Clutch issue

[jut74]

Okay so a couple of months ago my clutch(95 Ford Ranger V6) was acting up and the person driving it checked the fluid and it was dry. They filled it up and it worked fine. I didn't worry about bleeding it because it was working fine. They couldn't remember if the clutch was firm or soft but they think it was soft. I would think that it would go soft for lack of pressure. So fast forward to yesterday. I'm driving in stop and go traffic in the city. Suddenly the clutch became stiff and didn't want to go to it's usual position. At the same time the transmission started slipping and wouldn't engage at all for a few seconds then it would suddenly engage. I pulled over at a gas station and checked the fluid. It was a little low but not very much. After about 5 minutes I got back in and all was well. I had this issue intermittently for the next couple of hours as I made my way home. Once on the interstate it was fine. After getting back in stop and go I had the issue intermittently till I was home. This morning I got in the truck and without starting it I pushed in the clutch once and it felt perfect. I went to press it in a second time and it wouldn't budge. I waited a few minutes and could press it multiple times with no issue.

So can I get some thoughts on what the problem may be? Thank you kindly for any genuine responses.

 

[RonD]

Welcome to TRS

Reads like the Quick Connect fitting and Master/Reservoir need replacing, this is a set

The quick connect fitting is at the end of Masters hose at bellhousing and connects to slave inside
Inside the quick connect is a Valve that closes when its disconnected so fluid doesn't run out of the hose and master

If you disconnect this hose then you can't push clutch pedal down, as it should be, because valve is closed, and no where for fluid to go.
Your description of hard to press pedal fits valve malfunction, could be master as well.


The slave itself is just a cylinder and piston, no valves, just a seal, you fill it with fluid and it expands, so outside of the seal leaking not much can go wrong with it, which is good as it is hard to replace

So I would replace master/reservoir and hose with quick connect just on speculation, as parts are not too expensive

 

[86merc5.0]

I had the same thing happen on my 94 4.0 Ranger. replaced mastercylinder/reservoir assembly & quick connect fitting ( see above ) no issues after that, had about 140,000 miles on the Ranger at that time.