[DeTomaso] Clutch problems

[tmshinro at aol.com]

 Well, I get my car back yesterday from having the A/C serviced so I can enjoy some cool(er) Pantera fun this summer.   The plan was to wire my A/C pressure switch and put the bulkhead and passenger seat back in the car today.

When I went to start it, I pushed in the clutch pedal and was met with some heavier than normal resistance which resulted in my pushing a little harder (not out of line with normal practice).  I heard a snap or pop followed by minimal pedal resistance.  Subsequent attempts to push the pedal have minimal resistance.   I felt the snap through the pedal and my first thought was that the master cylinder seals were stuck in the bore (just replace the m/c and slave last summer).   I pushed the pedal down and attempted to start the car with the transmission in gear and the car lurched when the starter engaged.

 
I had a helper push the pedal while I watched the slave.   To my surprise I was getting full movement of the clutch arm at the slave.   I looked in the inspection hole of the ZF and saw that there was only the slightest movement of the pressure plate when the slave was at full stroke.   I also noticed that I had a lot of movement at the clutch arm when I put a crescent wrench and pulled on it where before I only had minimal free play.

I thought I post to the list to get any and all ideas on what I should be looking for before I start trying to figure it out.   

Obviously I'm bummed out since I can't play with it this weekend to see how good the A/C works (with a heat index of 104 it would have been good weather to test).

Thanks for your input.

Tom
#5186