I have a 96 Ford Ranger with a 4.0L 5 speed manual Transmission. I have a issue with the clutch I think. The truck will shift into gear with no problems but, the truck won't move. It will shift into all gears with no grinding. So my question is the clutch bad or could it be something else? Any help would be great. There is about 30,000 miles on this clutch.

 

Interesting. So with the truck running you can shift thu the gears but when you let up the clutch nothing happens. Did you try to move the truck in all gears Can you hear the transmission spinning? Is the driveshaft spinnig. The truck must roll without the ebrake on? Did it just happen? Was the clutch slipping at all? Is it 4WD?

 

Pressure plate locked out. Check throw out bearing.

 

With the truck running and the tranny in neutral pull the rubber inspection plug off the drivers side of the tranny. See if the pressure plate is spinning

 

It is a clutch issue. The only way to see what the real problem is is to pull the transmission.

 

I am not an SAE certified mechanic.........so I have a question for you............is it possible that the transmission itself could have broken internally and is just spinning?....

 

i had a serius cluthc problem with my 96 splash put in 4 new clutchs and slaves and masters.but forgot to look at the clutch pedal .i could move the pedal up & down 3/4 of a inch .i just bought a new clutch pedal brake pedal assembly from ford.my neighbor is going to change it for me .
hope this helps
if putting in this new part will fix my truck if not im stuck with a stupid automatic which means even less power
a ranger with a 2.3 and auto means a volkwagon will have more power.

 

If the shaft or a gear or two in the transmission had broken, you should hear loud rattling, knocking and maybe even some other noises in the transmission, and this is very rare unless the truck was abused such as drag racing or off road playing. The weak link in a manual transmission system is the clutch, pressure plate and related parts. There is a better chance than not that the pressure plate and or clutch is just worn out or has some weak or broken springs or the throw out bearing is stuck. How does the clutch feel when you press the pedal? If it doesn't feel normal, then your problem is in the clutch system somewhere. Again, the only way to find it for sure is to pull the transmission. On a manual transmission, there are no pressre ports for testing as hydraulic pressure is not needed. It is all mechanical and with the exception of the drive shaft and rear end, not servicable with the transmission installed. If it has a hydraulic clutch, even the slave cylinder is inside the bellhousing, ie, not serviceable with with the transmission installed.