I just moved to another city last week and the temperature is quite cooler here (-15C). Yesterday I got in my truck and the clutch seemed to have a little more play than usual. This morning when I was going to work it had even more play and the friction point had moved farther to the bottom of clutch pedal stroke. Tonight after work the clutch had play all the way to the floor. Had to turn off the engine, put the truck in gear and start it to get it moving. Could barely change gears.

Do clutch systems go off in a matter of days or is the cold weather playing with my clutch? Could there be water in the hydraulic clutch system that is freezing?

Also half the time I pushed the clutch to the floor on the way home tonight, the pedal would not return to its normal position. Thne all of a sudden it would pop back out??

95 F150 V8 5.0

 

I would definetly check the fluid level. I had the same reaction out of my pedal when the slave cylinder was failing.

 

Normally, if the slave fails, you'll find a puddle of brake fluid under the truck where the bell meets the engine. If that's dry, you have a bypassing master cylinder. And yes, they can fail all of a sudden, or may take a couple years to completely die. I started having leaks from the slave on mine a couple years ago. I went another 20K before it finally gave completely up. All total, I had 130K on the original clutch system, so can't complain much.

 

I've replaced the slave cylinder on mine three times now in 60,000 miles. I went with a motorcraft one this time and hopefully that works. Seems that ford put out an updated one just recently that has a dust boot. All the aftermarkets ones didn't. The ford one was also the same price as all the others.

Matt

 

I checked my fluid level the other morning and it was totally out. Had to limp the truck down to the store to get some dot 3. I topped her up and the clutch still does not have the same friction point as before it started acting up, but the fluid level seems to remain steady. There was no puddle that I could see over the couple of days it was acting up. So any idea what it costs and how mechanically inclined one would have to be in order to fix the bypassing master cylinder? Also, what is the difference between the slave cylinder and the bypassing master cylinder?

 

I'm not sure about changing the master cylinder, but changing the slave cylinder involves removing the transmission to get to it. Once you get the tranny out it is just a couple bolts. There is also a special tool to remove the hose or a couple flathead screwdrivers may do the trick as well.

I do believe the master cylinder is basically the part you dump the fluid into. Basically should be a hose and a few bolts and possibly a linkage to change that.

 

bad_habit59,

Boy, is your dilemna familiar. Mine started to do exactly what you described today. I'm in cold climate (temp last night was 21*). Did not know about this slave cylinder/master cylinder on these clutches.

Pulled into a Ford dealer and described my very soft pedal and the fact that it was engaging almost as soon as I started to lift my foot off the floor. The tech conferred with a mechanic who came and popped the hood and unscrewed that little master cylinder. She was dry. He slid under the truck and said my slave cylinder was leaking. I didn't notice any puddles on the drive but it could have been leaking slowly out, over time. So I asked what does it cost to fix. The slave cylinder was $64.00. The labor to R & R this is 8 hours @ $80.00 an hour. Turns out the tranny has to be pulled to replace this part. Learned somethin' new on this truck today. Was able to have the clutch continue engaging by before starting her, pumping the clutch up and down a # of times. Once home, I added Dot 3 brake fluid to fill that cylinder. She drove out OK after that. Mine is 4 wheel drive. Think for the $704.00 + the government (Ford dealer prices) for just the slave cyliner replacement it would seem to make since to do a clutch/pressure plate/throwout bearing as well. WHILIMATITS taken' over ya' think?

Has anyone done this wrenchin' themselves? I don't have the service manual on this truck (going to check out EBAY to see if there are any out there, unless someone here can recommend a service bible). What is the degree of difficulty to do this? Would help to know of a step-by-step guide on the R&R of the tranny to replace the slave cylinder.

bad_habit59, sorry for stealing your thread here. Do hope others would chime in though and we both could benefit.

Thanks in advance!

Regards,

Jim

 

Nobody has mentioned that if your master cylinder was empty, there is now air in the system too. Now that you filled it up again you need to bleed the system to get proper pedal pressure.

 

Wow don't pay that much to get it fixed. The first time mine went i paid a local shop around $450 I think to put a new clutch, pressure plated, and slave cylinder in, plus have the flywheel ground. This included all the parts as well. I actually just changed the slave cylinder in my pickup a few months ago pretty much by myself. Only help I had was to put the tranny back in.

