Manual Transmission, will only start in neutral and won't shift out. Clutch? Help!

[johnny71]

So I went to leave today and my truck wouldn't start in 1st gear. It just cranks and kind of bucks forward slightly. If I shift the truck into neutral and try to start, it starts fine but It won't let me shift into any other gear. I can shift into all the gears when the truck is off.

After doing some reading I checked my clutch reservoir and sure enough it was empty . So I filled the reservoir up and bled the line. I followed the Chilton's instructions. I don't see any fluid leaking and it is at the step in the reservoir now. Still no go when I try to start it.

Did I fry the clutch master cylinder? Where should I go from here (hopefully not a tranny shop).

Thanks!

 

[RangerFabWorks]

Sounds like the slave cylinder went on ya. Common problem.

 

[4b316]

If it worked fine before and you have no leaks,try bleeding it again before you buy a kit.Do you have a slave cyl.outside the bellhousing or inside?If you can get to the bleeder screw,put a rubber hose over it and put the other end in the master cyl.fluid,loosen the bleeder and pump for a while.Ford clutch systems are hard to get all the air out and this is the way we found that works

 

[johnny71]

The slave is inside the bell housing. I'll try bleeding it again and pray...

 

[scotts90ranger]

either that or a dead pilot bearing.

about the only way to get air out of the master cylinder in the truck is to push the pedal all the way to the floor then slip your foot off, do that a few times until the pedal feel comes back. the slave cylinder in my explorer is on it's way out and every couple weeks I have to fill the reservoir and do this...

 

[v8318cid]

A trick I learned with my 92 5-speed was to drain the fluid from the bleeder valve then reseal it. Fill the reservoir with fluid. Perform one or two normal bleeds using the bleeder valve (push pedal to floor while valve is open, then close when pedal hits the floor). Then, using a suction bulb (baby snot sucker..), apply pressure through the cap of the clutch reservoir (there should be a small hole in the top of the cap, not sure if it was model-year specific). The pressure "should" force the fluid down through the system and force any remaining air back up. Granted, this only worked as far as I could tell because the system is gravity-bled. A normal system, similar to your braking system, would not work since the fluid path isn't as simple. No guarantees, but might be worth a shot.

 

[Bryan22]

i always just park my truck on my sloped driveway and let gravity pull the fluid through. make sure to keep the master from getting too low and let it go through about a full master worth of fluid.Close the bleeder and check it. never had any problems. usually what little air is left dissipates after the first couple presses on the clutch.

Everyone makes bleeding these out to be a nightmare, but i've never had an issue.