Well, at least for me. Here's the story: I have been working on my clutch for some time. I'm stuck at the bleeding point. Well, I repaced the pedal return spring. Well, mypedal still stays where it did before the clutch went out. Well, I noticed that the firewall where myclutch master cylinder is flexes and moves. Would that causethe pedal to not return all the way? And if that is what causing it, what adhesive should I use to fasten the firewall to the vehicle. Oh, Its a 1988 F-150 with the Mazda 5-speed if that helps much.

 

what to fix it with im not sure other than possibly puttin sheet metal over the area and surrounding area to strengthen it again, all i know is that its something you want to correct a.s.a.p. my brother in law had a late 80's ranger that had the same issue, he kept screwing around and never fixed it, well long story short one day i had to borrow his truck to run to the parts store, went to hit the pedal at a stop light and the firewall gave way and ripped apart... limped to the parts store where i "fixed" it with a ratchet strap around the master cylinder down to the frame lol, got me home tho

 

i think ford acutally had a part to fix that problem, not positive but i am pretty sure i read about on here somewere

 

These are a bugger to bleed. Are you following the correct procedure? If not, you have to fill the master, open the bleeder and let it drain a little, Refill the master, then let it drain, making sure not to let the master go dry. Repeat this 3-4 times, then pump the master, hold it, and open the bleeder, close bleeder, pump master, hold, open bleeder.

firewall flex is a common problem, how much flex is there? All flex a little, but if its really flexing or if the firewall is cracking around the master then you may need to reinforce.

Another common issue is the bushing on the clutch pedal. It wears through to the point that the pedal doesn't hardly push the master. You can get stock replacement bushing from ford but they tend to fail pretty quick. Its really easy to do a permanent fix instead.

 

Yeah, ford actually came out with two repairs for this problem. One is a simple plate that mounts up to the firewall using the clutch master cylinder studs and nuts. This one usually goes for a couple bucks (should be less than $10) and installs in a few minutes. I went with this route and it fixed my flex problem.

Another is for more serious damage. This kit costs about $100-$150 and is supposed to take a few hours to install. But, if your firewall has flexed to the point of cracking/tearing, then this is the way to go.

 

From what I can see there is no tearing or cracking, it looks like the adhesive is starting to wear out. because some of the adhesive is missing. So. this $10 part, is that ford specific or does the auto parts store sell them. Knowing my luck Ford specific so they can charge me out the rear end.

 

At the top of each page is a tool bar where you can use the "Search" function.

Click on Search then Advanced Search.
Type firewall flex for the Keyword.
Click to perform the search in the 87-96 Truck Forum.
Then click search.

There are many threads concerning the firewall flex problem.

Here's the part you probably need.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/4...g-problem.html