Hello - quick intro - My Name is Eric.  I am originally from New Jersey and I just very recently left the east coast in my Trusty   88 samurai and drove it out here to sunny South Lake Tahoe - near the rubicon trail, sort of.  This is my second Sammi, with a ghetto 4" shackle lift and msd ignition system.  My first was a white stock truck that I drove from NJ to San Diego CA and the axles we kinda shot, brakes were beat, oil leaked a qt a day, ad nauseum - I ran outta money and drove back to NJ.

So Here  I am in CA again with my girlfriend and a pair of black cats and 1 dead samurai.  Not totally dead, but... read on....
*The bottom line here though is I am looking for somebody who may be willing to lend me a bigass helping hand here. I dont have much money at all and I need a reliable ride and I LOVE my samurai*

I left NJ on July 1st and as soon as I got on I-80 my trans started shifting real funny - It was hard to get it into gear at all and would grind when I shifted especially 1st, 2nd and Reverse.  I figgerd it was the clutch - I can easily get another 3000 miles - BUT once I got to Colorado, not even in the foothills of the rockies yet, my truck start really hesitating going up the smaller hills and billowing out black smoke.  My timing? I recently had replaced the cap, rotor, plugs, wires, etc. and the cap I was first given was wrong - right box, wrong part - and I tried it anyway - didnt work that well, got the right part and was happy but I though maybe I retarded my timing when I started it with the wrong cap, or bent the rotor.  I put the old rotor on and advanced my timing a bit and drove over the rockies - not really reaching any speeds above 25mph the whole way.  No big deal.  I had a mech do some work to adjust it to the altitude and he said I really should pull apart the carb because it was a little clogged and  I was getting no vacuum to the secondary something or other  - I am not too smart when it comes to the carb.  

So we travel west and north.  Everything is good - just REEEAALLLY SLLLOOOOOOWWWW  going through Utah where the speed limit is 75 and Nevada too.  We get to reno - my clutch still acting funny - and my idle just drops - it used to idle high at about 1300rpm and it is down to 400.  No worries - we're only 40 miles from our destination - keep moving.

I let it sit for a few days and decide to take a ride to the north shore with the top down - but we got up north and my truck decides the clutch just doesnt work anymore - I shift into first with the clutch pedal pressed and it starts going bonkers  - stalls at the traffic light.  Start her up again and the same so I put it in neutral and roll into a KFC.  Go say Hi to some friends there and try and drive it back home - whch I did.  I was able to grind it between gears .  I tried tightening the cable a lot and I still can't shift it with the truck running.  So now I am in a town without much in the way of tools and I dont know anyone and I could sure use a hand trying to swap out the clutch - my money is a bit thin these days so Im trying to avoid calling a pro.  I know how to do it, but its a royal pain alone and I dont know how smart it is with only a cheapo incomplete socket set and a vice grip, and a cheap floor jack.  I can offer cheap wine and beer in exchange for help, company, criticizm or whatever.  My samurai is in sorry shape - I think oil leaking from the distributor may have swelled the clutch?  It leaks fairly well from there.  Also the jerk I bought it from snapped some bolt heads on the water pump which I tried to change but gave up when I realized that there were bolts with no heads, alot of evidence of bars leak, and maybe thats why I had a good coolant leak.  it sealed itself up now, but.....  Ive got a new timing belt and water pump and I am afraid to pull the original out because the bolts are rusted.  The floors are rusted through too.  Other than that it runs well and has treated me well for the past 3 months since I got ripped off for it. $1200 - and the fella wants another $300 too - fat chance - I was told it came with alot of amenities - reduction in the tcase, NO RUST (I went to see it in the dark during a rain storm) I cannot find a VIN plate on it, whatever.  

Hey, I need help - if anyone can offer me any assistance it would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks - please shoot me an email at ericdholden|removethispart|@hotmail.com

Thanks alot.
Eric

Sorry I can't help, I'm on the east coast. I'll bump it back to the top for ya. Good Luck.

There is a guy up there that goes by  mad man sam that lives in so. Tahoe on the cali side that is into sammies you might want to try talking to him,  try the mark twain motel at 947 park ave. hope that helps maybe he could get ya going?

Check the cable first, I have an auto trans,
but I understand the cable outer breaks down
and then won't hold when you push the clutch
in, so it seems like there is a bad clutch.
Oil will not "swell" the clutch, but it will make
it chatter when you take off at a stop

Good Luck and welcome to the board

Wild

There is a guy up there that goes by  mad man sam that lives in so. Tahoe on the cali side that is into sammies you might want to try talking to him,  try the mark twain motel at 947 park ave. hope that helps maybe he could get ya going?

Thanks alot - I  live 2 blocks from there so Im going to go over there now and see if I cant  find him.  There's a motel next door to the mark twain that has a really rad samurai - all beefed up, roll cage and all, that may actually be where he is but I will check the twain.

Eric
Trying to get wheeling again

Check the cable first, I have an auto trans,
but I understand the cable outer breaks down
and then won't hold when you push the clutch
in, so it seems like there is a bad clutch.
Oil will not "swell" the clutch, but it will make
it chatter when you take off at a stop

Hey I tried tighening the cable to thepoint of almost being too tight.  I can feel it pulling on the clutch, being solo here with a girl who is afraid of dirt and grease I cant have someone check to make sure it is pulling on the arm of the trans.  but it feels like it is - when I push on the shifter lever it whines a bit but won't  easily slip into gear -  It'll crunch into gear if i shove it hard but its scaring the crap outta me and I don't want to totally destroy the transmission.

When you check out the clutch cable the usually get a weak spot in them causing the cable (under the hood where it wuns around the motor) to twist the housing instead of sliding and moving the clutch arm. Also check out where the cable mounts to the firewall. I've had an Auto Zone aftermarket cable (plastic mount) crack there allowing the bracket to flex when you push the pedal in.

HTH,
Zig

Pilot bearing. If it goes bad in there it will be near impossible to shift. (been there done that)

I met with Mad Man Sam *thanks* and he said " I have never seen anything like this before - but said he'd check his manual and get back to me.  I haven't ruled out anything yet - Just dreading the thought of tring to drop the trans in my motel/apt parkinglot without ramps and all.  We checked the mouting bolts on the shifter and all, but no luck.  Is  there a really simple way to access the pilot bearing (I know ints on the flywheel) to minimize the mess and all in my lot?  If that's all it is I'd be really glad but I have pulled the trans/clutch/flywheel from my first samurai and it was definately a WHOLE night process with 2 people - cracking all the bolts the first time, argueing over weather we really NEED to put wood behind the distributor, etc... and cleaning the trans off- its filthy from oil and grime and crap.   Sam said he'd get back to me, so... Im not sure I understand why the pilot bearing would keep me from being able to shift at all.  I can shift fine with the truck not running, but once she is fired up, the trans kinda whines a little and if I really shove it HARD it'll go into gear but it doesn't sound great.  HELP!!!
Eric  

I'm 99% sure it is the clutch cable.

How many times do you have to be told?

Been down the same road. Replace it regardless of how it looks! It is bad!