Need Opinion About Clutch on F-350.

I have had this 1997 4WD F-350k 5 speed diesel power stroke HD. It is a pulling machine. Bottom 3 gears low, but 5th takes you down the road. Clutch has been fine until a neighbor started borrowing it. Never had a clutch replaced in anything that I owned before. The clutch was still high and tight, and he uses it and it is almost the bottom. Grrr! He gets it 50 miles from the house and the slave cylinder went out. Had to bring it in on a wrecker and took it to have it fixed and told him I wanted the clutch back like it used to be which meant replace the clutch. But, he only replaced the slave cylinder and the clutch is almost at the floorboard. I told him when I took it down there that the clutch was at the bottom and I wanted it replaced.
He kept it 3 months and I was not happy. I get it and push the clutch in and it is down almost to the floor board. Truck runs and drives great. But to be honest where the clutch is at the bottom, I don't trust driving it very far from home. It has 368,0000 miles on it; but still, the clutch is not trust worthy to me. I wanted it back at the top and was going to pay to have everything replaced.

He seems to think that it will go longer. I would like to know if he would let his wife get 100 miles away from home with a load with the clutch almost down to the floor.

It has got to the point that you just cannot trust people to work on crap.

I am sick that I loaned it out and sick that this man kept it so long and did half of the work. He said he was trying to save me some money. It was all I could do to keep from getting a bit upset, and I am not talking about crying. I said to him,"I had rather pay for a new clutch than a new truck."

I just said thank you. Walked out the door.

Now, am I being unreasonable to want my clutch to be replaced pulling loads far away from home when it is almost to the floor???

Man, it was hard being without it last winter and to get it back like this...

I’m not sure what you mean by clutch being at top or bottom, but if you mean the clutch doesn’t disengage until you have the pedal nearly to the floor, you need to bleed the system. The clutch itself may very well be fine, and the slave cylinder was leaking. When they replaced it, may not have gotten it bled properly. They can be a pain

Lesson here is don't loan out stuff....

If the slave and master is filled and bled properly, and the clutch fork isn't worn out, then take the inspection cover off the bottom of the bellhousing and do your best to look at the clutch disc and see what it looks like.

Is the dude that borrowed it and tore it up, fixing it himself, or is he getting someone else to?

Take it to a shop and let them see if it's the clutch or the slave cylinder. Chock it up to a lesson learned and move on. I bet he priced a clutch and saw how much they cost now.

It sounds more like an adjustment problem Suzanne. On my Isuzu FSR I bought it cheap as they thought the clutch needed replacing as it was slipping under load. The first thing I did was to adjust the free play and travel to manufactures specs and almost 20 years later it is still the same clutch. In my case the rod on the end of the slave cylinder was too far out and kept pressure on the clutch plate when driving.
The old test on a clutch was to take off on a bit of a hill in 3rd or 4th gear depending on how many gears you have.
I think the best advice is to take it to someone who knows what they are doing and you can trust for advice rather than just to sell you a new clutch and don't go putting words in their mouth.

Ken

There's really no adjustment on that clutch setup.

But checkout the firewall around the clutch master cylinder they were known to crack allowing the master cylinder to move thus changing the clutch pedal throw, also there's a plastic bushing down on the pedal assembly that's old and brittle I'm sure.

chevytaHOE5674 said:

Lesson here is don't loan out stuff....

If the slave and master is filled and bled properly, and the clutch fork isn't worn out, then take the inspection cover off the bottom of the bellhousing and do your best to look at the clutch disc and see what it looks like.

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Amen on not loaning anything out. But this man helps me so much that I would have taken the risk to have no help at all. Lost my husband in 2022 and at times, it is hard. So, I help him and he helps me. But, not driving my truck any longer. It was a lesson I had learned long ago, but now I am eating it again. I woke up wanting to scream this morning again. Don't screw with my equipment!! Went through this with the my husband's grandson driving my 3020. The clutch started disappearing again. It had to be adjusted. I have had it for years and it never needed adjusting before. They just need to go buy an expensive hydrostat tractor and stay off equipment with gears.

I had a 97 F350, 4wd, 5-spd,reg. cab, SRW XL, for over 26 years, just sold it last spring. In all of those years, and over 300k miles, I had to put injectors it one time. Brakes, I think maybe 4 times. Probably one of my favorite trucks. Bought it in 1999 for $16k and sold it a while back for $12k. $4k for 25 years of use is not bad! :)

Just got this truck back last night. He replaced the slave cylinder and had trouble getting the DOT3 brakefluid bled out in the reservoir down to the cylinder. It kept air in the lines and he had someone pouring the brake fluid in the top until all the air was out of the lines. Now, the clutch works, but is still almost to the floor. He says, sure the clutch has wear, but it has 366,000 miles on it. GRRRRRR. That is what I wanted fixed. I don't want a truck with a worn clutch that is almost to the floor. Every truck that I have driven, the clutch in sitting position is high, unless it is a worn out spare. Every truck that had a good clutch, the clutch has pressure at the top as soon as you push in and it engages about half way, but still I take it to the floor to shift.
In this truck, the clutch when sitting, the clutch is high. But when you go to the floor, the clutch is loose or sloppy until I get about 5 or 6" from the floor and as I push it in, it engages before it hits the floor. THAT SUCKS!

