New to sidekicks, and have stuck clutch.

[Texizuki]

Howdy,

I bought a 92 Sidekick (4 door, 4x4, manual) this weekend. I towed it from Austin, TX to Fort Stockton TX, about 350 miles. I made a pretty bad mistake I think however, I put the transmission in neutral and the transfer case in neutral and towed it with all for wheels on the ground. I thought this would be ok, I wasn't going over 55 and i was stopping every 30 min or so to let things cool off. After a couple of hours of this however, the front differential started putting out some smoke. I then came to appreciate the difference between manual free wheel hubs and auto free wheel hubs (which my sidekick has).

After this happened I then realized the clutch is now stuck. I've tried the various tricks for unsticking it, (Starting it in gear, hitting the breaks with it in gear and clutch pedal depressed, jacking up rear end and spinning tires and breaking with clutch pedal depressed, etc) but it remains stuck. My questions is: is the clutch stuck as a direct result of my towing it with the hubs locked? And, is there anything I can do to unstick the clutch besides dropping the transmission?

I am new to sidekicks and 4x4 vehicles in general and any help would be much appreciated. I have been reading these forums for a while and they were very informative for me in my decision to buy a sidekick.

[JamesG]

How did you start the truck with the clutch stuck engaged? Started with the transmission in neutral and then bumped it into gear?

Seems to me that you could do alot more damage (and alot more expensive) to the transmission by attempting to break the clutch loose. All those gears in the transmission are pretty delicate...

[CodyJ]

Originally Posted by JamesG

How did you start the truck with the clutch stuck engaged? Started with the transmission in neutral and then bumped it into gear?

Seems to me that you could do alot more damage (and alot more expensive) to the transmission by attempting to break the clutch loose. All those gears in the transmission are pretty delicate...

Starting it in gear won't hurt it as long as you don't try to shove it after its running. I don't know what to tell him, wish I could help.

[jtgh]

your right autolocker must be on tow dolly bar,

by clutch stuck , do you mean. ( with igntion key start postion, not bump starting)
cant start engine, in gear.?
cant start engine in neural?
both.?

[Texizuki]

By clutch stuck, I mean it's staying engaged to the flywheel, I can't disengage it by pushing the pedal or pulling on the lever at the transmission. I can start it in neutral. I am able to start it in first gear by letting the starter turn it over a couple of times to get the wheels rolling.

[kelikran]

Here is what I think, I don't believe the tow job has anything to do with the clutch. If your transfer case and trans were in neutral, there should have been no effect on the clutch. Get someone to help you see if, when you step on the clutch, there is any action on the bell housing lever. Could be you have a broken cable, missing pin, etc. Now, as far as the other situation goes, I'm not sure, I don't know how the auto hubs work, but it sounds like your transfer case was spinning in part anyway, as a result of being towed with hubs which were locked. Have you checked oil in the transfer case?
Smoke would indicate extreme temperature, possibly burning oil. This can't be good. I would check the clutch thing out first, get that solved, then move to the transfer case.
It is possible you fried something in there, once you get that looked after I would consider going to manual hubs. Hope this helps, and wait for JTGH he will guide you thru this.

[jtgh]

Kelikran is spot on target:
sorry, start has many a meanins:, cant move, cant crank, cant startup and run engine.
your clutch cable is bad , for get tow truck ,but thats water under bridge now.

depress clutch pedel to floor, if the bell housing lever moves 1 inch then the clutch is bad.
if it doesnt move 1 inch, then the adjustment is wrong or the cable or mounts are bad for the cable, or the pedals are broken.
my migic 1 inch make this childs play huh.

read, if you dont have 1 inch at the clutch lever, the clutch is not bad. dont pull it.


http://carfix.stufftoread.com/specs/clutch.JPG
my magic clutch photo.
3rd post

[Texizuki]

Thanks for yall's ongoing help, this is all very informative!

jtgh: Yeah, when I depress clutch pedal to the floor, the bell housing lever barely moves an 1/8". So I guess this means my cable is just adjusted improperly. Thats cool, I'll work on that this evening.

kelikran: I agree with you on the manual hubs, I am gonna order some this evening.

Thanks for help guys, I'll give an update this evening on what I find.

[jtgh]

cable issue. ( great news , far cheaper fix)

yes, autolockers have lots of issues.