Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and JLGR96
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2022
- Messages
- 1
- Vehicle Year
- 1996
- Transmission
- Manual
Thought I would post a success story that might benefit others regarding a hard shifting 5 speed.
So I have a 1996 Ranger 2WD, 2.3 5 speed with 152,000 miles that runs like champ. Recently I was having difficulty shifting gears. It was a workout to get the thing into first gear. I would have to slam through the gears while driving. Meanwhile the clutch pedal had a lot of travel, about 3/4 of the way to the floor before feeling any pressure. Paperwork shows a new clutch was installed about 5 years ago. What could it be? I checked the fluid and it was full, though it needed changed. Fresh fluid didn't fix the issue. After further study I decided to check the hydraulic clutch line for trapped air. With a $10 Harbor freight pump, I was able to suck air out of the clutch master cylinder through the fluid fill reservoir located at the driver side fender. Super easy and only took about 10 minutes. I must say this fixed the problem! It now shifts like new. The clutch was compressing the air in the line before it started moving fluid. This would explain the ridiculous clutch pedal travel. The clutch wasn't disengaging enough to shift... probable only about 1/4 of what was needed.
Good ol' YouTube University came to the rescue! I found out there are two ways to elevate what seems to be a common issue....The hard way and the easy way. I went with the easy way. Many folks will actually remove the entire hydraulic clutch line system and hang it on a pole or something. The easy option was to simply draw air out through the fill reservoir. I'm not really sure the extra benefit of removing the line. Maybe someone could comment?
Nevertheless, If you are having trouble shifting, maybe the issue is air trapped in the clutch hydraulic system.
So I have a 1996 Ranger 2WD, 2.3 5 speed with 152,000 miles that runs like champ. Recently I was having difficulty shifting gears. It was a workout to get the thing into first gear. I would have to slam through the gears while driving. Meanwhile the clutch pedal had a lot of travel, about 3/4 of the way to the floor before feeling any pressure. Paperwork shows a new clutch was installed about 5 years ago. What could it be? I checked the fluid and it was full, though it needed changed. Fresh fluid didn't fix the issue. After further study I decided to check the hydraulic clutch line for trapped air. With a $10 Harbor freight pump, I was able to suck air out of the clutch master cylinder through the fluid fill reservoir located at the driver side fender. Super easy and only took about 10 minutes. I must say this fixed the problem! It now shifts like new. The clutch was compressing the air in the line before it started moving fluid. This would explain the ridiculous clutch pedal travel. The clutch wasn't disengaging enough to shift... probable only about 1/4 of what was needed.
Good ol' YouTube University came to the rescue! I found out there are two ways to elevate what seems to be a common issue....The hard way and the easy way. I went with the easy way. Many folks will actually remove the entire hydraulic clutch line system and hang it on a pole or something. The easy option was to simply draw air out through the fill reservoir. I'm not really sure the extra benefit of removing the line. Maybe someone could comment?
Nevertheless, If you are having trouble shifting, maybe the issue is air trapped in the clutch hydraulic system.
