Stock clutch self adjusting or not?

[R0vranger]

Hi everyone,

So long story short my clutch hydraulics quit on me. I found white gunk in the slave coming out of the bleeder and a rusty shaft on the master, (Evidence of water intrusion). So I replaced the master and flushed the fluid. It helped a bit but the clutch is still not fully disengaging and blocking me from every gear. I did bench bleed the master, 3 times, and I'm confident there's no air in it. So looks like I'm pulling the tranny.

Now I've been checking the forums and google and I come up with both yes and no. So is the stock clutch in a 2002 Ford Ranger XLT 3.0L self adjusting or non-self adjusting?? I bought the truck with 45K miles and it has 85K now. I can't imagine the previous owner would have replaced the clutch, but maybe? Some forums say it is and some say it isn't, does anyone know for sure? If the clutch only has 40K miles on it, maybe I can get away with just replacing the slave. I'm going to pull the tranny this week and see how it is.

Thanks,

 

[RonD]

Welcome to TRS

All vehicles with internal clutch slaves use self adjusting pressure plates, simply because there is no external adjustment possible as clutch disc wears down

Bleeding of the Ranger clutch system can be frustrating , and maybe there is a problem with the slave, but if you are not getting full disengagement then it is almost always from air in the system

You can use non-self adjusting pressure plate, and you will get what you got now when clutch disc is NEW, and thicker
Hard to disengage until disc wears down a bit
And clutch engages as soon as pedal comes up 1/2", so disengage and engage are at bottom of pedal travel and then slowly move up as disc wears down until engagement is at top of pedal travel and then it starts to slip.
Self adjusting keeps disengage and engage in the middle of pedal travel........if it is working correctly

 

[R0vranger]

Thank you, ok so the clutch has probably never been changed on my truck.

Air in the system continued to be my suspicion and I wanted to be sure so like I said I bench bled it three times. The second and third time were on the same day. I bench bled it and there was quite a bit of air in the system. I put it back together and it was still notchy and blocking gears with the engine running. So I took it right back out and didn't find any air in the system. I'm fairly confident the slave is the issue but it's such a PITA. The pedal does feel good and firm. It has a 1/4" of play at the top that I don't like but below that it is good.

Is there a way to reset the self-adjusting mechanism while it is on the truck? I was watching a video of someone resetting the plate in an arbor press by pushing on the springs with a screwdriver or whatever and actuating the center. Maybe the mechanism is bound up giving my trouble? Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08aYbyejOm4 Also I hear the pilot bearing can cause problems.

Just as a recap of symptoms, maybe I'm missing something:
Sometimes it feels great and other times it feels very notchy when shifting which is usually after it warms up. It will eventually block me from all gears and always at the worst possible time like in traffic or on a hill or something. I can sometimes force it into a gear other times I have to shut off the engine, put it in 1st, and start it up. The most recent development is that while holding the pedal to the floor it starts to grab and let go, grab and let go, almost like the system is loosing pressure.

 

[RonD]

Check the ATF level, yes, Automatic Transmission Fluid, in the transmission.

Could be low or could be someone used Gear Oil in there and that makes it hard to shift

No, you need a hydraulic press to reset self adjusting pressure plate.
Best to just get another one

Clutch system has no pressure when pedal is up, so it can't "lose pressure", it can leak fluid which would cause slave to not extend fully, but you should see signs of fluid at bell housing.

Could also be Pilot Bearing is failing, it allows transmission input shaft to go to 0 RPMs while engine is still at 800 RPM(idling), so you can put transmission into a gear that is spinning at 0 RPMs
This would generally make a noise, generally

 

[R0vranger]

Thanks for the help. It's good to bounce ideas around.

No signs of ATF leaking transmission looks clean but I do plan to check that tomorrow probably.

It feels like it is loosing pressure when I have the clutch in and pushed to the floor, it starts to grab the longer I hold it in and with the transmission in gear.

But now I'm thinking the pilot bearing may be the source of the problems. It does make a chirping or squeaking sound when I put it into 1st gear with the truck sitting still. I'm familiar with the metallic sound of a bad bearing and that is what this certainly sounds like. I was thinking it was the throwout bearing on the slave that was making the noise, but maybe it's the pilot?

The problem seems to be in the bell housing somewhere. I'll start the tear down tomorrow and post an update on what I find.

 

[Terry]

You could call around and get a transmission shop that will diagnose the problem for you. It might cost you an hour labor but if it is a simple fix it will save you a ton of work and guessing.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[pjtoledo]

when the pilot went bad in my 2005 it would grab and squeek while sitting at a light with my foot on the clutch. was hard to get onto 1st at low speed or stopped. all other gears were ok.

 

[R0vranger]

Wow what a pain it is to upload pictures here.

So it turns out the pilot bearing is shot. this is all that was left of it.

I also found that the slave was full of air again. I can't find any evidence of a leak but I bought a new one anyways. the throw out bearing was not in the best shape either.

If anyone is interested, not sure if I can post this, but it's july 4th 2017 and I bought the clutch kit and slave for about $160 from Rockauto. Not a bad price at all. The parts should be here this Friday.

 

[pjtoledo]

be sure to clean up the input shaft. that pilot probably left some damage on it.