I picked up a 1990 B2600 a few months ago and its ran like a champ for having 200k+ on it. My question is, last night I was driving home and I noticed the clutch was slipping, also prior to that I noticed it was getting harder to get into gear from a stop, especially reverse.

So what I'm asking is, is it fair to say the clutch and pressure plate and all that need replacing or is it a slave/master cylinder deal? Also, when it finally stopped moving, I was still in gear trying to make it up the last 200 feet of my street to get it to my house (didnt happen) but what seemed weird about it was that it was still in gear and the pedal was fine, I figured if the clutch itself was shot it would have just stayed engaged in whatever gear and just not disengaged when I pressed the clutch. Once I finally came to a stop, I was able to shift through all 5 gears with the clutch pedal out including reverse and nodda damn thing happens, the truck just idles steadily.

I'm at a loss here and dont know what to start buying first, just wondering if anyone can gimme a nudge in the right direction.

 

The best place to start is under the truck. Have someone push in the clutch pedal while you watch the throwout arm. Push against the throwout arm at the slave cylinder and see if depressing the clutch pedal pushes the throwout arm no matter how hard you push on it. If it does, all your problems are with the clutch disc and pressure plate inside the bell housing. If you can keep the throwout arm from moving by putting pressure against it, you have a problem with either the master cylinder or the slave cylinder.

The clutch slipping problem, however, indicates the clutch disc and/or pressure plate is bad and needs to be replaced. This requires dropping the transmission. When a clutch starts slipping, it's usually because the clutch disc has worn out and the pressure plate can no longer apply enough pressure to sandwich the clutch disc between the pressure plate and the flywheel. Manufacturers deliberately make the clutch mechanism such that the clutch starts slipping before the clutch disc is worn down to bare metal, so it doesn't chew up the pressure plate and flywheel face when it wears out. The problem, as you found out, is that it can leave you stranded if you let it go until it won't engage at all. Unfortunately the slipping clutch can build up a ton of heat that can warp the flywheel so bad that it can't be turned properly - very expensive to replace.

If you do replace the clutch disc, it's generally recommended to replace the pressure plate, pilot bearing, and throwout bearing as well. Nothing worse than replacing the clutch disc only to have another part go bad. They all have the same mileage on them, and hence equivalent wear and tear.

HTH

 

Thanks mike, I was thinking that but wasnt sure how to test the master or slave even after reading quite a bit about how they go bad frequently/commonly.

I go.t the truck about 9 months/15-16k (212,000+ & counting) miles ago and havent had to do much other than a basic tune up and a few oil changes so I cant complain. The clutch had a little slip to it from day 1 but nothing to stress about.

But thanks again man,

Any suggestions on a decent reasonably priced clutch kit?

Also, anyone know where to find a header for this truck? I had some bastard cut my cat out while I was parked at a commuter lot while I was at work car pooling across the state, and need to redo the exhaust from front to back. They cut the back nice and straight wth a sawzall and then went halfway through and ended up bending the pipe until it broke off (sawzall battery must have died on them) and they left me without a flange and about 3/4 of an inch where it comes off the end of the manifold. Right now I have ot peiced together with peices of pipe and a cherry bomb as a cat but it really needs to be done right.

I really dont want the header for power or anything, just seems like it would be easier to work with than cast.

Thanks again,

Claude

 

I buy most of my parts from Autozone. They have stores everywhere, and you can't beat the lifetime warranty. If you do happen to get a bad part, they're happy to replace it, although I have only had to return a bad part once. Most of the other national parts stores probably have similar warranties, except NAPA. I like NAPA parts, but they don't have a lifetime warranty on their parts, so I only buy NAPA parts that Autozone doesn't carry a lifetime warranty on.

I've searched extensively for headers for the B's, and the only company that I know of that makes a header for B's is PaceSetter. I got mine from Amazon, yes you read correctly - Amazon. They had it for $134.95. BIG PROBLEM though!!! The header extender pipe doesn't hook up to the stock exhaust system without modification. I had to cut the end of the extender pipe that bolts to the existing exhaust pipe off 1 3/4" from the end and used a 2" flexible exhaust repair kit to connect the header collector to the exhaust flange.

You'll need a cat to pass inspection. I don't know of any state that will let you get by without it.

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com carries a number of cats for B's from a number of manufacturers ranging from $33.58 for a universal unit to $227.28 for a bolt up unit.

HTH

 

Thanks again man, but that sucks to hear about the header deal. I dont think I'd have a problem making it work if its possible which you have proved it is, but thats kinda crappy that they sell them and they need to be modded. I know they wont pass me without a cat but I dont have to go through inspection for another year and a half or so, I need to keep her running and then get the proper setup going on it when $ allows, I just got a quote for $8000 worth of dental work so I'm in the poor house (as if I wasnt already).

I'll post back when I get it back together, hopefully this week sometime.