The clutch fork is still working, but in fear of where the clutch is almost to the floor before I can change the gears, Chevytahoe. We talked about that when I told him the clutch is so low before it has any pressure at all.

If this man is a true mechanic, he would have adjusted the clutch as I told him the clutch was sloppy and was down to the floor. I think he did as little as possible to the truck.

They talked about how long it took to get the air out of the slave cylinder lines.
I don't care how old the truck is, I want the clutch to engage higher up like it did before. The engine is great and so is the transmission. Put a new clutch in it if that is what it takes. If it takes $3,000, then put it in. That is what I was anticipating it to cost. But I was charged $771.00 to replace the slave cylinder.

Ken, if it is just adjusting the free play, I have no way of knowing how to do this.

I remember a mechanic at work talking about a man that he got aggravated at for coming in and saying his clutch was not right. So this man put a heavier spring on the clutch so it would wear him out and laughed about it. I asked him if he brought the truck back in and he said no, he never complained about and was happy. Well, I don't want that for sure. But back then the clutches were different and I think it was on a cab over Mack. First truck I drove at work and it was either a 4 speed or 5 speed cab over Mack as well . Talking about waiting a long time for the RPM's to fall before you could shift; it was hard to get used to. First truck I learned to drive was a 13 speed a farmer had hauling cottonseed from the cotton gin in Tennessee to Missouri, or if overloaded I would go to Memphis on the back roads. Gears were really close together and they floated so easy. You could almost pick up a coke and take a drink before the Mac's RPM's fell where you could slide into the next gear.

After him keeping my truck for three months, I don't dare take anything back to him.
Not taking it to a dealer as they rip you a new one, as they hire anyone off the street. If they don't get it fixed the first time, they charge you just as much or more after they say they corrected the problem. People just don't want to work any more.

The man that created this problem is not fixing it. I took it to a man that works on trucks. This seems to be a common problem now. People want to fix small problems. Change oil, do a tune up, and little projects.

Don't want to let go of my 7.3 for a 6.4 engine. They talk about the new Fords are one of the most unreliable trucks as they are in and out of the shop. They stopped building the 7.3's because they run forever and they never need repairing. The rest of the truck might fall apart, but the engine is a good one. Ford, put the 7.3 International engine back in your trucks!!!!!

We had some younger kids helping do some clean recently and they had cut some brush down. They decided to get the tractor and put the brush to a pile. I told them to just focus on cutting and throw it on a pile or wind-row and I would push it up. I show up and they have pushed it up with the bale spears. I can see the cuts in the ground where the spears were digging some times. We have a nice grappler for the tractor. Then a couple weeks later I show up to put hay out late and reach for the light switch on the tractor and it just spins and is loose. The wires are ripped out the back also. Im at a loss at how that even happens.

It really frustrates me because we have nice equipment. Not fancy but every thing works and is on good shape. I always have it serviced and maintained so that you can show up and use it when needed and not fight breakdowns.

I cut those kids loose a couple weeks ago. They caused more headaches than they fixed. My other issue with them was trash. Every time they were there you found trash in the pasture, off the road, etc. You dont have to ge a rocket scientist to pick up your own trash.

For me its an integrity issues. I dont mind if tou break things. I just want to know ASAP so it can be repaired and we dont end up in the situation I described where we need some thing and it doesnt work. These kids know the switch got broke. They know the trash was in the pasture. They also broke a sprayer mounted on a sxs and I showed up to spray and found it. Not telling me you broke it is the same as lying in my book.

Lucky said:

Take it to a shop and let them see if it's the clutch or the slave cylinder. Chock it up to a lesson learned and move on. I bet he priced a clutch and saw how much they cost now.

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That is what I had spoke of. They replaced the slave cylinder and bled the lines for a few days as they had trouble getting the air out. Now it feels the same right before it stopped working all together.

