Here's what happened:

I parked the truck Friday evening after work (everything seemed fine), and it sat until Sunday evening. I went to move it Sunday, and the clutch was very spongy when I pushed it in. I started the truck in neutral, and tried to put it in gear. It wouldn't go into first or reverse.

I got the truck in the shop and went to bleed the line. My shop manuals (Chilton's i believe) says "Top off resevoir. Open bleeder valve. When a steady stream is coming from valve, that means the slave cylinder is full. Close valve. Pump pedal 10 times...etc"

So I open the bleeder valve. It almost immediately becomes a steady stream, although not much of one. I went to top off the resevoir, but my bottle of brake fluid was almost empty. By the time I got another one located and opened, it had long drained out. So I simply started pouring fluid in. I let it gravity bleed for a few minutes, then a friend and I started to do the pump method. I would open the valve, he would push the pedal, then I would close the valve and he would release. We did that 50 or so times. It didn't seem to help at all.

Now I don't know what to do. I have never bled a clutch before. Is it supposed to take alot longer than doing brakes? Even so, shouldn't 50 pumps be enough to get the air out? Thanks for any replies and tips!

 

try this link. 99 ford ranger clutch problem. I think its time to change you clutch Master Cylinder

 

may be MC is bad ore slave leaks. so you have air in system. clutch is good just bled, but air appeares later....

 

LuK Automotive Systems - Technical Bulletins

 

well, clucth is simple system - not so difficult to find a problem. Slave usually leaks, MC usually lets air come in...

 

For convenience sake, I would replace the clutch master and bleed the system. If it works, we're done.
To replace the slave involves removing the transmission, as the slave is internal to the bell housing. That is a lot more work, especially the shift linkage and boot.
If you haven't noticed fluid on the floor, and the master cylinder was full of fluid before you started messin' around, then the slave is likely not leaking, at least.

I may be all wet about the slave, as you didn't state the vintage...
tom

 

drop a tranny and be sure you'd like to change clutch dist to have no pain to remove tranny one more time when disk is worn, but hydravlics is still good

 

Thanks for all of the replies. I have read a few of the links posted and done some more searching on this site, and basically it seems like it is very difficult to bleed the lines fully and completely on these trucks. I've seen alot of threads about hard right angles in the lines trapping air and that the angle of the slave cylinder traps air. By the way, it is a '95Ranger 2wd. I should have stated that earlier.

I think I am going to do as TomW suggested and replace the master cylinder first, then try and bleed again. I think I am going to pick up one of the "one person" bleeder mechanisms. Anybody have any suggestions on a good, quality vacuum or hand pump bleeder system?

While I was searching online about vacuum bleeders, I came across this on Advance Auto Parts website:
"When all's said and done, brake bleeding/flushing is one of the least-enjoyable ways to spend up to an hour. While you're thinking of all those things you'd rather do, though, remember that bleeding brakes saves human bloodshed." Saves human bloodshed, huh? Haha Advance must think of themsevles as the savior of humanity by spreading brake bleeding knowledge. Anyways, I thought that was a rather strange quote from them. Thanks for all of the help folks.

 

At plant they use pressure bleeding. I use old Hand Pump for tires, I fill it with fluid, disconnect reservour and press fluid in directly. 5 min stuff.

Better way is considered to bleed from underneath throught bleed valve. IHMO, I can see no difference.

I never used vac. bleeder, but hand pump satisfies me fully.... I use it for heavy trucks bleeding (with and w/o clutch booster). My friend preferes handpaump for bikes, they are smaller...

 

Just make sure you Bench bleed it first.

BENCH BLEED

The compact vehicles are more difficult to bleed because the downward angle of the master cylinder makes it difficult for air to escape up into the reservoir. Therefore, if the master cylinder is removed from the vehicle and bled while held in a vertical orientation (a bench bleed) air can escape much more efficiently.

BENCH BLEEDING PROCEDURE (CONCENTRIC SLAVE CYLINDER)


1. Remove master cylinder, line and reservoir from vehicle and assemble with replacement parts required based on initial concern.
2. Hold the master cylinder vertically with the reservoir feed hose in the highest position on the body,
3. Fill the reservoir and extend above the master cylinder and assure the quick connect on the clutch line is below the master cylinder. (Lightly clamp reservoir in a vice).
4. Using a small screwdriver, depress the internal mechanism of the male quick connect coupling to open the valve,
5. Stroke and hold master cylinder pushrod.
6. Close quick connect valve.
7. Release master cylinder pushrod.
8. Fill reservoir.
Repeat Steps 4 through 8 four more times.
9. With the master cylinder still being held with the outlet tube and reservoir feed tube ends high, quick connect closed and the reservoir full, proceed as follows:
10. Push the pushrod into the body several times quickly to expel any remaining air.
If it is a remote reservoir, pinch the supply hose with your fingers two or three times to help move air into reservoir.
When the movement of the pushrod is .160" (4mm) or less when stroked in Step 10, reinstall the master cylinder into the vehicle and couple it to the slave cylinder.

