Soft Clutch after Clutch and Transmission Repair

[acleme1]

I own a 96 Ford Ranger 3.0 V6 4x4. I recently started having clutch problems. I was getting a soft clutch, and then it wouldn't shift into gear. Checked the brake fluid and it was low. Filled that up, but no luck.

Took her to the shop, and bad quickly turned to worse. Mechanic got everything stripped and here's what had to be done.
• new clutch, flywheel, and pressure plate
• new slave cylinder
• mainshaft in transmission was chewed-up on the end, so he had to tear down the tranny to replace the shaft
• total bill: $1198

I picked it up today, and here's where my main question comes in. The clutch is still really soft, and i'm still having a little trouble getting it in gear. I literally have to push the clutch ALL the way to the floor to get it in gear. There is also no free play whatsoever.

I know that all of the work was actually done. I know these guys well and I saw all of the parts and saw them working on it. What could be going on?

I picked the truck up after hours, so I haven't had a chance to talk to the shop about it yet. Any ideas? I'm hoping it's just air in the lines. If so, is there anything I can do to get it out without the help of someone else? Any help would be greatly appreciated. AC

 

[jmcarthy]

Sounds like you already know the answer ... air in the line. It sometimes does go away after driving it for a little while, so it may get better for you. You need two people to bleed the system. You paid them for it. Why not just take it back and have them take care of it?

 

[cocoasranger]

Sounds like you already know the answer ... air in the line. It sometimes does go away after driving it for a little while, so it may get better for you. You need two people to bleed the system. You paid them for it. Why not just take it back and have them take care of it?

+1 on everything jmcarthy said above.

 

[jmsmith76]

i agree. just changed the master cylinder on mine and it took about an hour or hour and a half of bleeding before the clutch felt normal again