I own a 1999 Ranger, 4.0 V6 with a manual transmission. I live in an area where the temperature is not uncommon to be over 100 degrees from June through August. During these 100+ days, I have noticed that the feel of my clutch drastically changes. What happens is that the clutch doesn't want to completely disengage when I have the pedal all the way to the floor. Sometimes so bad that to get it into gear is very difficult. When I release the pedal it seems to catch very quickly and the pedal has barely been lifted off the floor.

Can anyone help me understand why the feel of my clutch would change when the temperature increases and if there is anything I can do to fix it. During the winter I never have this problem, the clutch acts normal. I noticed the problem first during last summer and now again this summer.

Please help!

 

It sounds like an air bubble in a hydraulic line, but that wouldn't be temperature sensitive. Are you in the desert S.W., and if so, has alot of dust gotten onto or into your clutch master cylinder? Desert dust eats wheel bearings for breakfast and hydraulic systems for lunch. The O-rings on the master cylinder or concentric clutch release (slave) cylinder may be borderline. How many miles? Any off-road?
CB

 

I live in central California and I do quite a bit of offroad driving (i.e. fire roads, access to dirtbiking areas). I know that a lot of dust gets into my truck. I currently have about 46k miles and it could very well be that my master cylinder has a lot of dust eating at the seals. I will have to check it out.

Thanks for the advice, if there are any other thoughts I am open to ideas.

 

I have a '99 with a 4 banger, 2WD, that is similar. The clutch pedal free-play can vary from 1/2 inch in cold weather to 1.5 inch in hot weather after a long drive. So far there is no problem shifting and the dealer can find nothing wrong.

Have you gotten anywhere with this?

 

I just spoke with my Ford mechanic and have the same problem on my 2002 4.0L 5spd. FX4. He said its the slave cylinder allowing air into the system. Pull the tranny and replace. He also said that Ford has 5 revisions out for this slave cylinder and they still can't get it right! Come on Ford, get new engineers if you can't figure it out.

 

Try using sythetic fluid. Very pricey but it retains its properties at higher temperatures.

 

Does Ford have a service bulletin out on this? Anyone know the number?

I brought my 4 cyl. truck in for it last year while still under warranty and they didn't find a problem, or service bulletin

 

I just had another thought on this. My clutch lines are plastic and it wouldn't surprise me if they soften when it gets hot. A little bit of softening would go a long way to explaining this problem.

Are your's also plastic?

 

I have a 99 Mazda B4000 5 speed with a little over 46K miles and I have had the same probles for over a year! It seems like the free play in my clutch petal changes all the time. Sometimes I have to put it almost to the floor, sometimes it is stiff right away. I had something replaced under warranty that was master or slave cylinder related, I would have to check the paperwork to know exactly. The problem was fixed, for a while. I brought it in again and the dealer said "trucks just shift harder than cars" and didn't fix it!
ERIC

 

Eric,

Did the freeplay increase as the weather got hotter? What part of the country are you in?

 

I'm in Wisconsin and see all types of weather. I notice that in winter the shifting seems more difficult but gets better when everything warmms up.
ERIC

 

It sounds like we have entirely different problems. My shifting is fine, only my clutch freeplay is a concern.

You may try using a synthetic gear lube, if you haven't already.

Art