Mysterious clutch issue in inherited Ranger

[gw33gp]

If you have pressure at the pedal, it sounds like the hydraulics are working properly. The only thing that I can think off that will give you the symptoms you are having is a pilot bearing beginning to fail. I can't think of why holding the clutch in while parked would have any effect on it though.

I recently had a pilot bearing go bad and it would cause hard shifting. Eventually, it got so bad that when in gear with the clutch pedal depressed with the engine running it would suddenly try to lurch forward. When I dropped the transmission and took the clutch out, needles from the pilot bearing fell out. The needles were worn so much that they apparently got semi sideways and clamped down on the transmission input shaft portion that fits in the pilot bearing. A new pilot bearing solved my problem.

That is a lot of work to replace such a little item but I think you may have to get in there anyway to find out what is going on.

 

[TheStrangerRanger]

That is a lot of work to replace such a little item but I think you may have to get in there anyway to find out what is going on.

That it is, I have never dropped a transmission before. Would have been nice if they checked/replaced that when they were doing the slave cylinder. But like you said, if that was going bad, wouldn't it just gradually get worse and not be influenced by the hydraulic aspect of the system?