97 Ranger clutch question

[johnmw]

Recently put my foot on the clutch in my 1997 Ford ranger, 2.3L 4cyl, 5spd. Took every ounce of strength to get it down, then it didn't engage. Kinda sat there for a moment then it grabbed with a chirp of the tires. Worked fine for a few blocks then did it again.

Now, if you try to drive it, the clutch doesn't grab or do much of anything for a few minutes with your foot off the pedal, then it grabs and chirps the tires or kills the motor. Would this be a problem with the clutch hydraulics or is my pressure as rusty as the rest of the truck ?.
244, 689 miles in Iowa's salted roads in winter ..........

Thanks for any ideas or thoughts.

John

 

[Uncle Gump]

Sounds to me like the clutch is just gone.

 

[Curious Hound]

Sounds like something is binding for some reason. If you don't know when it was last replaced, I would plan on doing the whole thing. Clutch, throw out bearing, slave/ master cylinder, pilot bearing, etc. Maybe even rear main crank seal while it's exposed.

 

[Josh B]

Sounds like something is binding for some reason. If you don't know when it was last replaced, I would plan on doing the whole thing. Clutch, throw out bearing, slave/ master cylinder, pilot bearing, etc. Maybe even rear main crank seal while it's exposed.

With that many miles all the above, right down to the pressure plate/throw-out bearing and rear main seal, also resurfaced or replaced flywheel(which were surprisingly inexpensive as I recall)

 

[johnmw]

Strange, This morning, the damned thing has the correct amount of free-play in the peddle, clutch worked smooth with no chatter when I let the peddle out slow. Drove it around a bit, it warmed up, it sat there for a minute with my foot off the peddle, then the clutch grabbed spinning the tires and the wipers came on ( Damned GEM Module ) . I don't know, I'll be taking it apart Friday and checking it out,

 

[Curious Hound]

I really hate that clutch - windshield wipers interlock feature.

 

[johnmw]

Sorry for the delay in the update here. Clutch looks great inside. Still has the grooves in the friction material on the disc, Pressure plate looks new, throw out and pilot bearings seem new also. I don't know, put it back together to get management at this mobile home park off my ass. It seems to be working fine at the moment. Guess I'll run it around and see what breaks ?. The seller I got it from says it sat for a few years before it came into my life, maybe that was the problem, Kinda stuck (?).

 

[scotts90ranger]

I would bleed the hydraulic system out real good, almost sounds like a slug of moisture is in the hose that froze or something... or there's a problem with the quick release at the transmission.