trouble shifting

i have a 1997 ford ranger 2wd 4.o. when i push the clutch in all the way to the floor putting the truck into reverse is very difficult and grinds bad. but it will go into gear. then going into first is very hard to get into if it will go into first gear. then if i push the clutch down all the way it is still hard to get into second gear but not as hard as first. and all the gears are hard to get into gear. i checked the fulid level and have fluid. maybe a slave cylinder?

Using any fluid in master? Probably change the master 1st to see if it helps since it is the easiest the change although a PIA to do so.

I'm assuming the this is after having the truck in neutral with the clutch out idling? If so this is normal to an extent. When the truck is idling with the clutch out some things in the transmission are moving and others are not. When you clutch in it takes a few seconds for everything to "mesh". It should take no more than 5 or so second of holding the clutch in for it to go into gear easily.

Sounds like a hydraulic issue to me.

odd question here but does the clutch pedal feel like it doesn't come back up all the way (same level as the brake pedal)? only reason i ask it because i just got done swapping out the transmission in my 97 (212k miles) the other day and found a unique issue. new slave and new master both bled properly and I only had 1/8" inch of travel on my slave. looked up under the dash to pull the master again and noticed that the aluminum bracket that holds the clutch/brake pedal assembly was blown out around the clutch shaft. pulled it out and did a little ethnic engineering to fix the pivot point issue and everything worked perfectly. Just figured i would share so you could check that before replacing hydraulic parts.

96zjlaredo said:

odd question here but does the clutch pedal feel like it doesn't come back up all the way (same level as the brake pedal)? only reason i ask it because i just got done swapping out the transmission in my 97 (212k miles) the other day and found a unique issue. new slave and new master both bled properly and I only had 1/8" inch of travel on my slave. looked up under the dash to pull the master again and noticed that the aluminum bracket that holds the clutch/brake pedal assembly was blown out around the clutch shaft. pulled it out and did a little ethnic engineering to fix the pivot point issue and everything worked perfectly. Just figured i would share so you could check that before replacing hydraulic parts.

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I never relized that before and that is very true I have fluid in my master but the pedal does not come up all the way. Only comes to where the brake peddle is. And I manually pick up the clutch pedal to get the truck to go into gear helps out a little bit not all the way it is still hard to get into gear but not as hard. But that makes sense if the peddle is not where it should be then the clutch can't engage all the way I am going to look into that thank you. And how hard of a project is it to take to pull out that bracket.

Haywire6000 said:

I'm assuming the this is after having the truck in neutral with the clutch out idling? If so this is normal to an extent. When the truck is idling with the clutch out some things in the transmission are moving and others are not. When you clutch in it takes a few seconds for everything to "mesh". It should take no more than 5 or so second of holding the clutch in for it to go into gear easily.

Click to expand...

Now should I do this after it been parked for a while. Becouse I will get it into reverse and it grinds as always bad. But even when driving down the road I will be doin 40 mph in 3rd shift to 4th and it's still super hard to get into gear. If I were to sit for a few mins every time I start it will that help shifting gears down the road

There are a few other things that can cause the symptoms that you speak of, not as likely as air in the hydraulic system, but worth checking.I've run into all of them personally, on early bronco 2's, second gen ranger, and a 90's f150;
1] the masters' ear that bolts to the firewall is broken. Allows the master to flex. Hard to see the crack unless you have someone operating the clutch pedal while you look at the master.
2] Firewall has a stress crack. Again allows the master to flex. Again hard to see unless you pull back the carpet.
3] Like 96zjlaredo says, excessive wear or breakage on the clutch/brake bracket.
4]One other thing to check is that the black rubber gasket under the master resevoir cap didn't get sucked down tight and then somebody filled the wrong side of the gasket with fluid. I did this before I new much about the plastic resevoirs. It looks like the res is full but it's not.

Checking these out is free and doesn't take much time.
Next I would bleed the system. If that improves things it means that the slave or the master is wearing out and will need replacing in the near future. When I was broke I ran a f150 with a leaking slave for months, filling the master as needed. I got real good at telling when it was just about out of fluid.

Good luck,

Richard

isaiah 66 said:

I never relized that before and that is very true I have fluid in my master but the pedal does not come up all the way. Only comes to where the brake peddle is. And I manually pick up the clutch pedal to get the truck to go into gear helps out a little bit not all the way it is still hard to get into gear but not as hard. But that makes sense if the peddle is not where it should be then the clutch can't engage all the way I am going to look into that thank you. And how hard of a project is it to take to pull out that bracket.

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its only 4 13mm nuts that hold the brake master to the firewall and 2 more stupid long 13mm bolts at the top of the bracket. the one closer to the steering column is a bit tough to get to. i had to use a shallow 1/4" drive 13mm and a 12" extension and wobbly to get on it because of the dash plate. took me about 30 mins to get it out, do a quick fix on it and get it back in.

this is what mine looked like

I look under the dash a noticed that aluminum bracket is just about blown out where the break and clutch pedal meet under the dash thanks for the help