M5OD hard to shift/grinding

[Fortin-guillaume]

Hi,

I have been having trouble shifting gears with my 1994 4.0 ranger recently.
It's really hard to engage first or reverse from a dead stop and it will often grind when i do so. When the engine is stopped every gear shift perfectly smooth which leads me to believe there is a problem with the slave cylinder or the master. Is there a way to know wich one is at fault before i just replace everything?

Thank you

 

[shane96ranger]

I would start by bleeding the system. More often than not, I've seen the slave die as opposed to the master. My Explorer had 237,000ish miles and had the original master, but I went through 3 slaves.

EDIT: You might like this video

 

[4x4junkie]

Check the fluid reservoir. If it's empty, you have a leak and air was drawn into the system. 99% of the time it's the slave itself that leaks, though a leak at the hose or quick-connect fitting is possible too.

 

[kryptonitecb]

Its a good idea to replace both at the same time. One could have metal shavings or what not in it. By replacing one you risk damaging the other. Does sound like your hydraulics are doing the same thing mine did when the slave/master took a shit on me on the highway 2 hours after starting a "vacation" for me. Ended up at home cursing alot that weekend instead.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[kukaepe]

I agree with replacing both slave and master at the same time but my clutch master cylinder was made from a plastic material. I'm not sure any metal shavings could have come from the master cylinder I replaced.

 

[kryptonitecb]

The housing might be plastic but the internals aren't. And I'm talking about stuff that is small enough to be suspended in the fluid but you to can't see. Just typical wear and tear. Unless you flush the system and start over you could hurt the new cylinder.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[Bakerm1]

I had the same problem in my 95 ranger with the 4.0l manual and it was the slave cylinder that blew up, The biggest thing now is that you get it changed soon because when i had mine doing this I didn't have the money to change it right away and let it go for a month or so and in the process I got brake fluid in the throw out bearing, which then went bad and then it eventually got enough on the clutch that it started slipping a whole bunch too so had to replace it all.

 

[Bakerm1]

Oh and if while you are in there and decide to replace the rear main seal DO NOT buy a generic one from any auto part store, you can only get one from ford. The reason is because the OHV crankshaft in the rear was over polished and normal seals aren't good enough to stop this from leaking. Learned that the hard way.