Hi Everyone,
I have read a number of clutch related posts in this forum and hope someone can give me some good advice.

My 94 4Litre Explorer Sport is having clutch problems.
The clutch has to be pinned to the floor for shifting under normal circumstances but I find that when I have driven a good distance especially on a warm day the clutch will not fully disengage making it difficult to change or get back into gear.

I see no signs of leakage and the reservoir appears to be full. I do not have a shop manual for this vehicle yet. I assume the reservoir is the little one by the driver side fender. It says to make sure the fluid is up to the mark but I cannot make out where the mark is. The level is high though so when I open the cap the rubber diaphragm floats right up.

Someone suggested in a different post to bleed the line in case of air. How would I go about bleeding the clutch? I have not yet worked with a hydraulic clutch.
There appears to be no slipping of the clutch and I am hoping it is just air in the line causing the peddle to have to be floored to create enough pressure to disengage the clutch and that when the hydraulic fluid get's hot from traveling that the problem get's worse.

Help?

Thanks.

 

If it is the same as my 91 the slave cylinder is inside the bell housing around the trans. input shaft. On the drivers side of the trans you will see where the line comes in from the master cylinder up on your fire wall. If you have the Mazda M5OD-R1 trans you should have two rectangular holes in the bell housing there... through one of those holes you should be able to access the bleeder... if I remember right it's on a stem coming from the slave cylinder out to the bell housing above where the line hooks up. Try bleeding it first, but it could be that the slave cylinder is bad, mine went out at about 170,000 miles.

If photo doesn't show up click here!


1. Fill the master cylinder to the top with new brake fluid conforming to DOT 3 or DOT 4 specifications.
2. Raise the vehicle and put it on jackstands or drive it up on ramps Try to keep the truck as level as possible. Don't forget to chock the rear wheels and set parking brake...
3. Remove the dust cap thath fits over the bleeder valve and push a length of clear plastic hose over the valve. Put the other end of the hose into a container.
4. Open the bleeder valve. Fluid will run from the clutch master cylinder, down the hydraulic line, into the release cylinder (the Slave Cylinder) and out through the clear plastic tube. Let the fluid run out until it is free of bubbles. Don't let the fluid level drop too low in the clutch master cylinder, or air will be drawn into the hydraulic line and the whole process will have to be started over.
5. Close the bleeder valve.
6. Open the bleeder valve and have someone slowly depress the clutch pedal allowing fluid to flow through the clear plastic hose. When the clutch pedal is almost to the floor, close the bleeder valve and have them release the pedal.
7. Slowly press the pedal five times, waiting a couple ofseconds each time the pedal is released. When releasing the pedal on this step, release it fast. This will help suck fluid down the stream and aid in faster bubble reduction.
8. Fill the fluid reservoir to the top.
9. The clutch should now be completely bled. If it isn't, (failure to disengage completely or a soft or no pedal), repeat steps 4 through 8.
10. Continue this process until all air is evacuated from the system, you should see a solid stream of fluid being ejected from the bleeder valve each time with no air bubbles in the hose or container.
11. Install the dust cap and lower the vehicle and re-check your fluid level.


If the slave cylinder is bad you have to drop the transmission to change it becaust the input shaft of the transmission goes through the unit and the throwout bearing attaches directly to it. I went ahead and changed my clutch & pressure plate and had the fly wheel surfaced also since I had it tore down already, all total it was about $200 in parts and took approx. 8-10 hours to complete... just my wife and I working on it.

If you end up needing to replace the slave cylinder you will need a tool like this

You have to have it to release the line from the slave cylinder, check at your local parts house or on the HELP parts racks, that's where I found mine.

 

Wow, thanks for the detailed response.
I will attempt the bleeding this weekend and see how it goes. I am afraid that the pressure plate might be worn out and therefore require changing the clutch. I do not know how big a job it would be to do it myself. I have never worked on a hydraulic clutch before or any transmission work on a 4x4.

Is it easy to drop the tranny on these? I still need to go pick up a manual.
I have been sort of lucky in that all my recent experience also required removing the engine so pulling the tranny at that point was simple.

Thanks.

