1999 Ford F-150 V-6 4.2L Mazda M5OD

Return of "Nightmare on F-150 Hydra-clutch bleed!"

Well, here is the update... 8 days later and over $575+tax later still no going into gears...
Here is a rewind of what happened.
Customer concern (or bitching); Loud noise when starting (input shaft bearing), while changing gears (throughtout bearing) and vibration at speeds over 35MPH (bad rear u-joint).

Truck clutch shifting fine, just noisy
What was done;
Day one, removed tranny and replaced flywheel, pressure plate, clutch disc, throughtout bearing, input shaft bearing, installed new U-joints and wasted 6 bottles of brake fluid. After 5 days of frustration and tireless efforts I was able to gain a hard pedal.
Tranny will go into gears while engine off and will not engage while running. Was told by a "master tranny tech" that I had put the clutch disc backwards and/or it needed a clutch thoughout bearing/hub assy... (Remember, truck was running before it drove in shop!)

After 7 days of no success tranny was taken down for second time, inspection revealed nothing wrong with clutch disc assy; needless to say, I replaced hub/clutch throughout bearing assy. Then spent another 45 minutes bleeding the darn thing!
The moment of truth came, there was a moment of silence and lots of sweaty foreheards. After biting my greasy nails full of brake fluid, I inserted the key in the ignition and started the truck, pushed the clutch pedal and grabbed the shifter... (this must had been the longest 3 seconds of my life!)
Here is the verdict; SAME CONCERN! yuks!!!

Day #6, was told by the same guy and 2 others (who claim the had seen this problem before) I needed a new slave cylinder master cylinder cause mine must had been internally collapsed, not a problem, it took about 1 hour to r/r and bleed. Guess what! I got a stiffer pedal and same f**ki*g concern!

The hydraulic system is 100% new and the clutch is too. The tranny is not bad cause I drove it in the shop. All parts appeared the same, all motorcraft except flywheel (unknown brand) and clutch assy (ACDelco).

I have a very good pedal and I can shift gears while engine off. Not able to shift with engine running. I can start in gears and it will move if clutch pedal is released.
It appears to me the clutch is not releasing completedly...

I ran out of options and have no clue what to do.
The book says clutch plate has to be depressed before installation and springs turned clockwise, any ideas???

 

Im sure you have heard this before. But, Every time I have had this problem the clutch was not blead completly. Did u try jacking the rear of the truck up before bleeding?

 

have you tried floating the gears just to see if they'll change

 

I'm guessing your replacement flywheel was ground down too far and the throwout bearing can't reach far enough to fully disengage the pressure plate. Only possible thing I can think of.

 

In your other thread I mentioned the pilot bearing.

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

Ok guys, so after 9 days , taking the tranny down 3 times and $575 +tax I finally got the b*tch running.

I replaced all those mechanical and hydraulical components, one of the most important steps I overlooked was the "adjust the clutch pressure plate"
The clutch plate has to be put on a press with the flywheel on bottom, (no clutch disc) compress the fingers with a special tool in middle, while depressed the 3 inner springs must be FULLY pulled counterclockwise, then release the press. Now you got your adjusted clutch!

The nightmare turned into a dream reality and I hope my dillemma plus information can be of any help to someone with similar troubles in the future...

Thanks a lot for your feedback guys!

Eric