5 Speed Clutch Problems ..... HELP !!!!!!

OK. To start with, I have a VERY Rare transmission in my 4.3 litre engine 1986 Chevy Astro. Surprisingly, I have a 5 speed transmission in this vehicle (only 100 made before they discontinued them...And now I know why!) I have had SO many problems with this thing....

I bought it about 5 months ago and have had many problems since. When I first got it, it needed a slave cylinder installed. After putting that in, I drove it for awhile. Occasionally it would feel like it was slipping. Then there were times it would grind in second or third gear.

I even had a few times that it stuck in these gears and I literally had to fight with it to get the shifter out of that gear! I started thinking that I had a bent pin in the shifter. But I used the vehicle daily for work (I work 7 days per week) so I never seemed to have the time to take it all apart and check. It didn't do it very often, so I put it off.

Then, the van started running real rough. I rented a scanner from Murray's and it came up with an error code 44 (lean fuel mixture). So I replaced the Oxygen Sensor. But it still ran real rough... dying anytime I stopped and having to rev it real high to keep it going.

It only lasted 2 days before it died.... the clutch, I mean. I tried putting it into second gear and all the clutch would do was spin. I had to have the van towed home. After opening up the transmission, I found that the clutch had came apart, the throw out bearing had a gap in it and wouldn't spin freely, and the pressure plate was very thin.

So I went to AutoZone (the ONLY store that had 1 kit when everyone else had to order it!). They, in fact, had the kit (minus the spline lube & the pilot bearing). So I had them give me the pilot bearing seperately. To my surprise, when I got home and looked at the transmission, there was no pilot bearing on the main shaft to begin with. So I put it on and fought with the clutch, pressure plate and throw out bearing. After several attempts to align the them into the transmission, I brought the tool that came with the kit back to AutoZone. They were upset when they learned that the tool was teh wrong one to be in the kit in the first place. So they gave me the correct aligning tool. It went in smoothly. This should have been my first sign!

I tried bleeding the clutch master cylinder and everytime I would just about have the whole thing bled and starting to go into gears, there would be some air getting in and then the clutch wouldn't even engage anymore. So I looked under the hood and saw the master cylinder leaking a small amount. I pulled it and called around trying to find the part. No one had it (except AutoZone). So I bought the master cylinder and installed it. Same thing. I had the clutch for awhile in the driveway, but a few pumps later and it was gone. I continued trying to bleed it and after pulling it, found that the master cylinder was blocked in a way that it wasn't allowing fluid to pass through.

We took it back to AutoZone who (of course!) had no others at ANY of their stores. So I took a look at my old cylinder and discovered that the seal was leaking. No one carried the rebuild kit with the new seals, so I took off the old one and cleaned away the rust buildup and replaced the seal. It seemed to bleed fine then. I even had the clutch enough to take the van around the block. But then I lost it again.

I started thinking that the rod in the slave cylinder just wasn't long enough and ordered another one to have installed. I thought maybe the problems I was having with all the other issues took this back out. So I waited for the part to come in. Sure enough the rod was longer. I put it on and went through the whole bleeding process again.

No Luck! I started looking at the line and thought maybe it needed to be bled from the line itself. But it was so rusted and I wasn't sure if it was leaking from that so I went to the auto part store to see about getting a new one. Guess What! It was another ordered part! Each of these ordered parts take 5 - 10 days to come in. So I looked for an alternate way to take care of the line.

NAPA suggested using brakeline and adapters. So I created my own line. This seemed to work. Or at least the pedal got hard. But it still wouldn't engage.

I ran out of ideas so I spoke to a few auto parts guys. They started saying it sounded like the wrong parts installed. So I opened up the transmission (AGAIN) and compared the parts I had installed. The throw out bearing was the wrong one! I went BACK to AutoZone and sure enough... when the pulled the correct one off the shelf, it was totally different! It even seemed a little different from the one that I had in the van to begin with. But I ruled that out as being factory parts.

But I didn't trust them anymore. So I went to two other stores of theirs. Even though they both pulled the box with the same part numbers on them, the throw out bearing in each of the boxes were COMPLETELY different from the one I saw at the store before! However, two of the three stores had the same throw out bearing so I took that one home and installed it.

AGAIN, I went through the bleeding of the system! This is REALLY getting OLD! I feel like ripping my hair out! Same thing.... I can put it in gear and start the van and it will go forward or back, but then I can't switch gears unless I shut it off. If I leave it in gear and put the clutch in, it won't move. It's as if there were no clutch.

I started thinking that the brakeline that I put in wasn't big enough so I pulled out the old line and clipped it off at the bend. I went to the store and bought a union for the brake lines and used in on the clutch line. It seemed to work fine. At least, it used the original line and didn't seem to leak anywhere.

But the clutch did the same thing. As long as I was pumping it up several times, it would roll a couple of inches. However, when I would realease the clutch it seems to get air in the lines or something because I would push the clutch in and it wouldn't move again.

I am stumped. I've tried everything I could think of and can't figure out what's going on. Any help that you can offer REALLY would be appreciated!!! I've never had THIS many problems with a clutch before and I am just lost!

Sorry this post was so long, but I wanted to be certain to let you know EXACTLY what has been changed and then maybe that would make the difference.

THANKS in advance if you can help.... and even if you just have an IDEA of what it might be.

Wow what an ordeal. I can help much except to say. Head to www.astrosafari.com. I know there to be several other 5-speed van owners that post over there. I am sure someone else has had the same problem and overcome it.

Good Luck

Thanks. I'll check that one out...

Well I tried that site and had to sign up for it. I am waiting to hear back from them that I am able to post. Nothing yet. SO if anyone on this site is able to help with this problem, it still would be appreciated....
Thanks.

If you have a firm clutch pedal, but no clutch disengagement, I'd suspect something wrong in the pressure plate. Given the trouble you've experienced getting proper parts, it wouldn't be a complete surprise if the clutch disc is too thick for the pressure plate, or vice-versa. Did you happen to compare teh new and olf clutch plates, and new an old pressure plates? Did you also check the height of the pressure plate diaphragm/springs with the clutch assembled?

Unfortunately, I have no "quick-and-easy" answer.