pvfjr
1/2 ton status
Ok....so the big spring under the dash is an "over-center spring". It helps you hold the pedal in, and also helps the pedal return all the way out. It operates similar to the way a compound bow does, if you think about it. The spring is stretched the furthest when the pedal is at the middle of it's travel.
The biggest problem with this spring is the fact that it is mounted only on one side of your pedal, providing a very unbalanced load on the pivot point, for years and years. While the spring pulls the pedal forward, it also tries very hard to pull it sideways, to the left. This stress eventually grinds down or breaks out the plastic bushings in the clutch pedal assembly, at the pivot point up in the dash. Once the bushings are gone, you have metal on metal contact, and the pedal will start grinding itself up, and working it's way sideways, into a bind.
I'll bet that if you force your pedal back over to the right where it belongs, and run it through its range of motion, you'll experience a much different pedal feel. A lot of people don't even know that their pedal has only been coming out half way. Most clutch pedals just come out as far as the pressure plate pushes them. This keeps the throwout bearing engaged at all times, and never takes the pressure off of it, which can lead to premature throwout bearing failure. I've seen numerous trucks that have a clutch pedal that won't return all the way on it's own, and this is usually the problem. I have been able to alleviate this in two of my trucks, if anyone wants to know how just ask.
Now none of this may apply to you, as you seem to have a problem that simply arose after a maintenance action you performed, and you know where they say....go where man last was. But I'd be willing to bet that this may have led up to your throwout bearing failure. For anyone else that happens to be reading this thread and can identify with bad clutch pedal movement, I hope this helps. Basically, if your clutch pedal doesn't return all the way to the rubber bumper under the dash, then there may be a binding problem under the dash.
The biggest problem with this spring is the fact that it is mounted only on one side of your pedal, providing a very unbalanced load on the pivot point, for years and years. While the spring pulls the pedal forward, it also tries very hard to pull it sideways, to the left. This stress eventually grinds down or breaks out the plastic bushings in the clutch pedal assembly, at the pivot point up in the dash. Once the bushings are gone, you have metal on metal contact, and the pedal will start grinding itself up, and working it's way sideways, into a bind.
I'll bet that if you force your pedal back over to the right where it belongs, and run it through its range of motion, you'll experience a much different pedal feel. A lot of people don't even know that their pedal has only been coming out half way. Most clutch pedals just come out as far as the pressure plate pushes them. This keeps the throwout bearing engaged at all times, and never takes the pressure off of it, which can lead to premature throwout bearing failure. I've seen numerous trucks that have a clutch pedal that won't return all the way on it's own, and this is usually the problem. I have been able to alleviate this in two of my trucks, if anyone wants to know how just ask.
Now none of this may apply to you, as you seem to have a problem that simply arose after a maintenance action you performed, and you know where they say....go where man last was. But I'd be willing to bet that this may have led up to your throwout bearing failure. For anyone else that happens to be reading this thread and can identify with bad clutch pedal movement, I hope this helps. Basically, if your clutch pedal doesn't return all the way to the rubber bumper under the dash, then there may be a binding problem under the dash.