It really wasn't that hard, but a bit time consuming thing to do alone on a floor. Basically you remove the driveshafts, unhook transfer case linkages, remove shifter, and remove the cross member for the tranny making sure you support the tranny and transfer case. I took the transfer case off just because i was working by myself and didn't want to have to try balance that and the tranny on a jack.

There is a hose connected to the slave cylinder through an access in the tranny, that needs to be removed and take a special tool that is maybe $10. A couple small flathead screwdriveers would probably work too. Once the hose is off you unbolt the tranny from the motor and get behind it and wiggle it back and forth a bit and pull back at the same time. Make sure you have some sort of jack or a friend helping you do that part.

Once the tranny is out and on the ground the slave is bolted in over the input shaft. I think two bolts, maybe three hold it on. Swap the two out and basically reverse the operation. It can be a bit tricky getting the tranny back in. It takes a bit of wiggling and turning the output shaft of the tranny to get everything lined up.

Once everything is all put back together fill reservoir back up with synthetic dot 3 brake fluid. The reason I use synthetic is that every time I have had a slave cylinder go out except for the last it was in the extremes of winter and very cold. I figured with the fluid being really cold it was probably pretty thick and just blew the seal and synthetic should be thinner at the cold temps. The first two that went out just all of a sudden happened with no warning and the last one had leaked from the day i had it put in and i just didn't want to deal with it, so I kept adding until it finally got really bad.

Next you will have to bleed the new cylinder. We did this by closing the bleeder and with the cover on the master and full of fluid, we would pump the clutch a bunch of times and then hold it in and crack the bleeder a bit. When fluid stopped coming out we closed the bleeder and repeated until the clutch pedal felt right.

Hope that helps,
Matt

 

86Stepside,

Wasn't aware of the bleeding requirement. Is the bleeder screw adjacent to the cylinder (sorry for sounding like a klutz here...this is my 1st Ford truck and I'm getting an education).

AC700wildcat,

Yeh Matt, with price quotes like that, ya' gotta' believe in at least trying to do it yourself. Friggin' labor is like 95% of the job on this one. Thank you for the detailed "walk through" on how to do this. Like you 86Stepside have mentioned this bleeding of the little "master cylinder". I bought this truck this past June w/142K on her. Do not know any history other than the fact that she does appear well maintained. Everything works on her 'cept the air (will be replacing compressor, dryer, orifice tube and flushing the system this coming spring....aah, and of course doing this clutch slave cylinder replacement as well).

I'm getting the impression this slave cylinder is an achilles heel on these trucks. Is it like this across the board, regardless of engine size? Are these failing more often then the clutch itself? Seems like a giant pain in the **s for a Ford Dealer $64.00 part to change, eh?

I'm not adverse to wrenchin'. I'm just a "clean piece of paper" on this truck .

Anyone here point me in the right direction to get a service manual on this truck?

Again all, thanks for the advice here!!

Regards,

Jim

 

945spd, when you do it make sure they get you the updated ford part. When I got the last one for my pickup they said it had been updated. Hopefully this update, whatever it was, addressed this problem. I have never actually had a problem with the clutch on my pickup. Just replaced it cuz my mechanic was in there and I figured noone would have to take it apart that far again.

I would look for a Chilton's or Haynes for a service manual. I'm not sure which is better, but both should really be a help.

Matt

 

This really isn't as bad of a job as I thought it would be. I did mine, with the help of a buddy to slide the tranny and transfer case in and out in about 4 hours. The biggest PITA was getting the the damn hose in and out of the cyclinder with that "special tool" the other were mentioning.

 

Can you all tell me where to get this special tool? Or what it's called? I need to put a new clutch master cylinder on mine, and I dont' think there's any way to get the dang hose off the master cylinder without breaking it! I think it'd be alot easier to take it off the master cylinder if I knew how, lol.

Matt

 

I borrowed the one I used from a friend who is a mechanic at the dealership here. I think you should be able to get one at any decent parts store tho. I'm not sure you need it to change the master cylinder tho. I used it to disconnect from the slave cylinder.

 

that's what the guy said at the dealership...you have to disconnect the whole hose. he said you can't take it off from the master cylinder, but he also said they had to do it, lol. Do you happen to know how to get it off from the master cylinder?

Matt