearing. They did not see any scoring on the input shaft or issues with the throwout bearing clips or the clutch fork.

Coincidentally, I had just washed the truck (only happens about once a year), and the mechanic said "You know how you feel when your friend has a super hot girlfriend? That's how I feel about your truck." I'm just happy that the clutch issue is resolved, and I'm interested to see how the HD pressure plate performs on the trail.

- Matt

[4x4mike]

Great to hear. On start up yesterday I heard what sounds like a slight chirp. It might actually be belts but I too have the heavy pedal. I'm about 10K miles from putting 100K on my 4Runner so I assume it's a factory clutch. Thanks for the parts list as this may be something I do soon.