Help with Manual trans trouble shooting.

[Traviair]

Hey guys, I just bought my first ranger, a 02 Fx4 4.0 with a manual. I love the truck and it's got only 92k on it. When I bought it the clutch pedal felt a little soft and about a day later the master cylinder went out on me. I believe the truck sat for a little bit of its life. After replacing the master cylinder it drove great but now the clutch seems to be engaging at about half way down and is a little soft. It still shifts great and there is no grinding, would this just be air or could something else be failing? Thank you for any help!

 

[Curious Hound]

Sounds like air to me. Also, check the fluid level and make sure it isn't going down, indicating a leak somewhere. But you probably just need to bleed the system.

 

[Traviair]

Ok I'll give that a try and make sure it's bleed. If that doesn't get rid of it do you think it could be a pressure plate or the clutch itself if I'm not loading fluid?

 

[scotts90ranger]

These are notoriously hard to bleed, you can't simply fill system when replacing parts and bleed like you would brakes, that will leave you with a bunch of air in the master cylinder.

If it disengages at all you have to be close, just for giggles try this, it "may" help (doesn't always work). With the engine off or in neutral push the pedal to the floor and slip your foot off a handful of times, if it feels more solid from there you got a few bubbles out. If that didn't work some people pull the snap ring holding the piston seal in the master cylinder in the cab and let some fluid come out in there (that's hard to get under the dash and do that). The other option is to pull the master and hose assembly and bench bleed it, there's a good video posted lately about that process.

 

[Traviair]

Ok so everything was replaced, the new master cylinder was bad and the slave cylinder went out. Everything is new (clutch, fly wheel, throw out bearing, master and slave cylinder, ext.) BUT the clutch engages low to the floor. It has pressure behind it pretty much the whole travel of the pedal but engages lower than I feel it should.

 

[Jazzer]

Mine was exactly like that after a new clutch, it would barely disengage with the pedal on the floor. After a couple of weeks it was better. I’d give it some time.

-Jazzer

 

[Traviair]

Did you just keep driving it?

 

[franklin2]

Did you just keep driving it?

Big trucks are the same way. That you can even get it in gear means you have just a little bit of air in it. When you are in that situation, yes just drive it. The more you drive it, the vibration from the engine and going down the road will let the air bubbles migrate up backwards up the line and end up in the master reservoir. So I would keep driving it and see if it slowly improves.

 

[Traviair]

Ok I'll go with that, it's my daily so I'll give it a couple weeks. If driving and rebleeding doesn't help you have any other ideas?

 

[Shran]

If you don't have trouble getting it into first or reverse when stopped, it's probably just the way it is and is fine. I've had trucks with very stiff pedals that release almost immediately and others that are real soft and release close to the floor... you'd think they'd be similar but after owning several dozen RBVs my experience has taught me that they are all different.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

its helps to park the truck uphill (or raise the front) when bleeding the clutch.

 

[gw33gp]

I am dealing with pretty much the same thing after installing a new clutch and slave. I didn't install a new master because it was less than two years old. I did install a new flywheel. I was going to do an in-vehicle master cylinder "bench" bleed when the clutch was out, but I found the pedal was rock hard when the hydraulic line disconnect was disconnected. I think if there was any air in the master cylinder, it would have been at least a little spongy. I bled the slave several times but got no improvement. The clutch pedal engagement was normal before I replaced the clutch.

I have been driving it since October without any improvement. I am thinking that is the way the clutch is going to be no matter what. The pedal does not feel soft when first pushed in and starts to disengage fairly soon. It just doesn't fully disengage until it is couple inches from the floor. The pedal has a long travel from when it starts to engage and when it is fully engaged.

This is the first clutch for me that is doing this. I am hoping as it wears and the self adjusting mechanism compensates, it may start engaging the way I am used to. I don't have any problems getting it in gear or shifting but it catches me off guard sometimes when it engages so soon. Maybe I will eventually get used to it.

 

[Jazzer]

Yes, I kept driving it, my mechanic at the time said it was self bleeding. I didn’t really believe it, but it ended up fine.

-Jazzer

 

[Eddo Rogue]

Driving uphill?

 

[adsm08]

Yes, I kept driving it, my mechanic at the time said it was self bleeding. I didn’t really believe it, but it ended up fine.

-Jazzer

It's not really "self-bleeding". Sometimes they just need time to pump up. My B2 did that last time. Pedal felt like crap at home, so I drove it to work where I have better stuff, and by the time I got there it was fine.