Mysterious clutch issue in inherited Ranger

[TheStrangerRanger]

I was gifted a 2000 Ranger XLT 2.5L with an undetermined clutch issue; the clutch loses its pressure after 30-45 minutes of being disengaged, it is parked with a stick to keep the pedal engaged to avoid this. Apparently before I owned it, the previous owner had taken the truck to two separate garages to get the clutch fixed which included bleeding the system, replacing slave and master cylinders and replacing hydraulic lines to the extent that the new replacement parts were replaced. The first garage pretty much said drive it off a cliff because they couldn't fix it and the determined/highly rated second garage did not have any more luck than them. From what I am told, replacing the cylinders and bleeding the system help for a couple weeks but the same problem would reoccur. I understand the system can have leaks, but if essentially everything was replaced, where do I even start?

 

[96firephoenix]

bump for an odd issue... so if the pedal is held up by the stick, you have no issues, but if the pedal is not, you come out to a truck with no hydraulic pressure?

Possibly a self-adjusting clutch? I noticed that some owner's manual had a procedure to pull up on the pedal every so often to index something. It was for 2002 mustangs... I thought it was really strange.

In a 2000, is the clutch fed off the brake reservoir? My 02 Explorer is, and that has apparently caused a couple issues...

If not, at this point, rather than piecemeal, I would replace the entire system. new master, new lines, new slave, new friction disc, new pressure plate.

If that doesn't fix it, make sure your insurance covers deer, and go for a dusk drive across PA.

 

[TheStrangerRanger]

Possibly a self-adjusting clutch? I noticed that some owner's manual had a procedure to pull up on the pedal every so often to index something. It was for 2002 mustangs... I thought it was really strange.

In a 2000, is the clutch fed off the brake reservoir? My 02 Explorer is, and that has apparently caused a couple issues...

If not, at this point, rather than piecemeal, I would replace the entire system. new master, new lines, new slave, new friction disc, new pressure plate.

I am not sure if its self-adjusting or not, any tell-tale of that without dropping transmission?

Previous owner had master/slave cylinders and hydraulic lines replaced multiple times by two separate garages and he said the clutch was replaced but not sure about friction disc or pressure plate... so besides that, the system is all fairly new. Ohio has its fair share of deer, but I only have liability so the deer would get all the insurance money.

 

[4x4junkie]

The clutch hydraulics make up a relatively small system. I just don't see how a problem like what you describe could continue if EVERYTHING was replaced (my guess, what may have happened is some part assumed to be good wasn't replaced that had dirt in it which is now clogging up the bypass orifice in the master cyl or blocking it from closing off when you push the pedal).

I would suggest forgetting what the PO said and replace EVERY part of the clutch hydraulics (reservoir, hose, MC, SC, everything... maybe get one of those pre-assembled/pre-bled MC units for it, together with a new slave). Either do it yourself, or make sure you get all your old parts back if you have a shop do it, just so that you'll know they all were infact replaced.

By the sound of it, the clutch itself (PP, disc, etc) is probably OK if everything works correctly when you prop up the pedal while parked or whatever you're doing.
Oh, and it is self-adjusting, yes (AFAIK, all hydraulic systems are).

.

 

[TheStrangerRanger]

(legitimate question, not rhetorical) If it was a problem with something in the hydraulic, wouldn't I notice that the pedal itself getting soft or sinking to the floor?

After I originally posted this, I drove around for awhile, took the stick out and let sit for 24 hours with it out and when i went to drive it again, there was a lot of resistance trying to move the stick into gear, after I parked and let it sit for 30 minutes with the stick holding the clutch pedal in, everything seemed to work just fine again...

It seems like the problem is somewhere between the hydraulic portion and the mechanical portion, but that is just my guess..

 

[4x4junkie]

(legitimate question, not rhetorical) If it was a problem with something in the hydraulic, wouldn't I notice that the pedal itself getting soft or sinking to the floor?

I assumed this to mean it was sinking to the floor:

the clutch loses its pressure after 30-45 minutes of being disengaged,

Are you saying the clutch pedal feel doesn't change at all when it starts acting up?

Is the pedal firm all the way through it's travel? Or is it spongy feeling (and only has significant resistance within the last maybe 1/3 of it's travel?

 

[TheStrangerRanger]

Is the pedal firm all the way through it's travel? Or is it spongy feeling (and only has significant resistance within the last maybe 1/3 of it's travel?

The pedal firm (normal resistance) all the way even when the clutch is acting up, its the stick itself that is hard to shift into gear. I also notice that sometimes when I am breaking and have the clutch fully disengaged, when I move back to first gear it grinds the gears, doesn't happen all the time though and only after the clutch has been engage for awhile (either from driving or just sitting in driveway).

I did a little research and someone even mentioned it on another forum, but could this be a bad pilot bearing or synchro? Bad SC is what I hear the most, but I thought that would make the pedal soft or harder to disengage the clutch? Thoughts?

 

[4x4junkie]

A bad pilot bearing certainly could cause hard shifting/grinding issues too, though I can't see how it would be affected by propping up (down?) the pedal...

Have you checked the slave (TO bearing) travel distance? (should be more than 0.3 inch, according to my FSM). That'll narrow it down whether it's a clutch disc/pp problem or a hydraulic issue (less than 0.3" = hydraulic issue).