I believe I have traced this to a bad slave cylinder, but I just want the opinions of people with a little more experience in this area.

here's the deal: 1988 F-150 with 5-speed ZF tranny.

every so often (weekly or maybe bi-weekly) my clutch will get soft and even go out. I check the fluid resevoir and it is low. I just top it off and pump the petal several times and it becomes drivable again.

I checked the master cylinder over and can't see any leaks under the hood or where the pedal rod goes into it. I checked the line too. No oil or residue on it either. So O slide under the truck and pry off the inspection plate. Fluid instantly pours out of the plate. it appears to be brake fluid. So I look up to the slave cylinder and there are 2 drops of brake fluid forming on it. I have my dad work the clutch pedal while I watch and when it slides forward, the shaft has nice coat of fluid on it.

This sounds pretty conclusive for a leaky slave cylinder doesn't it?

Anybody got any preferences on brands to buy? I put the current one in in 9-2003. and this is a little too much of a hassle to have to do every 4 years.

Oh well I guess this gives me a good excuse to replace a leaky rear main seal too.

 

Yep, that's the slave. Go with a motorcraft. It's worth the money not to have to do this every few years.

 

fords bright idea to put it inside the bellhousing...

also some jeeps too...

it sucks that u have to pull the trans to fix something that SHOULD be very simple.

i changed a master AND slave today on a toyota, combined they took like 40 min(at most)