double clutching?

[68Mercury250Ranger]

I have a 1996 Explorer with a M5OD trans. I got it a few months ago and clutch worked great, last couple weeks it has been hard to get clutch to release enough to get into 1st or reverse, pedal is disengaging clutch right at the floor but 2pedal pumps seems to work. today it was creeping ahead on me at a stop light with my clutch pedal to the floor. this is my winter beater and don't really want to pull the trans, so I'm hoping its a master .
this is my first hydraulic clutch

also what fluid should be in this trans? I thought they took ATF, but it looks like something else..
maybe 50 weight, definitley not gearoil(no real smell)

I'm wondering if I don't have 2 driveline problems?

thanks for any help.

 

[86 slo-vo]

I have a 1996 Explorer with a M5OD trans. I got it a few months ago and clutch worked great, last couple weeks it has been hard to get clutch to release enough to get into 1st or reverse, pedal is disengaging clutch right at the floor but 2pedal pumps seems to work. today it was creeping ahead on me at a stop light with my clutch pedal to the floor. this is my winter beater and don't really want to pull the trans, so I'm hoping its a master .
this is my first hydraulic clutch

also what fluid should be in this trans? I thought they took ATF, but it looks like something else..
maybe 50 weight, definitley not gearoil(no real smell)

I'm wondering if I don't have 2 driveline problems?

thanks for any help.

sounds like a slave cyl. to me

 

[martin]

If you're not loosing fluid then it's the master. If the slave is leaking you should see fluid coming from the bottom of the bell housing. The master could be leaking externally but they usually leak internally first. The trans uses atf.

 

[68Mercury250Ranger]

If you're not loosing fluid then it's the master. If the slave is leaking you should see fluid coming from the bottom of the bell housing. The master could be leaking externally but they usually leak internally first. The trans uses atf.

no fluid loss at all, I was thinking master but had Zero experience on these hydraulic clutches.

I'm going to change the fluid this week at work. the Explorer came from the south, I'm wondering why they put in something else. hopefully the synchros won't be damaged by wrong fluid

 

[chrwilkins30]

sounds like a slave. Had a friends f150 with no loss of fluid and it was the slave. I was surprised that it was dry also.

 

[bhawk]

Replacing the slave is a bigger job than the master. So, I would perform the following check before pulling the trans to replace the slave.
Remove the pressure hose that goes from the master to the slave down at the transmission. There will be a white plastic collar around the quick connect coupler. They sell a tool for disconnecting the coupler. Search this forum and you will see a pic of it and the part number. If you don't want to buy the tool, you can disconnect by using two small screw drivers. Push the white collar inward with one screwdriver on each side of the collar. When the collar is fully pushed in and you don't see much white plastic on the collar any more, it has disengaged the little fingers and the hose can be pulled away from the slave pipe.
Now that you have the pressure hose off, nothing will leak out because it has a special end. Go into the truck, get under the dash and look at the master cylinder where the rod from the clutch pedal goes into it. You might have to remove the clutch pedal position switch. The wiring on it unclips, then it spins around to where you will see a plastic cover holding it on with another clip like device. Get that switch off and you will see the master clearly.
Then, push the clutch pedal downward. It shouldn't move more than 4mm before it will stop dead and won't travel down any more. If you have a hard pedal at that point, the master is fine. But, if the pedal pushes the master plunger down more than 4mm. then the master is bypassing inside.
After the check is done, just plug the pressure hose back into the slave with a single push. No air should be introduced with that single quick push, but you could bleed the system to be sure the air is gone. You will see the bleed screw above that quick connect coupler. Go to Utube and find the video on how to bleed a ranger master and it will show you the 4mm of free pedal I am talking about with the hose disconnected.

 

[pcollins]

If you're not loosing fluid then it's the master. If the slave is leaking you should see fluid coming from the bottom of the bell housing. The master could be leaking externally but they usually leak internally first. The trans uses atf.

That is in NO way true. I had a bad slave cylinder that wasn't leaking enough fluid to be visible at all, not even in the reservoir.

 

[The_Dealer]

on my 00 with m50d and 2.5, my clutch did the same thing, couldnt figure it out, it gradually got worse. my problem was the clutch would grab closer and closer to the floor. meaning it would start moving the truck half pedal, then it go to where it would move while the pedal was released in gear about an inch off the floorboard.

i constantly had to bleed it(like everyday, then it go to about 3 or 4 times a day), i actually got pretty good at it, i could gravity bleed it(which ford reccomends) by myself in about 15 minutes. my problem was a leaking o-ring on the slave cylinder side. and i almost pulled my trans because it was leaking down the slave tube into the bellhousing. so i could only see it pooling in the bellhousing. try to bleed it and see if it helps. if so u have a master or slave problem. pull the little rubber plug and look in(watch your eyes too)

im betting its the slave. the master doesnt really go out much on these trucks like the slaves. every mechanic buddy i have, when u ask em what they think about rangers. they always proceed to tell me how many slaves theyve changed lol

 

[68Mercury250Ranger]

today I started it up cold and clutch felt fine, disengaged properly and shifted fine.

got to my physio appointment about a 10mile highway drive, and it was nasty to park. had to pump the pedal 3 times to get it into reverse. I didn't even attempt the drivethru for a coffee.

" bhawk"
thanks for breaking down the peocedure , Utube is virtually impossible for me with my rural dial up internet, but my printer works fine.

story I got on this truck was a new clutch aprox 10,000miles back, just clicked over 170,000 miles. slave was not replaced

with the 3.27 gears it isn't nice to get started in 1st/Rev but sure does fly on the highway

thanks for all the input guys, keep it coming

 

[The_Dealer]

yup slave cyl.

 

[68Mercury250Ranger]

Well I got the right fluid into the trans. and it was actually 80/90 in it, or atleast thats what it smelled like in the pan after draining it.
sure goes into gear easier when cold now
its not noisy or anything

clutch slave is $90 at my local autoparts store, but i'll shop around next week.

it is a 2wd explorer so I only have to pull 1 driveshaft and no Tcase.
I'm a little worried if I fix it the wife will want to drive it.

I had planned on sticking in the 5.0 GT40 motor out of my parts explorer in the spring thats why I'm procrastinating on a new slave, trans will be getting changed too.