I've got a 2000 B3000 and the clutch play keeps changing. Some days I get in and it's hard and works perfectly but sometimes I get in and it's to the floor before I can shift gears and I have to drive around using 2nd and 4th!
The fluid levels are fine when I check and if I bleed the clutch the pedal firms up for a few days but then goes back to being hard and soft at different times.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance
I think you possibly have some problems with binding pivot points. Is the slave cylinder internal to the bell housing or external. I have seen the internal ones wear and the release bearing binds on the surface in should slide freely on. Cylinder replacement is the only lasting repair. If the cylinder is external with the release bearing internal, I have seen the pivot on the release fork get worn and the input bearing collar on the transmission get very sticke from clutch dust and road dust. Clean and lube these points with a graphite lube so they don't attract dust again.
My thoughts
And that's related to too much free play between the slave cylinder piston and its lever. If the lever or release bearing is sticky, it will travel just far enough to let the clutch grab. Vibration from the engine or road can cause it to release further, especially if there's an external retraction spring, and the excessive free play now means a whole bunch of pedal travel and incomplete disengagement. Maybe that external spring is missing. Clean the pivot and release bearing slide, install a spring if hthere's supposed to be one, and adjust the free play to specs.
Dan
Dan Thomas probably more of a mechanic than we are: However other suggestions, cos our symptoms were very similar. A leak? Somewhere. Or a defective (by-passing) master or slave clutch cylinder. Ours recently was a defective slave cylinder (the one that operates the clutch) on a 95 Nissan. It was also leaking slightly! We happened to have a new spare on hand; we must have seen the problem a couple of years ago and got the slave cylinder in anticipation! Good luck.
Air is getting into the system. Your job is to find out where. The master cylinder is the most popular place, but it could be the slave or a hose.
--scott
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