Cold weather hates my clutch?

[DeanMoriarty]

I'm having an odd problem, at least, it seems odd to me. I'm sure it'll make perfect sense to some of you here though.

I've noticed when it's very cold out lately, the truck acts a little weird going into gear, after I get going though, it's fine. A few days ago the temp got down well below zero here. I warmed my truck up for a good 25 minutes, got into it to leave, and the clutch went straight to the floor, no resistance, wouldn't go into gear. The slave cylinder was a little low, I added fluid, that firmed the pedal up a little bit, but not much, still wouldn't go into gear. I hitched a ride to work.

Today it warmed up above freezing so I went out to mess with it. I found that after I pumped the clutch several times, it got more firm and I could take the truck in and out of gear. Still, it's not as firm as normal and I have to push the gas when the clutch is barely released off the floor, otherwise it wants to die out. Normally the clutch pedal is about halfway up or more before I press the gas. It seems to drive now, and doesn't seem to slip or anything when it's in gear. I thought clutches would start slipping for a bit before they go out. Or am I dealing with a different problem here? Could it have just been low fluid combined with extreme cold? That's wishful thinking right? Thanks in advance.

 

[IamMonsterMan]

clutch sticking, it happens when its cold

idk if thats the problem your having though

 

[DeanMoriarty]

That would be nice.
Anyone else?

 

[snake]

Your problem sounds hydraulic to me- it shouldn't use fluid, so if it was low I'd say either the clutch master or the slave is leaking. It may also need bleeding, which could give you better pedal.

You might be looking at replacing the hydraulics this summer when it ain't so damn cold...

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

yep, slave cylinder was my first thought. my pedal is firm in the morning when i first start it up and take it out out of gear to let it warm up, but then it works normal once warm. as snake said, you shouldnt need to add fluid unless it was already low when it was working fine. im asuming you have the M5OD so you should be able to slide under there with a flash light and pull the rubber inspection plug on your bellhousing and see if there is any fluid in there. if there is, you have a "fun" or expensive job ahead of you.

 

[86ford]

everyone is polishing the turd here, sounds like your master or slave are bleeding past the seals. you should NEVER be low on fluid in your clutch system just like you should never be low on brake fluid. LOW=LEAK period. find the leak find the problem. the cold just made the problem known. hope you know how to shift without the clutch and over ride the clutch interlock if either the master or slave completely take a crap!

PM me if you have questions, i will most likely forget to check this thread later.


86

 

[86ford]

yep, slave cylinder was my first thought. my pedal is firm in the morning when i first start it up and take it out out of gear to let it warm up, but then it works normal once warm. as snake said, you shouldnt need to add fluid unless it was already low when it was working fine. im asuming you have the M5OD so you should be able to slide under there with a flash light and pull the rubber inspection plug on your bellhousing and see if there is any fluid in there. if there is, you have a "fun" or expensive job ahead of you.

if the master is bleeding past the seals it will have similar issues.

86

 

[DeanMoriarty]

Hm, yeah I figured it must be low for a reason. It is the M5OD, I'll have to slide under there and check for a leak like you suggested. If this is the case, is it safe to let it go until it warms up outside, or at least until I get my tax refund? Depends on how bad the leak is? And no... I don't know how to do either of those things, I'm debating on whether or not to drive it at all until I can get it fixed.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

if its leaking, then its not going to start leaking less, so you can drive it until it stops working and then id stop, before you do damage to the trans or anything esle. when you do replace it, assuming its the slave cylinder and not the master, you should also be replacing the throw out bearing, pilot bearing, clutch disc, pressure plate, and flywheel. flywheels go for about $65 or you can have yours resurfaced for $30 (thats what we charge at Auto Value). if youre doing it yourself and money is tight, then you COULD just do the slave cylinder, but if youre paying a shop to do it then you should have all of this done at once to avoid having to bring it back in 8 months for the rest of said parts.

 

[LITTLE FOOT]

mine had the same problem, turned out the be the slave. i also had to replace the clutch cos that was shot to

so yeah, have fun with that

 

[kunar]

well my truck has a nearly brand new master and slave (less than 10k on each) and i have been having the same exact issue. over the last couple days it has been below zero. jump in my truck and my pedal goes almost to the floor before it does anything. put it in gear and you barely have to move the pedal off the floor before it starts to engage. if you pump it for a minute, it gets a bit better. if you let it warm up, it gets pretty good. drive it for a while and it acts just fine, no issues at all, but let it sit and get cold again and you're back to the same exact problem. it engages really close to the floor, and it engages slowly. now that it has warmed up today (up to 20* or so) it seems fine. maybe somebody that lives up north will chime in on this. i certainly doubt i have a real issue, just figured it has something to do with the cold.

edit: was the fluid 'a little low' or was it empty? if it is using fluid, thats a problem. not a problem that goes away when it warms up.

 

[DeanMoriarty]

Yes. That is exactly what mine is doing. Granted, we've had a pretty mild winter here in missouri, this is the first time it's done it to the extreme that I couldn't get it into gear. Probably the first time it's dropped below zero also. Something sticking maybe, like someone suggested before?
The fluid was very slightly low, in measurement, I'd say maybe a teaspoon low.
I just wonder now if the two problems could be unrelated?

 

[lil red]

mine did the same thing yesterday exept i couldnt get ti into geat,

i tried to turn the truck around to jump the bronco and i got out on the street and it wouldnt go into gear, i had to push it off the road and into the driveway and i rammed it in reverse once it was rolling,

my trucks have been having problems latley, including one being toatlled
i was actually out in the drivewya screaming
"**** you ford" and "i dont care if you are the offical defender of the 2.9, you can suck my balls" and things like that at no one, im having a bad weekend

 

[Todd]

My clutch does the same thing at cold temps, 10 degrees or colder.

If you look at the window on the bottom of the bellhousing after pushing the clutch to the floor a few times when its cold you will notice brake fluid dripping out. The slave cylinder is leaking past the seal. It leaks only when you apply pressure to the system.

When the motor and tranny get to temp the slave cylinder warms up, the seal expands back to normal size and it does not leak and works as it should.

You and I both need a new slave. I however haven’t changed it out yet. I let the truck warm up and then Im good to go. But mine is a toy that isn’t getting used much lately so I have neglected to replace it. But I do plane on doing it some day.

On thing to do if you have a manual t-case to get the tranny warm is put the t-case in neutral and the tranny in 5th gear. While the truck is running and warming up so will the tranny and in turn the slave.

 

[PaleBlue90]

my ranger did it when it got super cold. my exploder acts stupid when its super cold. i slip the clutch to get moveing and it jumps like when you frist learn how to drive a stick. the whole jumping act. after it warms up a bit it stops. i think its just the cold. when i do a clutch on it, ill replace the slave just for safe messure