Stiff clutch and can't shift into gear

[Toon]

I bought a 1999 3.0 ranger RWD manual about a month ago and Last week I had my clutch slave cylinder go on me. I replaced it and I drove the truck fine for a week. Fast forward to this morning, I was pulling into the parking lot at work and when I went to shift into second I felt something weird like the back end of the truck skipped and all of a sudden the clutch pedal felt really stiff. I parked and didn't think about it all day. After work I start the truck and I can't get it into reverse I yanked on the shifter and it grinded like crazy but it went into gear. I managed to get home (2 minute drive) and I checked out the service port underneath and it doesn't seem like anything is wrong with the slave. When I dropped the tranny last week I looked at the clutch and everything seems fine. It was already replaced with a heavy duty clutch kit. I tried bleeding the system like crazy but I'm still having the problem. Any ideas? Thanks!
-Antoine

 

[Dirtman]

Did you try cursing at it?

 

[Toon]

Did you try cursing at it?

Yup, in 3 different languages... She's still being a bitch.

 

[Dirtman]

I have no other ideas... but hey... free bump

 

[4x4junkie]

The pedal is stiff, but will still go down with more effort?
Or is the pedal solid and won't go down at all?

If the latter, check the fitting where the hydraulic line plugs into the slave, it may have come apart.
I don't have any ideas on the former.

 

[Shran]

^second what Junkie said. Check the firewall where the master cylinder mounts too - they are known to flex and crack.

 

[Toon]

I changed the master cylinder this morning hoping it would fix my issue but The pedal was still tough so I dropped the tranny again. Turns out the slave I got was defective, the spring gave out and it wasn't depressing the pressure plate enough. What a waste of time. Thanks for the help though!

 

[Old Tom]

I am having a similar issue with '97 Ranger rwd particularly when vehicle not warmed up. Symptom#1)Press clutch, pedal locks approx half way down. When pedal released-can feel very little pressure against foot. Usually can feel pedal pressure against foot. Then Take foot off of clutch pedal-(completely released) wait 10-15 seconds, again depress clutch pedal-works relatively normal.
symptom #2)Press clutch pedal-shift into 1st or reverse-let pedal up-again feel very little pressure against foot all the way back up but this time no clutch engagement at all for 1-2 seconds- then clutch "pops" and truck jerks hard.
I am 2nd owner.I have done no (clutch) service yet whatsoever. vehicle at 190k. No idea what service 1st owner may or may not have done.
Fluid in reservoir was not low although a bit dark.
I'm thinking either slave is sticking or more likely the check release in line to slave is somehow getting plugged temporarily.
I will be bleeding slave tomorrow just to check the fluid condition from slave and flush some fresh dot3 through the system- perhaps a long shot, but it might tell me more. Will post results if anyone is interested. Any ideas welcome.

 

[Old Tom]

update- bleeding procedure at slave painfully slow, however was able to get 3 reservoirs full of dot3 through system.
The removed fluid from system separated into: clean-top layer, dark-middle layer, and very dirty-bottom layer which contained 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of water.
So far clutch has returned to normal.
Always try the simple things first. Hope this helps someone.