ON VEHICLE BLEED PROCEDURE, CONCENTRIC SLAVE CYLINDER

Under normal conditions, disconnecting the clutch coupling will not introduce air into the system. However, if there appears to be air in the system (spongy pedal or insufficient bearing travel), the system must be bled. The following procedure is used with the hydraulic system installed on the vehicle.


1. Disconnect the coupling at the transmission with a coupling disconnect tool (T88T70522A) or equivalent by sliding the white plastic sleeve toward the slave cylinder while applying a slight tug on the clutch tube.
2. Clean dirt and grease from around the reservoir cap.
3. Remove cap and diaphragm and fill reservoir to the step with Heavy Duty Brake Fluid (C6AZ-19542-AA or BA) (ESA-M6C25-A) or equivalent.
CAUTION: BRAKE FLUID MUST BE CERTIFIED TO DOT 3 SPECIFICATION.



4. By hand, apply 10-15 lbs. to clutch pedal.
If pedal is hard (.25-.50 "movement), skip to Step 9.
If pedal is spongy, proceed to the next step.
5. Using a small screwdriver....
Depress the internal mechanism of the male coupling to open the valve.
6. While continuing to hold the valve open, slowly depress the clutch pedal to the floor and hold.
7. Remove the screwdriver from the coupling, closing the valve.
8. Release the clutch pedal.
9. Refill the reservoir to level at step.
NOTE: THE RESERVOIR MUST BE KEPT FULL AT ALL TIMES TO ENSURE THAT THERE WILL BE NO ADDITIONAL INTRODUCTION OF AIR INTO THE SYSTEM.



Repeat Steps 4 through 7.
Install cap on reservoir.
Reconnect the coupling to the slave cylinder.
Check that the connection is secure by applying a slight tug to the clutch tube.
Stroke the clutch pedal as rapidly as possible for five to ten strokes.
Wait one to three minutes.
Repeat Steps 10 and 11 three more times.
Loosen the bleed screw which is located in the slave cylinder body next to the inlet connection.
Depress and hold the clutch pedal while tightening the bleed screw 3-5 N-m (2.2-3.7 lb-ft).
Refill the reservoir to level at step.
The hydraulic system should now be fully bled and should release the clutch. Check the clutch reserve per the instruction in the 1993 Service Manual, Section 08-00.

 

Thanks for the replies. I got it fixed! Mostly, anyways. Turns out the master cylinder was bad. Nobody prepared me for how big of a pain it can be to remove and reinstall. I finally gave up on installing it with that goofy bent up washer. We simply couldn't compress it enough to get the new MC to lock in place. I am trying to find a shim of just the right size or something similar to gently wedge in there. It may be shadetree, but I was about to blow throw a hammer through the windshield trying to get that washer to compress!

 

Are you talking about a springy washer that slips behind a collar on the MC, between the MC and the firewall? If so, a hammer comes in handy. Or your local FoMoCo dealer. Can't take that long if you have done it before, so it shouldn't cost too much.

tom

 

Well, the clutch master cylinder went bad again The same thing happened as it did in April...went to drive away, and the clutch pedal had no feel to it. I checked the resevoir, and it had plenty of fluid. Anyways, I got a new, free master cylinder at O'Reily's through their lifetime warranty. I considered getting my money back on the last O'Reily's MC, and buying Motorcraft since the last one went bad in only a few months. Fortunately I decided against it because I found out OEM and the one O'Reily sells is manufactured by the exact same company!

Anyways, I bench bled the new one thoroughly, and it went back in much easier than last time. I still couldn't get that goofy spongy washer thing to work, so I will just shim it against the bracket (my MC is held in by a bracket in the
cab, not by bolts in the firewall as both my Haynes and Chilton's manuals claim)

I don't think the pedal has as much "feel" to it as it used to, but the clutch engages and disengages just fine. Hopefully I will get another couple of years out of the old truck.

 

I had similar problem, but with slave cylinder, that went out in half of year. replaced and old aero runs well. yeah, aerostar MC is held with two bolts on firewall, but explorer/ranger MC is held by made of steel braket. sometimes these bolts are difficult to unscrew, braket is really easy to pull out.

 

I have spent 2 days following every suggestion. I have no air in system, only after removing the master completely from the truck and bench bleeding it. Lots of bubbles of air came out. Pedal is rock hard with the clutch line disconnected from the slave. When connected to the slave connector and bled, I get no air bubbles. So far so good. Pedal seems fine now. But, the clutch slave cylinder does NOT travel enough to push the clutch in all the way. I can barely shift at the bottom of the pedal. The clutch engages about 1 inch from the floor. I give up.... Could it be that my slave just does not travel enough to disengage the clutch properly? Could the slave cylinder need to be mounted on offset washers to put it closer to the clutch plate? Any suggestion is welcome. I just wanted others to know that bleeding all the air out may still not achieve success. I am ready to call the Kidney Foundation and give this Ranger away.....