 

Try this: Get up to about 40 miles per hour, shift truck into 5th gear and floor the truck. You should see no or little gain on the tach. If the tack rises quick then it is slipping and most likely needs replacement. If its a 4speed then do the same in 4th. Tach should not move hardly at all. Hope this helps.

 

The transmission on these isn't too bad, it does take some time to get it loose from the engine, the top bolts we're really a bear. We dropped the transmission on a Friday evening, I took the flywheel and had it surfaced the next morning. Got started putting it back together that afternoon and had it back together and running at about midnight that night... I had it back together pretty early but I had had some problems with the new slave cylinder and throwout bearing and had to drop the trans a second time to get to it and fix it (that was a pain in the rear). I think the hardest part was getting the crossmember back in under the trans... we really struggled with that for some reason, but eventually beat it back in there, when all else fails get a bigger hammer. If you've pulled an engine your probably ok tackling this one.

1. You'll need to get the vehicle up a bit, jack it up and use jackstands or drive it up on some ramps... set your parking break and chock the wheels, you may need the trans in nuetral to relieve stress on the drivelines and you don't want the vehicle moving while your under it.
2. Get you a manual, it will give you some more detailed info... and you will have to have that tool to remove your clutch line.
3. First, there is a wiring harness that plugs into the 4wd acuator that has to be disconnected, and the speedo cable. Remove both drivelines, the starter, your gear shifter, and then you can start removing the bolts that attach the trans to the engine.
4. After that unbolt the crossmember and the trans. mount. Support your trans with a couple of jacks or rent a trans jack and support it with it before removing the crossmember.
5. Let the trans drop down a bit in the back. It's pretty heavy, and long too with the t-case attached, so be carefull. The t-case hangs to one side and it makes the trans want to roll after it's loose from the engine... it may not hurt to have someone help you here so that it doesn't roll off your jack while your trying to let it down. Now it doesn't just fall out... the exhaust is in the way, I rolled mine every way but upside down and couldn't get it out. The bolts that held my exhaust pipes to the manifolds wouldn't come loose, so I ended up using a recipricating saw to remove the crossover pipe that goes under the bell housing there... the transmission was just too big to fit between it and the floor board. If you can get your exhaust loose it won't be necessary, but if you do have to cut it it's not the end of the world. I think the exhaust shop charged me $20 to weld it back in... no biggie.
6. After the trans is out remove the pressure plate and clutch from the flywheel and take it to have it re-surfaced, most parts stores can do this or can direct you somewhere that can. Inspect the teeth on the flywheel just to be sure you don't need a new one (it's usually fine).
7. You can also remove the slave cylinder and throw-out bearing from inside the bell housing now and install the new unit. Just follow the instructions that come with it, I think it recomends filling the unit with fluid before you put it on but I can't remember... (just speeds up the bleeding process)
8. After you have your flywheel back remember to replace the bearing in the center of it, it usually comes with your clutch and pressure plate but if not purchase it seperately and install it. You may also want to replace your rear seal in your engine at this time, I wasn't having any problems there yet, and I was in a hurry, so I just applied a generous amount of RTV sealant around it and worked it into the groove there. Bolt your flywheel back on and torque it to the specs in your manual.
9. Next align your clutch and pressure plate with a CLUTCH ALIGNMENT TOOL and bolt them in place. Torque them to specs also and be carefull, I've twisted the heads off those bolts before, they won't take much more than the spec. Remove the clutch alignment tool before you re-install your trans.
10. Now you can put your trans back in (ha, always easier said than done). You may have to jack up the front of the motor a bit to get the right angle for the trans to line up... I fought with mine for about 15-20 mins but finally got it to line up and slide into place. Get a couple of bolts in it and pull them up tight, then you can jack up the rear and slip the cross member into place. Before you go too much further re-attach your clutch line, bleed the system, and check for any malfunctions, leaks, or clutch engagement/disengagement problems before you spend too much time bolting everything back on. If everything seems to check out, then just work in reverse bolting everything back up and tightening it to the torque specs in your manual.

 

great write up!

 

Thanks man, I do what I can to help others avoid the frustrations I've endured. I appreciate the compliment.