Brute 23 said:

We had some younger kids helping do some clean recently and they had cut some brush down. They decided to get the tractor and put the brush to a pile. I told them to just focus on cutting and throw it on a pile or wind-row and I would push it up. I show up and they have pushed it up with the bale spears. I can see the cuts in the ground where the spears were digging some times. We have a nice grappler for the tractor. Then a couple weeks later I show up to put hay out late and reach for the light switch on the tractor and it just spins and is loose. The wires are ripped out the back also. Im at a loss at how that even happens.

It really frustrates me because we have nice equipment. Not fancy but every thing works and is on good shape. I always have it serviced and maintained so that you can show up and use it when needed and not fight breakdowns.

I cut those kids loose a couple weeks ago. They caused more headaches than they fixed. My other issue with them was trash. Every time they were there you found trash in the pasture, off the road, etc. You dont have to ge a rocket scientist to pick up your own trash.

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I can see where that would chap your azz. It would mine. Good grief. Even when they had to go back and reposition, do they not see where they cut into the ground with the bale spear? Awwgghh!

People that have not been taught to do two things as once can only see what is in front of them. To tell them that you have to look behind and in front, is just beyond their ability.

A lot of people think that just dumb people are farm hands. Not so. It takes common sense to see all that could happen if you do this or that. And to figure things out and keep an eye on gauges and temps. I am beginning to think those that they say are so good on computers are your less brilliant people. Sure, they can do things because they have been playing video games since Mom and Dad put them on the computer to get them out of their hair.

I used to watch people that drove tractors that never ever look behind while they are plowing, discing or cultivating, which is a thing of the past. They stare straight ahead while they listen to the tunes on the radio if they have a cab tractor. But even those that have open station still stare straight ahead. They may forget to let the disc or do-all back down after having to pick it up and ride a long time before they see that they are just riding along.
I look behind me almost as much as I look forward when I bush hog. I do love driving a tractor.

There is no free-play adjustment. If the pivot bushing on the pedal assembly is good, the firewall isn't cracked, the clutch fork isn't worn or bent, the master/slave is bled correctly, then the clutch is wore out.

No biggy to change really for a decent mechanic with basic tools. Just did one in my superduty in about 4 hours of wrenching (2 days waiting for the flywheel to get cut).

Wonder if the 1997 still has the dual mass flywheel setup in it? If you so have to decide if you want to risk continuing to run it or switch it to a typical single mass setup.

Warren Allison said:

I had a 97 F350, 4wd, 5-spd,reg. cab, SRW XL, for over 26 years, just sold it last spring. In all of those years, and over 300k miles, I had to put injectors it one time. Brakes, I think maybe 4 times. Probably one of my favorite trucks. Bought it in 1999 for $16k and sold it a while back for $12k. $4k for 25 years of use is not bad! :)

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Whitey, the ton truck I am speaking of, is a regular cab as well. What a good truck he has been. Sounds like you had a really good one as well. Everyone wants to buy Whitey thinking I will sell it cheap, but it is not going to happen. He has pulled larger loads in the past. It is a wonder he is still clicking along like he does.

chevytaHOE5674 said:

There is no free-play adjustment. If the pivot bushing on the pedal assembly is good, the firewall isn't cracked, the clutch fork isn't worn or bent, the master/slave is bled correctly, then the clutch is wore out.

No biggy to change really for a decent mechanic with basic tools. Just did one in my superduty in about 4 hours of wrenching (2 days waiting for the flywheel to get cut).

Wonder if the 1997 still has the dual mass flywheel setup in it? If you so have to decide if you want to risk continuing to run it or switch it to a typical single mass setup.

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That is exactly what I felt. Man just did not want to do the job. Or couldn't. Why would he keep my truck for three freaking months????

Now to find someone that will fix it correctly.

Found under puredieselpower.com, that a 1997- F-350 7.3 Powerstroke South Bend Clutch ZF5(?) kit without flywheel is $464.22.
Have no idea if this is a cheap knock off type of clutch. I would have gladly paid to have what it needed to be installed.
https://puredieselpower.com/ford/tr...ke-zf5-south-bend-clutch-kit-without-flywheel

That's a single mass clutch, so if you have an OEM flywheel you will also need to replace that.

All of my ZF transmissions I've ran LUK clutches and had no complaints, they are a good bit cheaper as well.

If I was going in there I'd buy a kit that includes clutch, pressure plate, flywheel and prefilled master & slave cylinder. If you go with a single mass as @chevytaHOE5674 says be aware that the clutch will act differently. When we replaced the clutch in our 2007 Dodge we went back with single mass and truck acted much differently, took some getting used too. Those 7.3 powerstrokes didn't have enough power from the factory to tear a clutch up so they lasted along time. Clutches don't last forever and 368,000 miles is allot of miles.

I've got a '96 F250 we've been going through. Post a Pic if you can. Those are great old trucks.

Here is Whitey today. Going to put him in the shed here in a bit.