Suprise!!

Was doing some "spirited" driving just now and my car is stuck on the side of the road. I pushed the pedal in to shift and I hear "POP!" and the sound of losing some sort of part in the road and leaving it behind. Pedal went soft, so immediately I assumed it was the slave cylinder. I pulled over and shut the car off and put it in gear to see if I could limp it home that way. Pushed the pedal in and tried to start the car and of course, no start. I took it back out of gear and tried to start it.. Still no start? Any reason it wouldn't start in neutral? It idled fine...

I hear a click and it sounds like it wants to turn over but stops on something. My clutch has been in pretty bad shape for a while now, could it have shattered and caused this?

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Ryan Harris

88 TC, 5 spd, B&M Ripper Shifter, Walbro 190 LPH, Aeromotive FPR, K&N, 3.73 rear, KS disconnected, BCS bypassed, 89K miles

lol jesus ryan only you... j/k. can you find anything wrong with the clutch setup? sounds like something is binding the motor and not allowing it to move. so now it is probably stuck in gear. or something like that. but if it was just the gear stuck it should crank and actully move the car. if the clutch shattered it probably would make a grinding noise. like metal on metal. can you take the car out of gear and move it ?

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1966 mustang
1988 tbird

Originally posted by: fordprefect

Mine sounds like twenty crickets on meth!

I like Trashline's explanation. I would not try using the starter at all until you can see if you can move the crank with a breaker bar.
I had a clutch let go on me trying to pull away from a light. Big POP and then no shifting. Had to shut it down, force it into second gear and then restart and drive about 5 miles to home in 2nd. Piece of clutch got lodged where it shouldn't have been.

Thanks for the replies guys, just got the car home and situated in the driveway. Gonna borrow a set of jackstands tomorrow and assess the damage, or maybe just might buy a set tonight if I get bored enough.

like pete said try with a breaker bar. b/c you try and start it with the starter you could tear up a flywheel and or the starter gear. the only thing I could see falling off would be the clutch fork.maybe it blew out and thats what you heard. maybe the clutch blew and sent fragments all over lodged the bearing and some how sent the fork for a cruise. Good luck. Also it is 11 pm where you gonna find jack stands? I know auto zoo isnt 24/7.

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1966 mustang
1988 tbird

Originally posted by: fordprefect

Mine sounds like twenty crickets on meth!

Our local Wal-Mart has stands. I'd have to go there anyway to pick up some PB, so I can hose it down before I start wrenching on things.

Took a quick glance under the car and the slave cylinder protective box is still in place, so I officially have no idea what fell out. I'm gonna take a cruise up that road with my spotlight and see if I can't spot any metal objects that may have come out from the car laying around.

I'm off to Wal-Mart guys, wish me luck! I'll report back when I get the exhaust and back half of the tranny dropped!

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Ryan Harris

88 TC, 5 spd, B&M Ripper Shifter, Walbro 190 LPH, Aeromotive FPR, K&N, 3.73 rear, KS disconnected, BCS bypassed, 89K miles

good luck is all i have to say, but by the time you read this post, good luck is probably gonna be the last thing on your list.

moller
AM

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1987 5.0 sport coupe, intake, exaust.>for sale<
1987 tc, goldie, mods: mandrel bent downpipe to cat with turn down, gillis valve, 155 lph pump, kirban afpr, 100 psi fuel guage, handmade pvc cold air intake, optima. 15.457 @89.22(#24)(special thanks to turbocoupeturbo)(firedoctor)
1988 mazda truck, 431000 mi.
Buisness partner in Aerobird Motorsports.

Ryan,
Don't forget to look for new TC models while you're there!!! Also, it's probably NOT the problem, but I've had the little hat bushing that rides between the shifter and reciever fail a few times causing the car to be stuck in gear, no real "pop" noise with it though. But since it's easy and only 4 screws and 4 bolts to check it (vs the whole tranny), it might be worth a long shot. They are still available from Ford (ALL T5 are the same, about $1.49 each).

Mike,

I just read this after I got back lol. Picked up 4 jack stands, not bad, they were about $21. Also picked up some engine paint for the tranny. I want to do a bright aluminum / metallic silver theme for my stuff, I figure the tranny is a good place to start. Gonna paint the engine stuff when I pick up my new head & cam [Image: smile.gif]

Oh and the shifters gotta come out first to drop the tranny anyway, so I'll be sure to give it a look, however it seemed to shift into and out of gear just fine, just that the clutch pedal wouldn't disengage the clutch.. I think just the slave cylinder may have gone but there's no telling since the car won't start. Thanks for the advice and I'll keep the post updated with my findings [Image: smile.gif]

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Ryan Harris

88 TC, 5 spd, B&M Ripper Shifter, Walbro 190 LPH, Aeromotive FPR, K&N, 3.73 rear, KS disconnected, BCS bypassed, 89K miles

[This message has been edited by Ryan H (edited 08-27-2005).]

Quick update. Pulled the clutch fork cover and everything seemed to be in order as far as the slave goes. For those of you who have pulled the tranny before, you may recall a "slot" at the bottom of the bell housing. Well I glanced at it and it looked like I had hit some sort of animal- fuzz was coming out of it. I poked at it with a screwdriver and bits of clutch fell out of the slot... LOL

So as of right now I am prepping everything for the transmission removal. I have PB'd the exhaust beyond recognition, removed the slave cylinder, disconnected the wiring harness to the reverse lights switch, and drained the fluid. I guess the big stuff will have to come later today because I'm tired.

Thank you all for the advise, I'm sure I'll have more Q's as more things get removed.