1996 Isuzu Rodeo Question Clutch

Hi travelngirl01,
From what I've read it does sound like you are getting the run around. But I could be wrong, nowhere did you state your problem with the clutch. Only that you've brought it back because you were not happy with some thing about it. What are you not happy with? What is the car doing or not doing? I may not have an answer for you either but if I know the complaint I may be able to help.
B. Hubs :wink:

Sorry for not stating my problem. When you put your foot on the clutch sometimes it won't come back up. It is very difficult to shift. Sometimes it won't even go in gear. Sometimes you have to start it in 2nd due to not being able to get in gear after it is started. We did this one time and it was like the clutch wasn't even pushed in, the car almost went through the garage. Also the engine has excellerated up and down.

Example: The one time started it in reverse, reversed out of driveway. Had to shut it off to get it in 2nd and start it again to go. Then it won't shift after that.

In the mean time I found a website that stated a damper assembly isn't needed and you can take it off. Do you know about this?

Thank You!

Let me try to help. First off the engines' fluctuating RPM has nothing to do with your clutch. That would be a separate issue. There are 5 components to the clutch system. The Master cylinder, slave cylinder, clutch plate, pressure plate and throw-out bearing. I believe the shop had changed the last three. If your still having trouble shifting or getting into gear, you may have a leak or air in your hydrolic system or the plungers in master or slave may be stuck. Try bleeding the system first and if that dont fix it The repair kits are relatively cheap and the procedure is quite simple. I hope this helps

If the reving is at startup and sometimes alternates with a rough idle at startup, it is most like the idle air sensor (motor) that inserts in the top front of the fuel injection assembly (a 4-pin plug and 2 screws facing front of vehicle). The replacement part is about $45. The clutch issue does sound like a possible bad slave cylinder on the clutch system. All of this from personal experience with my 96 Rodeo.

I am going through this exact same problem. My Rodeo (1993 4WD 3.2V6) has clutch hydraulic issues that come and go like the wind. I can drive it all over town with no problem, then go back out the next morning to find the pedal only halfway up and I can't get it to go in gear. Sometimes I wait a couple hours and go back and it's fine, just like it came off the showroom floor.

My vehicle DOES have 3 hydraulic clutch cylinders, despite 95% of the parts dealers telling me it doesn't. The Chilton manual says some of them have a third cylinder, which it calls a damper cylinder, but the Haynes manual doesn't even mention them. I even had to convince my mechanic it was there, and after he bled it, I had the strongest pedal I've ever had on it. This was after he had replaced both the master and slave cylinders. I have called O'Reilley's, AutoZone, Advance, and even NAPA, and nobody shows any damper cylinder or even a mention of it.

I was finally able to find a helpful parts dealer at Foreign Auto Parts in Hickory, North Carolina, who at first couldn't find it either, because it was not listed in his computer. But he took the time to dig through his paper manuals and after an hour or so was able to locate the damper cylinder.

So at the moment the damper cylinder is the only component in the clutch hydraulic system that hasn't been replaced, so that pretty much HAS to be the problem. If replacing that component doesn't fix my problem, I swear I'm going to trade it in for a yak!

The mechanic got my damper cylinder changed today, and it's working great now. He took the old one apart and found the O-rings to be "pretty much destroyed" LOL. If I had known it was just O-rings causing the problem, I could have bought new O-rings for a couple bucks instead of the $85 for the new damper cylinder. Oh well. At least it's fixed now.

The reason the other parts stores couldn't find this item-- It's listed as Damper Assy - Clutch Oil Line. NAPA asked me if that was it one time before and I told them no, it couldn't be an oil line, because the system uses brake fluid. It seems there was something lost in the translation from Japanese to English.

One other thing to note just for the sake of completeness, and in hopes of helping someone else. Average morning temperatures here have been about 55F, going to 75-80F during the afternoon. The clutch would not no way go in gear in the mornings, but would work like a charm in the afternoons. The reason was the 20-25 extra degrees was just enough to swell out the worn-out O-rings barely enough to work.

I hope the original poster has their issue resolved now, and I hope my comments will prove useful to future readers.