I replaced the stock clutch about 10 months ago and the truck has been running fine. But just a few days ago the clutch got really soft and I wasn't getting any resistance until the pedal is almost all the way to the floor. But its is still shifting fine. Its just the feel of the pedal. I think the problem might be part of the hydraulics. I haven't looked under the hood that much to find out what is going on. Its wierd that the clutch would be out after such a short time. Is there hydraulic fluid I can check? Any good ideas on how to tackle this problem.

 

I'm assuming that you didn't replace the slave cylinder when you changed the clutch. These slave cylinders have a bad reputation.

I just replaced the clutch slave cylinder in my 93 f150 4x4 I-6 5speed. I was having the same problem as you. You can try filling the clutch mastercylinder reservoir up (to the line) with brake fluid. I did that for about 6 months. My clutch kept getting lower and lower. Eventually the pedal went to the floor completely and there was no fluid in the reservoir.

If the reservoir is empty and the fluid leaks out of the bellhousing, it's the slave.

The slave cylinder is inside the bellhousing. The transfer case and the transmission have to come out to replace it.

A Ford mechanic I know told me that the quality is just as good with aftermarket as with the Ford part. I got mine at Advance Autoparts and it came with a throwout bearing.

The hydraulic line that connects the clutch mastercylinder to the slave is a DEALER ONLY ITEM. You may have trouble disconnecting this line from the slave as I did. I had to buy a new one for about $50. There is a white plastic sleeve where the line attaches to the slave on the outside of the bellhousing (drivers side). It's a lousy design IMO, but you have to push the sleeve into the cylindrical metal tube it's protruding from with a special Ford tool (or a small screwdriver) evenly all the way around and supposedly the line and white sleeve will then slide out with a firm pull. Ofcoarse when I tried to push the sleeve in it just crushed in the spots I pushed with the screwdriver because after 10 years the plastic piece was not going to slide in like it was designed. The slave is plastic by the way!

To top off the job! It is a nightmare to bleed the clutch after it's all together. The line is hard plastic and I was told that there's a spot that holds an air pocket. I bought a vacuum bleeder and used alot of brakefluid to end up with a pedal that almost reached the floor before it disengaged the clutch. The good news is that after driving it to work like that, the clutch slave worked perfectly when I got in my truck to go home. My father said that's normal, just bleed it again after that happens.

I do my own work on my vehicles, but I think I would have taken it to a good mechanic if I knew what a big job it was gonna be!

Thanks.....I needed to rant a little.

Good luck...I hope this helps

Ray

 

Here is one to look at. I had a problem similar to yours. The clutch was replaced because it was slipping. The new clutch seemed to work OK for a week or so and the same thing started to happen. The clutch was replaced again and again it seemed OK for a while. In a few weeks you had to push it to the floor before it would release. Rather than have the Garrage replace it again ( this was a company owned vehicle) I looked it over. After much searching I found the problem This truck ( if I remember it was an 85 ) had the slave cyl on the bell housing not in it, and the master cyl for the clutch was mounted on the floor pan with a rod going from the clutch pedal to the cyl on the floor. What had happened ( and I see no reason it shouldn't happen to some one else ) was the floor where the cyl was mounted had fractured and cracked so every time you pushed the clutch in the FLOOR FLEXED DOWN instead of the piston in the master cyl for the clutch moving the floor moved until it couldn't go any farther and then the piston moved. But then the clutch pedal was almost at the end of it's travel. I ended up removing the cyl and welding the cracks and bracing the floor so it wouldn't move. After that the clutch worked fine.

Stractor

 

Never mind , I see yours is a 95 and they are firewall mounted.

Stractor

 

check the seal on the master cylinder this cold does them in. Both my master and slave blew out this winter and i had to replace both of them. Then the seal on the master cylinder went twice giving me the same symptons you had. I would swap the seal and then the peddle would come back. Check that out.

 

Hey guys ...

There was a really good thread in the general 87-9? forum
about these hydraulic clutches ....

I have one in my 87' F-150 as well .... and just recently
replaced the clutch, throw out bearing, fork and plate ...
and the master (on the firewall) and SLAVE on the 'outside'
of the bell housing on my model and still have problems ...

I heard about the 'give' in the firewall causing problems,
but I checked it and it was minimal ... also heard that
the 'bushings' on the shaft that the pedals ride on have
a lot to do with it ....

This posting in the 'General Forum' talked about removing
the nut on the end of the shaft and pulling the pedal off
the splines and repositioning it and using the nut to force
it back onto the shaft ...??!!

Now MANY people disagreed with this and said it couldn't
be done so the guy that mentioned it in the first place made
specific reference to a section of some Chilton manual where
it said to do EXACTLY that!! (don't know if it was model year
specific ..??)

but go out there and find this thread for yourself ... I read it
just a week or so ago so look back a few pages .....

Others still suggested replacing the 'bushings' .... but in
the end more than one person concurred with repositioning
the pedal on the shaft ....

and please .... don't shoot the messenger ... :-)

doc brown