Stiff clutch pedal all of a sudden

Has anyone experienced this before?

I started the truck the other day and the bottom travel of the clutch pedal had much more resistance than the last time I drove it. I peeked under the dash and nothing seemed out of place or broken, of course I have nothing to compare to.

Pushing the pedal halfway feels totally normal. It's only past the halfway point (past the point of disengagement) that the issue presents. Its like the spring becomes way heavier. I can push through this to get the pedal to the floor but it takes noticeably more effort.

Info that might me relevant:

• This happened immediately and was not gradual.
• I've put ~100 miles on it since, no change.
• Clutch was replaced at 396k miles, truck now at 437k.
• Clutch still engages smoothly and at the same point at before. No slipping.
• Nothing feels "crunchy" or broken. Literally just feels like there's a second, stiffer spring that engages once the pedal is pushed halfway down.

Let me know if this sounds familiar!

 

The release bearing (throw out bearing) could be sticking on the shaft it slides on, I think its called a quill?

The spring fingers on the pressure plate could be messed up

Can't say I've ever seen a master cylinder bind up

Have you looked under the dash to see if anything is obstructing the clutch pedal arm?

 

I'm afraid this is going to be one of those tear it apart and find out what is causing the problem.

 

This is a second gen?

V6?

May have busted your transmission quill.

If you're lucky it's just chewed up and binding and can be cleaned up and repaired with a URD transmission Quill kit.

If you're unlucky you'll be buying a low milage used transmission.

Also if you haven't alread try deleting your clutch accumulator valve and thoroughly bleeding the system.

 

Here's an update since nobody likes unresolved threads.

I just kept driving the truck - it's now been 6 months and 4000 miles with no change. Truck still shifts fine & I don't notice the firmer pedal anymore. Gonna keep driving it as is!

There was also one morning when my throwout bearing was whining. It stopped after a couple mins of driving and never made a noise again. I'm not worried about it, nor am I convinced it's related.

 

This is happening to me now. The only difference is that the truck will not start when I use clutch, I have to press clutch bypass button and it starts no problem. Any thoughts much appreciated.