LUVTruck.com

So I have notice that when I have the clutch on my 79 Luv out, in neutral, it makes a strange scraping noise, I imagine that it must be a worn bearing but I am not entirely sure which one if any. Also when the clutch is out and it is idling the RPM's drop as though the engine is struggling not to sputter out. Is their an explanation for these two symptoms other than a bad bearing? I am mechanical inept, but I am working on it, I recently got a chiltons repair manual for my truck and am trying to learn how it runs. Any expert advice would be great.

When you have the clutch out and it makes a noise its almost always the pilet bearing. A lot of people get this confused with the throw out bearing.

The throw out bearing is only being used when you engage the clutch. the Pilet bearing is used when the clutch is not engaged. But this would mean if your truck was running down the road in gear it should be making noise. Vs When shifting making noise Thats Throw, Not Shifting Pilet.

I'd check your trans fluid, and listen get under it and fell and listen. If its your trans use a meggnet in the oil you dran out and it should have metal shavings in it from a bearing going bad. but they usually dont. but if low on oil or bad oil, you could of heated your all your bearings and gears up and your bearings are going to crap now.

And i really dont see wy a clutch going bad would make the engine strugle or dip in RPM. Ive had 4 clutchs go out in 4 different rigs and none of them failed the same. If the clutch was going bad you would have a hard time getting it to shift and getting it to go into 1st and Revers.

I would do some more looking. hope this helps.

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"Project Rangeluv"-Dana 28/7.5 rear, TFI2.9V6 5spd, 86 Ranger frame swap, custom flatbed,Custom luv!
1989 ford bronco II "The Mountain Rig"
My build thread (viewtopic.php?f=33&t=24076)

I suspect you have a bad tranny bearing, I've lost four over the years but never had one lug the engine, just started grinding when the clutch was engaged, stopped when depressed. It could be the tranny is very low on lube or has gear lube instead of motor oil. I would drain & refill with 30w motor oil & look closely for metal parts in the drained lube- I have had both ball bearings and chunks of bearing race appear before. If you see metal replace the tranny & all you will be out so far is the cost of the new lube. Get a used tranny (this might be a good time to upgrade to a 5sp), rebuilding is way too expensive unless you do all the work.
Throw out bearings & pilot bearings: TOB only turns when the clutch is depressed AND the pressure plate is also turning (the bearing contacting the pressure plate spring arms are what spin it), it does not turn when the clutch is engaged (it just slides on the tranny shaft). The pilot bearing only turns when the crankshaft and the tranny input shaft are spinning at different rpms, as soon as the clutch stops slipping as it fully engages and brings the tranny shaft up to the crankshaft rpm both are turning the same speed and the pilot bearing no longer turns- in fact often the pilot bearing is actually a bushing that the tranny shaft spins inside. If you were to turn the engine off, depress & hold the clutch, spin the tranny shaft (coasting down a grade or spinning the driveshaft) & you get noise then it's either the pilot bearing or the tranny (because the TOB is not turning because the pressure plate is not turning) & a bad tranny should still make noise when the engine is running at a constant rpm while a bad pilot bearing won't.

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'78 Chevy LUV,1.9,4sp,headers,31's,SAS Dana 30,Dana 20,SOA rear w/Aussie Locker, rough body, bought new 12/4/78.
'87 Trooper,2.3,5sp,headers,31's,ball joint flip & spacer,Aussie Locker rear,Superwinch hubs,brush guard w/5.5K winch,more to come.

Thanks for the advice. Today I adjusted the ignition timing and managed to get a noticeable amount of power back during the post-adjustment drive. Tommorow I hope to get around to changing the transmission fluid. However, I have read my Chilton's manual and read through the forums and cannot for the life of me figure out where exactly the drain and fill bolts are for the transmission, no clear pictures or information have been able to guide me thus far.

I have read that If I were to remove the shift lever and clutch I would be able to access it, is this a different oil chamber than the transmission or..? I have also gathered, previously statement aside, that the fill bolt can be located on the passenger side of the transmission while beneath the vehicle and also that the drain bolt is located on the bottom of the transmission and can be found while underneath the vehicle.

Some pictures would be awesome or clear verbal communication.

The truck is a 79'

The drain is on the bottom and the fill is on the side. I take off the shifter and funnel in the oil from the cab. The trick is having some one watch that side filler and telling you to stop when oil starts flowing out.

On a '79 the fill should be on the drivers side, about half way up, the drain is towards the back on the bottom & should be magnetic with silver metal powder stuck to it. These are big nuts, either a 24mm or 15/16 wrench fits, they should be easy to see. You need a suction pump or garden sprayer to fill through the fill hole but either is cheap and a lot less trouble than pulling the shifter. Just make sure you use motor oil, not gear lube.

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'78 Chevy LUV,1.9,4sp,headers,31's,SAS Dana 30,Dana 20,SOA rear w/Aussie Locker, rough body, bought new 12/4/78.
'87 Trooper,2.3,5sp,headers,31's,ball joint flip & spacer,Aussie Locker rear,Superwinch hubs,brush guard w/5.5K winch,more to come.

Ok that all makes sense now. Ive got two qts of SAE 30 im pretty darn sure the capacity is 2.6pts so 1 and a quarter bottle should do it. Now, yeah, I just need to figure out a way to get it into the transmission.

So I attempted to both find and take off the fill bolt today and I am sure of where the drain bolt is. First of all I saw two bolts that roused my suspicion regarding whether or not they were the fill bolts. The first bolt was located on the passenger side of the transmission about 3 inches further towards the front of the vehicle and 6 inches further up towards the cab in relation to the drain bolt. The second bolt was visible from inside the cab after having removed the boot from the shift lever and near the very top of the transmission.

Which bolt is it? I decided to go with my guess which was the first one I mentioned above. I tried and tried to get it off (couple hours) and succeeded in doing nothing more than stripping the crap out of it. If it is this bolt there is no way in hell I would be able to get it off myself, I started with an Allen wrench and stepped up to locking vice pliers, neither even made the thing budge. If it is indeed this bolt, what would be my next step in removing it in the condition that it is now?




Fist bolt Mentioned:
(drain cap, I assume, is the very bottom bolt there smothered in oil... The stripped out one, I assume, is the fill)






Second Bolt Mentioned:

its the bolt closest to the hole of the cab you have to take it out first. find a way. i cut a hole out to get mine out and bak in right. cuz u cant get it bak in without cutting a hole. anyway take bolt and spring out. but there is a thick pin that slides bak and forth. DO NOT TAKE IT OUT OR BOTHER IT!!!!! THEN TAKE SHIFTER OFF AND fill er up sonny!!!