Clutch seems to have jammed engine

Had a bad day yesterday, and finally I decided to go for a drive and head to see a friend. Well I didn't get far because after I got on the road, I began smelling something burning, not exactly the smell of the clutch pad, but like hot hydraulic fluid. 1/4 mile later the smell became intense and I started to hear a 'whirring' noise in the gears...oh crap. I put the T-bird into a u-turn to head back, but because of how fast the problem was progressing I shut down the engine and stopped.
Throwing the shifter through the gears felt normal and the clutch pedal felt normal, though the pedal has been softening over the past year. I went to restart the car and the engine could barely crank over! My SC had to be pushed home; lucky for me there was no snow or hill to go up, and I had my shoes! Thanks to my dad and the stranger for the help pushing most of the way.
I'm wondering now what exactly has happened, is part of the clutch jammed against the flywheel, thereby resisting the engine? Could it be that the manual transmission is somehow broken and resisting the cranking of the engine?
Any help and you are my hero!

Ron Severson
1990 5 speed stock

Just so i have a good picture in my head.. was the car in gear when you were cranking it over (even if you had the clutch pressed in).. or was it in neutral ???

Is the car hard to get into neutral or into gear? If so, it's possible the slave cylinder failed. Check the fluid level in the hydraulic clutch reservior.

The engine is hard to crank no matter if the shift knob is in gear or not, and it is not hard to put in gear. One man I spoke with on the phone pretty much told me anything is possible with a clutch going bad and that it could have jammed against the flywheel. The starter is new and the battery is in good condition, so there is really no possibility that the starting system is malfunctioning.

Ron

You deffinetly have a problem! I dont have a clue what it could be because we need more info, but it sure does'nt sound like the clutch to me. There's nothing the clutch could have to do with it while the tranny is in N as far as your engine cranking over slow. Just because your starter is new does'nt mean it has'nt failed.

Hmmmmmmm.....!

Smelled sommit burning,ehh! Check your engine oil level, and smell if IT has a burned smell to it, you may have lost oil pressure and the engine is seizing up, but has not completely done so yet. just a W.A.G. not being there, as a wise man once said the hardest thing you'll EVER do is diagnose a problem over the phone/ email/ etc. hoping for the best for you. cheers W.L.

Hey Mike...!

Unless he lost enough trans fluid and the pilot/main shaft bearing is seizing!!??? He could have still pushed the car in neutral but, the engine would be hard to turn over, can't wait to here what this is though, can't say as I've ever heard of sommit like this, and have seen a lot of things happen, and been compounded by other problem after the fact. Like the time a carb fire on a GTO turned out to be a broken cam, AFTER we rewired part of the engine and rebuilt 3 two barrels. doohhh! W.L.

I saw the parts

I'm having the clutch replaced and the autoshop told me the news this morning. I need the clutch kit and... flywheel, slave cylinder, reseal a plate on the transmission, and the transmission needs a new cover where the shift knob comes out. They are also going to replace the real main seal on the engine since it's accessible right now.
They believe the clutch disc was sticking to the flywheel and that this is what was making the engine impossible to start. Having seen the clutch disc, it was worn down to the screw heads, and I should have replaced it all sooner. When the car was dropped off yesterday, the owner of the shop came out and said, "Is that a Supercoupe?!"
"It's a T-bird", I humbly told him out of fear that he would next refer my car as a superchicken. Today I learned he enjoys the Supercoupe and had worked at Ford. Hopefully they are taking care of her well.

Ron Severson

Iiieeeeeee.........!

Have a few shots and beers before you call for the damage($), it sounds scarey to me!!!! It must be that everybody that takes one of these beast to be fixed, say the same thing, the mechanic got a wicked grin on their face when they told them what they were driving, erhm, don't drink and drive!?! hehehe. Good luck m8. W.L.

Well if you can afford it, I'd take advantage of a flywheel upgrade since it has to be replaced anyway. A lightweight aluminum flywheel is a nice option.