Leak in clutch hydraulics- where?

[brendank]

That is bull. I was thinking about it the other day, and I figured that you must have to bleed the fluid to get rid of bubbles. Are you supposed to do this before you put the transmission back on or can it be done once everything is back together?

The clutch is bled once everything is put back together. The master cylinder needs to come off of the firewall in order to be bled properly.

 

[northerncountry]

I got a call from the shop this morning they have had the truck for 2 days and have called all the trans shops in the area for any tips and still nothing they have tried every thing has any one had problems with after market slave cylinders ? or am I the only one?

 

[brendank]

I got a call from the shop this morning they have had the truck for 2 days and have called all the trans shops in the area for any tips and still nothing they have tried every thing has any one had problems with after market slave cylinders ? or am I the only one?

What are they having problems with? Bleeding the system??

 

[northerncountry]

Yes they have called trans shops around the area and tried all of their methods still nothing worked.

 

[northerncountry]

They are all saying the same thing " it's the slave cylinder" but its brand spakin new from Zoom clutches. has any one else had problems with after market slave cylinders?

 

[MAKG]

On a 1988+, you do NOT need to bleed the master when replacing the slave, unless the master has been run dry. The hydraulic line quick disconnect has a check valve in it, and the reservoir will not empty when disconnected.

To be honest, I don't understand why people have so much trouble bleeding these. I never did. I've done clutch jobs on three different vehicles with hydraulic clutches (plus the Chevy, but it has a bellcrank).

 

[brendank]

On a 1988+, you do NOT need to bleed the master when replacing the slave, unless the master has been run dry. The hydraulic line quick disconnect has a check valve in it, and the reservoir will not empty when disconnected.

The first time I saw the quick disconnect system, I was quite optimistic. Since then, I've done roughly 20 jobs that required transmission removal, and I have never, not once, seen a situation where bleeding the master was unnecessary. Just my experience.

I'll post my method for master cylinder bleeding anyways:

First off, check for leaks at the slave, and at the junction where the slave clips into the hydraulic line.

1. Put the master in the truck after being bench bled. Hook up all the lines, but don't bolt it to the firewall or hook up the pedal

2. Make sure the reservoir is full, and tilt the master so that the part of it that is closest to the front of the truck is as high in the air as you can get it. The rear portion that you can see from in the cab should be down as far as possible.

3. Clamp a set of vice grips onto the rod, and have a second person firmly hold the master sturdy and at the desired angle from the engine compartment.

4. Get a third person to crawl under the truck and get him/her to follow proper bleed procedure while you manually pump the master cylinder. This should be just like bleeding the brakes. The second person, who is under the hood, should monitor the fluid level.

Using this method, it doesn't take more than a minute or two to see results. Get the third person to close the bleed valve, and then try to press the rod into the master cylinder. You'll be able to tell when its properly bled.

 

[V8RangerBoy]

Yes, internal slave leak. I'm betting it is hesitant to go into gear at a stop and grinds a little going into reverse?

once the slave completely goes, it will blow hydraulic fluid all over your clutch rendering it uselss......and you wont have a slave cylinder which means no shifting (well properly shifting)...

Once the slave goes the pedal feel is toast. You'll have to do the old "start-in-gear" and use RPM to shift it. Works to get it somewhere to get it fixed, but it won't be a daily driver until it's fixed.

If you do it yourself, bleed the crap out of it on a bench before you put it back in. The setup on a Ranger makes it pretty much impossible to be bled correctly with it in the truck. When the slave blows up it will drain the master, pretty much inevitably. Tell them to take the ENTIRE assembly out, master, slave, everything, and bleed it out of the truck. MAKG, apparently you know something the rest of the world doesn't about bleeding a Ranger clutch. They're pure hell. I have yet to hear of someone completely bleeding one in truck and having it all work right.

I doubt it's a problem with the aftermarket slave. They probably just can't bleed the system.

 

[michowski]

They are all saying the same thing " it's the slave cylinder" but its brand spakin new from Zoom clutches. has any one else had problems with after market slave cylinders?

I put a zoom clutch on mine and decided to use there slave cylinder when I installed everything. Ive had my clutch problems diagnosed to be the slave leaking. Everything else is brand new. New slave, new seals. After reading your post im convinced that the zoom slave cylinders arent worth much of a damn.

 

[reginald fairfield]

Yes, internal slave leak. I'm betting it is hesitant to go into gear at a stop and grinds a little going into reverse?



Once the slave goes the pedal feel is toast. You'll have to do the old "start-in-gear" and use RPM to shift it. Works to get it somewhere to get it fixed, but it won't be a daily driver until it's fixed.

If you do it yourself, bleed the crap out of it on a bench before you put it back in. The setup on a Ranger makes it pretty much impossible to be bled correctly with it in the truck. When the slave blows up it will drain the master, pretty much inevitably. Tell them to take the ENTIRE assembly out, master, slave, everything, and bleed it out of the truck. MAKG, apparently you know something the rest of the world doesn't about bleeding a Ranger clutch. They're pure hell. I have yet to hear of someone completely bleeding one in truck and having it all work right.

I doubt it's a problem with the aftermarket slave. They probably just can't bleed the system.

Yes, but how in the blazes do you bled it all out of the pickup? How is that possible? Wouldn't you have to take the pedal cylinder out too? I figured it was a pain in the arse, but damn!!

 

[northerncountry]

Well the verdict is in it was the master cylinder they had to bench bleed it 3 times to get it to work. The clutch is hard as hell but hey I will get used to it all that matters is that it works

 

[MAKG]

Hard as hell with a new slave?

Either your master is toast or your new slave is DOA or you put in an excessively stiff (heavy duty) clutch. When I replaced my slave it was so ridiculously easy to actuate that I was certain I'd left air in the lines. Except the clutch released just fine.

Some folks have reported issues with cracking the firewall underneath the master. In the presence of excessive release effort, I'd be concerned about this.

 

[northerncountry]

cracked the firewall holy crap thats not good I will have to keep and eye on that for sure. thanks for the tip. Also the clutch does not release until I am like an inch and a half from the floor dont like that at all. hope it all settles in and works like my old one.

 

[brendank]

Also the clutch does not release until I am like an inch and a half from the floor dont like that at all. hope it all settles in and works like my old one.

It's likely that it's still not bled properly. If you're hoping that one day it will just be as it was before the work was done, keep hoping, because that day likely won't come unless you do something about it.

Did you/the shop follow the bleed procedure that I posted? It's easy, and it works. Really.

 

[northerncountry]

I took it to the ford dealer. so I couldn't look over their shoulder while they did it but I think they did.