so i was driving down the road and i merged into the center turning lane and as i went to pull out to cross the road i didn't have any clutch pedal (it went to the floor with no resistance)...also i noticed that i could switch to any gear with out depressing the clutch at all....after i tried the clutch a few more times the pedal got really hard...i couldn't press it in....not thinking i turn the truck off so i had to press it in to start it back....it took a large amount of force to get it in far enough to let the truck start...i got a pull off the road after that and the clutch was still hard as a rock....i had to start the truck again so i forced the pedal down so it would start and this time the pedal went away again...there was a little resistance at the main bottom of the pedal travel but the first 96.475 % was completely soft......i have had clutched go on me several times in the past in different trucks...but they never acted the way this one is....ever other time its happened to me i could start the truck in gear and it would go....this time with the truck running i could freely shift from one gear to another without pressing the clutch and nothing would engage at all....its like the clutch is stuck open...just trying to figure out what the problem is so i don't spend unnecessary money trying to fix it....thanks for any help you can give....

 

What year, engine, and transmission? How many miles on it?

 

1999 4.6 5speed not 100% on the miles since the odometer doesn't light up anymore but id say somewhere between 120 and 140 thou....thanks for the reply man...

 

That's about all you can expect out of the original clutch. The only thing you can do without pulling the tranny is bleed it and/or change the master cylinder, so I think you are probably looking at pulling the trans. If you have to do that, you might as well do a full clutch rebuild. To have this done by a shop will be in the $1000 range.

 

well yea i understand it was at its service limit....but what has confused me is how its acting...i have had several clutches go out on me in the past but in all of those cases the truck would act as if the clutch was fully engaged and you could still start the truck in gear and drive it...shifting without the clutch....in this case it act like the clutch is always depressed....which as far as i know may be common too but has never happened to me....

 

That is a strange one the way it acts. Possibly something with the master cylinder, if i had to take a wild guess. Please keep us updated.

 

Time for a new slave cylinder. Check to fluid level in the reservoir. You lost some fluid. I have had those symptoms a few times. The slave throw out bearing seizes melts the plastic and causes the hard pedal. Keep pressing and you can blow the seals right out and it will go to the floor.

FWIW I disabled the clutch switch so my truck will start in gear. If figure if you are too ignorant to know enough about driving to start any manual transmission vehicle in neutral then you deserve all the Shìt that goes with starting it in gear.