New to manual transmissions and their troubleshooting diagnosis. I have bled the slave cylinder three times trying to get a better pedal engagement. When starting in 1st gear the clutch engagement is at the top of it's travel. When I put it in 3rd or 4th, from a stopped position, it does not appear to slip. Does this still indicate a worn disk? Or maybe the pressure plate is worn out with 174k on it. Any idea would be appreciated.

 

Today is the day to replace the clutch assembly. My neighbor had offered to help me today but this morning he texted me that he didn't feel good and not able to give me a hand. Nice that he offered but I kinda knew he would bail as I never saw him with dirty hands or nails. (Newly retired ARMY Intel Officer) LoL. MacDill AFB Auto Hobby Shop opens at 11am so I guess I can "get-r-done." They have hydraulic lifts, tranny jacks and I'm sure there will be others there willing to lend a hand if needed. Bringing the exhaust down and the reinstall safely without damaging the cats is a concern. Just hope once I get the old clutch out I don't come up with needing something from the parts store. At that point I would have to beg a ride! Not replacing the seals as there is no evidence of leakage underneath. (Famous last words!). Let's see how the day goes and if anything else comes up!

 

All loaded up and ready to go! Useless pictures keep it interesting!

 

WHAT A FRIGITING NIGHTMARE! 5 HOURS TO CHANGE OIL IN THE MANUAL TRANNY! Rented a stall at the Auto Hobby Shop thinking they would have all the tools to do the work. Manual suggested changing the tranny oil, 5w-40 syn, before dropping. Up on the lift she went. Removed drain plug and removed only approximately 3/4 quart of oil. Manual says refill is 2 quarts.!!!!! "THEN" they didn't have a fill plug socket bit to remove the fill plug. After about an hour I located one. "THEN" they didn't have any way to pump the oil up into the fill plug hole. "SO" at this point I was "dead in the water," and not driving home! "SITTING THERE CRYING IN MY MINERAL WATER," I had to figure this one out. I found a couple pieces of short 1/2" and 1/4" tubing and made a pump! Drilled a small hole in the top of one of the quart containers and made air tight fit for the small tubing. Stuck the 1/2" tubing in the fill hole at the top and the quart bottle. Used a rag to make air tight fit around the 1/2" tubing of the quart bottle's opening. "I blew" on the 1/4" tube forcing the oil into the tranny! "Dang if it didn't work!" "THEN" disaster struck!" My hands were oily and dropped the second quart of oil and it spilled "everywhere!" Had to call wifey to go buy another quart of oil and bring it to me which took about an hour. Finally tranny serviced, adjusted the hand brake, cleaned up my area and went home after five hours of "doing something with nothing" to work with. $125 and five hours to service the manual transmission! WOW that seems so reasonable!

 

Guess clutch job will have wait till next week!

 

With the manual transmission & differential always make sure you can break the fill plug loose before draining . Not a easy job been there done that. You may have better results to power-bleed the clutch system along with the brakes which shares the same fluid

 

Yup, that would have kept me from being stranded for several hours. It would have been work for another day when I could buy the tools I needed! Due to the closeness of the plug to the tunnel, I used a thin wall wrench on the socket bit that was left sticking out beyond the plug. Had to remove the tranny mount to have a turning radius for the wrench. Tranny "seems" to shift better but I haven't tried driving it very far yet. I want to see if there is a 1st gear "clunk" when going into 1st gear with the engine is cold.

 

. I think I'll make a power bleeder from a sturdy 2 liter jug using a bicycle stem with a sealed tube in the reservoir cover. If anyone has a donor reservoir cover let me know.

 

That was good thinking on your feet! Luckily I had a hand operated transfer pump when I did my Diff and trans.
I gravity bled my brakes and clutch. It took a while, I can't remember how long but I don't think it was more than 1.5 to 2 hours.

 

This is what I'm going to make with a 1 gallon pump. Bought the 30 lb gauge and brass fittings and am waiting on the pump to arrive. Saw it on YouBoob. Just need to find a cap that will fit my reservoir.

 

I know I have issues with the clutch assembly. Instead of engagement somewhere around the middle of clutch pedal travel it's at the upper pedal's travel. I have a new clutch kit but am thinking of holding off for a while. The clutch disk does not slip when holding brake and trying to make it slip when putting it in 2nd or 3rd. "Supposedly" a new disk was installed last year. I'm suspecting a weak pressure plate. I have bled the slave cylinder three times "but" dirty fluid may be a contributing factor as there was a lot of moisture in it. As mentioned above, I'm making a power bleeder for replacing all fluid in clutch and brakes as they share the same reservoir. Just waiting on a brass hose fitting. (Too lazy to go to the hardware store, so eBay it.)