clutch problem in cold weather

I have a 99 Chevy S-10 4-cyl manual trans.


Problem - The truck needs to have the clutch pedal engaged to start but when releasing the clutch (shifter in neutral) the engine stalls as though it were in gear. It will only stay running in neutral if the clutch is engaged. With a little difficulty, I can shift into first gear and drive away. After warming to normal operating temperature, no problems are observed. It only happened once (so far) on Sunday (temps around 5 degrees) so I concluded that it is a result of the cold temps. There have been a few cold mornings recently (did not happen during the summer/fall) where shifting into 1 or 2 were harder than normal. In August the clutch was replaced with a LUK brand clutch. The slave was also replaced and the whole system was bled. Only 4,000 miles were driven since then.

Anyone have some suggestions?

Perhaps when the clutch was changed the proper fluid was not put in the transmission thus causing drag. Your tranny may require ATF instead of 80-90W. If the mechanic put the latter in, that would cause a heavy drag and difficulty in shifting.

Mikado,

Suppose the right fluid was replaced, any other suggestions? A viscosity problem does make sense with the temp changes, but I was wondering if it might be a part malfunction.

If you change the fluid, you need it warm, at here, it is about 10 degrees, don't know where your at. You would need to let it sit and idle for a while. That will at least have the countershaft rotating and that will help heat the oil up. Drain the oil and let it drool for awhile. Refill with the proper oil.

Before doing anything, check in your manual to see what the proper oil is. Next, pull the side fill plug and stick your finger in the hole. Gear oil has a distinctive smell while ATF is red. You probably know this. If the manual says ATF and you have the "stinky" stuff in your box, you need to change it out.

I had the exact Same problem Last year around this time. It was my Slave And Master Cylinder for my clutch. Exact same symptoms and everything. AAMCO did mine for like 600 in a day. You can try it yourself but you gotta take the tranny off. n everything. I leave tranny work up to pros cause ill be the first to admit I dont know to much about trannys. But it sounds like the same problem had. good luck dude

yep! definetly sounds like wrong trans fluid was put in or the tranny was overfilled with fluid.