First let me say hello, Im new to the forum.

I have a 1995 B4000 4x4 with the 4.0 V6 and manual tranny. It has 220,000 miles and was rebuilt at about 150K. Ive recently replaced the lower intake gasket and the master cylinder.

I had been noticing for the last few weeks it was getting hard to go into gear and that putting it into reverse made a bad grinding sound. I took this as meaning the clutch was going out. Also the clutch didnt feel the same physically....it was much softer. But other than those symptoms, the engine was strong, started right up, idled smooth, ran totally great. It knocked a little at 70-80mph, but other than that, ran like a champ.

I took it to a local shop where I know the owner personally as a friend. He offered to do the clutch for 600 and I said sold. Thats a pretty good deal from what I know. So after a few days I go to pick it up and immediately I can tell there are problems. It still didnt want to go into gear, but once it did, as I began getting up to speed (around 50-55) it began to miss and bog down. When Id floor it, the engine would jump up and run good, but right there around a half a pedal at 2K rpm or so, it doesnt want to run right.

So I took it back and they said they needed to bleed the cluth again, it had air in it. I went back a second time to pick it up, and the clutch now if fine, but its still having the same engine issues. And the issues seem to get progressively worse as you let it run. 20 minutes of driving it and it will barely remain idling without dying.

So I took it back and they replaced the fuel filter, the o2 sensor, the MAF, the plugs and plug wires, and set the timing. They told me to come pick it up again, buyt again its still having the same issues at around 50-55mph. It bogs down bad and misses but runs great once you step on it. Eventually the check engine light came on and it showed a bad MAF, which they already replaced.

Everyone is at a loss of what to do. Today we are trying a brand new MAF from the factory rather than a reman'd one. Other than that, we dont know what to do.

Anyone have any suggestions or have something similar happen? Its so hard for me to swallow that this all happened coincidently during a new clutch installation......

Thanks !!

 

24 views and not one reply. Great little forum you have here. The time it took to register and write my first post is 10 minutes of my life I will never get back. Thanks a freakin lot.

 

Well it is a Ford so the possibilities are almost limitless. Assuming the tech that worked on it went through the diagnostics correctly and checked the obvious like TPS,ECT/etc i would lean toward a bad PCM just from prior experience on driveability issues with those. PCM's are hard to diagnose generally when the problem is at rpm. The Ford manual would feed you through alot of diagnostics then tell you to try a new PCM. It really is up to the skill of the tech to pinpoint it.

 

I feel for ya, but you don't really want people to blow smoke at you -- do you? I doubt that your engine problems have anything to do with your new clutch, but if the guys in the shop can't figure it out then you aren't likely to get a good diagnosis on a forum.

 

kinda have to agree with nightswimmer. i know you're hoping for answers. after putting in the degree of effort you have, resulting in the same symptoms/problems, well, it would deter anyone's outlook.

i am not overly experienced, but i also doubt it will be your clutch...

(sort of a stretch, but i have a 1989 toyota 4runner in the shop, i replaced fuel filter, checked for spark etc etc. and it turned out it was electrical; corroded wires in the main harness... it could be something super simple, it truly is up to the skill and gumption of the mechanic i think.)

 

Thanks for the responses.

There is no question the truck needed a clutch. I know when a clutch is gone and it was gone. Its just hard for me to beleive that during a one day trip to the shop for a clutch that the engine developed this problem. What a coincidence that would be. Lucklily the shop agrees with me on that one, and thinks it may be something they did, though they dont know what.

So they arent charging me any labor, only parts. A parts list that is growing every day as they shoot in the dark trying to hit a lucky bullseye. So far, here is what has been replaced:

Plugs and plug wires
Distributor
o2 Sensor
Fuel Filter
Mass Air Flow Sensor (twice)
Crank Position Sensor
Camshaft Position Sensor
Throttle Position ( i forget the name, throttle body something)..

None of this fixes the problem. So they are taking it to Mazda and paying them to diagnose it so they can fix it. They gave up.

Anyway, thanks for the input. I will try to update if we ever get it figured out.

 

Look at the bright side. On a truck with that much mileage, It's a good thing to replace many of these parts anyway. When you do find the problem, your truck will be in much better shape than it was before.

Too bad you can't just drive it to Tuscaloosa and let Nick stare at it for a few seconds. That might be enough to make it straighten up and fly right!



RTR!!!

 

You got that right nightswimmer. Its going to practically brand new by the time we get done.

And yeah, I wish I could drive over to see old Nick. I might catch him in a good mood and he'd reach in his pocket and peel me off about $20K for a brand new one.

RTR! Thanks again for the replies. Still waiting to hear what Mazda said.

 

Well the nightmare continues. Supposedly the now have the truck running fine EXCEPT it now loses power going uphill. Does fine at all RPM, does fine on a flat surface, but bogs down on incline.

Dealership supposedly said it was the catalytic converter. Shop claims to have run it without the CC and it still had the problem. Fuel pump is ok according to the shop. They are actually ready to give me the truck back still not fixed. Unbeleivable.

Once I get it I will take it myself to a dealership because I cant believe for one second that they cant figure this out. Its not rocket science.

 

Still dont have my truck back. They replaced the ECT and that didnt fix it. Made sure I had OE plugs and wires. Didnt fix it. Fuel pump and fuel pressure is good. Cylinder pressure is good. Idles and revs like a champ....just bogs down and loses power in gear while driving in all gears, esp uphill.

Turns out they never took it to the dealer, but are today. The dealer says they wont charge us if they cant correctly diagnose it.

My money at this point is on it being a missing ground connection somwhere. They dropped the tranny to service the clutch, and it was after that that the engine started missing and running bad.

I just hope somebody figures it out, a month is long enough !!