hey group. last night here in toledo ohio we had MASSIVE  flooding Had to drive the tracker thru it all to get the kid and wife. I have 31in tires 6in lift and i wes pushing water OVER my bumpers. Tracker went thru no problem. got it home put in the garage overnight and got in this morning pressed clutch started car and it took off forward. I hit the brake put in neutral then tried reverse and nothing but grinding will not go into gear (any gear) while running. but put it in gear and start it up it will go. could the cable need adjustment suddenly? clutch never had a problem but this water was deep and i was in it for awhile. I searched thru the search  forum on clutches but still not sure any help would be great. thanks.also it is a 92 tracker with a 5spd .

We here in Arizona would gladly take some of your excess rain.

Sounds like rust froze up your clutch.  I've seen the cure discussed on one of these forums.  I don't remember the details.  As I recall, someone said it will break loose if you drive it around a bit.

hey group. last night here in toledo ohio we had MASSIVE  flooding Had to drive the tracker thru it all to get the kid and wife. I have 31in tires 6in lift and i wes pushing water OVER my bumpers. Tracker went thru no problem. got it home put in the garage overnight and got in this morning pressed clutch started car and it took off forward. I hit the brake put in neutral then tried reverse and nothing but grinding will not go into gear (any gear) while running. but put it in gear and start it up it will go. could the cable need adjustment suddenly? clutch never had a problem but this water was deep and i was in it for awhile. I searched thru the search  forum on clutches but still not sure any help would be great. thanks.also it is a 92 tracker with a 5spd .

Did the pedal go to the floor as per normal?  If not, then I would say that the clutch cable has seized as the contact surfaces of the clutch are metal against non-metal or semi-metallic material on the plate and would not normally "rust" together.  If the pedal DID go to the floor, then I would guess the cable has parted or you bent the heck out of something or the cable has fallen off the cable bracket on the side of the engine.   For more info on the cable bracket, there is an article at Ack's FAQ for the Samurai cable bracket (which is very similar).  do a search for clutch to access the article.  The link, as usual, is in my signature....

Hope this helps!

I have had a problem with the thrust bearing seizing on the input shaft after driving in dirty water. Had to drop the box to free it off.

ironically, i have the same problem... only not necessarily running through dirty water (or not "bumper high" anyway)....  my situation is more of a progressive thing... it started off that i had to give it excessive force to put it into 1st gear... then 2nd gear came along with that... and then all of a sudden its exactly like your situation... won't go into any gear, and grinds trying to go in reverse.... i've had one person say my hydraulics were shot, even after i tried to tell him its not a hydraulic clutch, then he told me my cable needed adjustment (there is no more adjustment on the little bolt thing available)... someone else told me i needed a new clutch altogether, then they changed their mind and told me to get a new clutch or rig up the original (puttin a spacer between the transmission arm and the bolt,  or something like that)... then i had another person tell me that the clutch cable is impossible to break and that i needed a clutch!   I'm all about being back and forth... and my tracker's been out of commission for about 2 weeks and i'm depressed about it...   in reply to "reb's" post, how can you drive it around if you can get it in gear?

[how can you drive it around if you can get it in gear?]

Like Trackenator said, start in gear.  Shifting without using the clutch is possible, but hard on the synchros.

As I recollect, a suggestion for a rust stuck clutch is to drive it around while holding the pedal down.  This is a common problem for tractors that are left out in the weather.  Many tractor owners use a stick or something similar to hold the pedal down when it is parked for any period of time.  On some tractor boards people have suggested running the tractor up against something immoveable and pushing on it while holding the pedal down.  Others suggest that is a way to break something, too.

ok ive installed a new clutch cable and sdjusted it but its still doing the same thing. I did try driving it around (in first gear) for about 5min but that didnt work however i wasnt holding down the clutch pedal now i will try that and see what happens(at this point i have nothing to lose) thanks for all the advice guys keep it coming (i really do not want to drop tranny)

hmm... do you mean like this : clutch in... first gear... e-brake off... start, roll around for x amount of time while still in first gear and the clutch pedal pressed down?  how would that work?  rather how would you know that it worked?  possibly i'd stop rolling when the clutch released or whatever?  Ack, i tried your thing, but had some issues comparing the tracker to your samurai stuff...   i adjusted some stuff around, and i thought i had it, but it was on a jack stand, so i didn't want to get in and push the clutch pedal with my foot... so i used my hand, and i felt that resistance... so i took it off the stand, and used my foot to push the pedal, and i didn't feel anything at all!!   of course i don't know if i'm just used to feeling the pressure of my brother's s-10 clutch pedal (which is a lot stiffer), or what... i mean, i seriously pushed down the clutch pedal, and the only thing i felt was when it hit the floor...  like trackenator said, i don't want to have to deal with dropping the transmission and going through all that stuff... and i don't want to have to pay to have a tow truck take it to a mechanic and then him say i need a complete new clutch kit, and everything else having to do with a clutch...

well i drove it around for 10min in 2nd gear clutch down and still NOTHING. i live in the city so its hard to drive it far . I read somewhere that someone had drilled a hole in the bell housing(tranny) and used wd-40 to loosen the throwout bearing(if this is my problem) i think i will try that. BUt if my pedal is going to the floor (and resistance is felt) how could my throwout bearing NOT be sliding? in other words how could my cable be moving? if the throwout bearing is stuck how is my clutch cable moving then? shouldnt it be stuck too?

well i drilled a 1/2 in hole in the bottom of the bell housing and another one on the side. put a small flashlight in and the throwout bearing is moving looks like it is pushing on the pressure plate fingers(hard to see thru such a small hole. i squirted the the hell out of it with wd-40 worked the pedal 20-30 times repeated let her sit for 2hours and tried it and it still will not go into gear while running.looks like im gonna have to pull it out . that sucks bcuz the clutch is working fine it just wont release guess that means the pressure plate is shot.

I haven't experienced it first hand, but from what I gather on the tractor forums what happens is that the splines on the clutch disk rust to the input shaft of the tranny.  Driving with the clutch pedal depressed puts stress on the rust joint and, if all goes well, frees the disk.  Hard accelerating and decelerating should break it loose.  However, it is possible that trackenator's problem is something else.

Let us know what you find.

well fellas, i finally had the mechanic tow it off and he looked at it at the shop, and he told me that it wasn't the clutch at all.... he was explaining that my clutch pedal was broken somehow or another.... but the clutch, throwout bearing, or pressure plate has nothing to do with it..  which is a relief, because instead of paying around 300 to have a new one installed and stuff, its only gonna cost me about 100 or a little more... 

Lucky. 

I had to replace the pedal assembly in my X-90.  I yanked one out of a Tracker at the wrecking yard and took the cable too for $20 bucks. 

well guys i finally got around to fixing it the other day. hated to do it but i pulled the tranny and transfer case out unbolted the clutch and there it was . the clutch was rusted(stuck) to the flywheel and was also stuck/melted a little to the pressure plate. it pulled off the flywheel easily but had to knock it off the pressure plate with a hammer and big rod(to go on the splines) cleaned everything up and actuall y took a chance but i used everything again and works just fine now. so if i do drive thru water like that again i will either keep driving for a while to keep things moving or will press and hold the clutch down overnite with a stick. thanks for all the help.