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Hey all, I have 1997 ford ranger 4×4 4.0L V6. About 2 years ago I replaced the clutch because the slave cylinder was no longer releasing anymore, and that whole job went overall pretty well. I replaced the clutch disc, pressure plate, slave cylinder, and had the flywheel resurfaced at a machine shop. I also took the whole hydraulic clutch system out and bench bled it. The only thing that didn’t get replaced was the master cylinder and hydraulic line, because I ran out of money and it seemed to be ok.
This all went well and the clutch performed flawlessly for about a year. Then one day I was bringing steel to the scrap yard with my uncle for the day, later that night the pedal started to feel soft and within 5 mins I had no more clutch at all, so I had the truck towed home.
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Your loosing fluid. we need to determine where its leaking. You don’t see any fluid on the line? check the fitting on the master where the
line connects. also look up under the dash where the pedal comes through. is the master cap tight or cracked? If all the above checks out
then it has to be down at the slave.also check the line and fitting to the slave.C8-)+1 with the above post.
I would have an assistant constantly pump the clutch pedal while you locate the leak.
Keep us posted!
+1 on trying to find the source of the leak. I will say that not all parts are created equal and if you recently replaced the master the new fluid may be slipping past the seals in the slave cylinder. You’re correct that it is a pain how those
Being an owner of a 1995 Ranger (2.3L 5 Speed Manual) since the late 90s and having spent countless hours on various Ranger web forums, I can say with near certainty that the “new” slave cylinder failed and is leaking. The slave is the weak link in the hydraulic clutch system, made worse by the need to pull the transmission whenever it fails. Most of the new aftermarket slaves are made in China and with even a good brand behind them, many still seem to fail long before they should. (My original slave lasted until last summer -16 years and nearly 100,000 miles). I’ve read posts where guys have said their cheap aftermarket slaves have failed a week or two after replacement….yikes!
I would say that replacing the original master cylinder is a good idea too but the hard plastic line should be okay to reuse unless it was somehow damaged or kinked over the years.
Inspite of what I’ve said above, I went cheap on my parts as well and installed a Perfection Clutch brand master and slave from Advanced Auto, mostly because the company is US based and has excellent technical support and even better how-to videos on youtube. Hopefully I got “good” Chinese parts that will last me many years because wrestling the tranny back in place on a hot, sweaty day was not much fun.
Incidentally, I was watching Eric’s 2002 Ford Focus clutch replacement videos and it appears Ford still uses a similar PITA design on that vehicle….sigh.
Hey guys, Thanks for the posts, Sorry its been so long. So I checked the lines out and I didn’t see any leaks, I couldn’t get a really good look at the slave cylinder. But I do think failure is in the slave, I don’t see where else it could be leaking. It does have a kinda wet look from what I can see, so I think that is the road I’ll be heading up soon. I’m thinking I will buy the new slave cylinder from Ford, I don’t really wanna have to do this again within another year. It won’t be as bad as last time though, I have alot more tools now then I did two years ago. Did I mention before the original clutch was replaced at 155k miles and its got 175k now?
Anyway I was thinking that this time when I take it all apart that I would make a video of it, but I really don’t know how to do that very well. I know Eric has a video already about this process, but I really like finding videos or tutorial type things with the exact same vehicle I’m working on. I have seen some similar videos but they are all shaky and poorly made and you have no idea what is going on.
I will be doing this project soon, after I get that motor out of my lincoln. I’m going to try my hand at making a video or maybe a bunch of detailed pictures and I will post them on this same thread. (If its ok with Eric that I link to my video) So if anyone has any advice on this too I’m open to suggestions.
Thanks again for your replies
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