manual trans shift problems/clutch

[zrxsix3]

alright i have had this problem for a while and it recently has been getting worse...here is what i got

I have a 1994 2wd 3.0L 5 Speed and its hard to get it to go into 1st gear from a dead stop...it is also very hard to shift through the gears as well, always thought it could be a problem with synchronizers or maybe the floor mat would get to far up and not allow the clutch pedal to engage all the way but tonight i made sure the floor mat was not the problem and while trying to get it into first gear without trying to put everything i had into getting it to shift i realized the truck was moving forward as well even going up a slight incline the truck will travel forward and there is an rpm drop as well...so now i know the clutch isnt fully disengaging which makes it god awful to try to get it to shift into anything, so my question is, what could cause this? could it be the throw out bearing? slave cylinder? can the clutch be adjusted to compensate?

Looking forward to someones input! Thanks in advanced

 

[zrxsix3]

the more i read i am thinking its the slave cylinder which looks like the engineers at Ford thought it would be smart to put this in the tranny... awesome!! hello monday morning fun lol

 

[hopster]

sounds like a slave to me. I recommend to replace the clutch disc and pressure plate while you're there.

 

[RonD]

the more i read i am thinking its the slave cylinder which looks like the engineers at Ford thought it would be smart to put this in the tranny... awesome!! hello monday morning fun lol

Yes, slave is most likely not expanding all the way, BUT.........that could just be some air in the system, air compresses hydraulic fluid doesn't, so if air gets in travel in slave goes down.

I would check clutch master reservoir, make sure it is full then bleed the system, also the Master.
Since Master sits at a vertical angle air can get trapped at the top which causes less travel at slave when pedal is pushed down.

Google: ranger clutch master cylinder bleeding
Good video for that

If you do go in to replace parts, then yes, do it all, clutch disc, pressure plate(self-adjusting), slave/throwout bearing, and pilot bearing.

Pilot bearing can also cause input shaft to spin, making it hard to get into gear but that would almost always make a noise, like bad throwout bearing.

 

[AllanD]

The slave cylinder being located inside the bell housing eliminates several potential issues with wear of the various pivots and links the earlier external type required to function.

I have always maintained that assuming no obvious design errors or poor choices of materials the likelihood of failure of an assembly is proportional to the cube of the number of parts in the entire assembly.

an internal slave is complex in fabrication but simple in operation.

 

[SRich]

Dont go cheap on your slave cylinder. Napa has one made in the USA for 70 with throwout bearing. I have been through 5 autozone slaves in the last 3 yrs/107K miles. I did not buy all 5 just warranteed them in.

 

[zrxsix3]

thanks guys, the only problem i am having right now is it doesnt always do this?? i did notice the fluid being a tad bit low and i filled it up shortly after making the first post. i am looking to bleed it and see if there is any air in the system that the previous owner may have not bled out (only had the truck for a few months) and i cant ask the previous owner before me because he bought the damn truck from an auction and lied to me and told me he had it for many years... (i only know this because i found another craigslist post and can tell its the same yard and house saying the same thing he had for my truck a few days after purchasing mine..) but anyway ill be looking at that first then replace the failed parts once i get a bronco 2 out of my garage

 

[ab_slack]

What everyone else said makes total sense and no disagreement there. I just wanted to comment about the intermittent nature.

I was nursing a bad throw out bearing for a long time on my first BII. It started out making a grinding sound while the clutch was depressed. One day it made a clunk sound and it stopped making the grinding sound and was quiet....well quiet for the first few seconds, but after that it started a awful squealing sound.

Anyways, that problem resulted in reduced travel so that it didn't have much margin to disengage the clutch. I continued to drive the vehicle for many thousands of miles after largely minimizing clutch use such as not using clutch to get it out of gear (just took engine load off so it easily slip out), not using it while sitting stopped, just engage momentarily to get into gear.

The long and short of it is that difficulty disengaging at that point would come and go. As long as I was gentle and minimized clutch use it generally wasn't a problem. If anyone else drove it they always had a problem and when I got it back it wouldn't disengage for me either.

So the fact that it comes and goes is not inconsistent with a clutch travel issue. I don't know why it does and am not saying in your case it would be related to throw out bearing. As Ron said a throw out bearing would make noise.

 

[AllanD]

Another distinct possibility which mimics clutch release issues The pilot bearing in the back of the crank (center of the flywheel on the 2.9 & 4.0 engine)