Wont go in gear! any suggestions?

[94 4.0 5-spd 4wd ranger]

my truck is a 94 4.0 ranger. it has the m-5od manual trans and electronic-t case(obviously 4wd). Recently but only sometimes ive been having trouble getting it into gear with the clutch pedal FULLY depressed. I dont realy know where to start with it now. It has 115k on it and when i peeked in the inspection window the clutch seems to be original but i couldnt be exactly sure.
So where should i start? does the clutch have to be bleed? Maybe the the clutch itself needs to be replaced? please help...

 

[metalmacguyver]

Start by inspecting the clutch hydraulics.

look in the reservoir, any fluid? If not, then it had to go some where.

If there is fluid, try bleeding the system. How to do this in the tech library.

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/bleedclutch.htm

There have been lots of threads on this topic so search for them and do a little reading.

 

[94 4.0 5-spd 4wd ranger]

yea ive read alot of the threads. the hydraulic fluid is topped off, but that was gona be my first course of action. i may also just have the clutch replaced being as it is under warranty.

 

[pillen140]

yea ive read alot of the threads. the hydraulic fluid is topped off, but that was gona be my first course of action. i may also just have the clutch replaced being as it is under warranty.

you may think its under warranty. most warranties dont cover clutches. they are considered maintance parts.

 

[94 4.0 5-spd 4wd ranger]

yea, ive been looking for the papers in my cabinet to see if it is covered or not. otherwise that gona be one hell of a labor charge

 

[metalmacguyver]

Yeah. Its enought to scare alot of people into doing it themselves or getting rid of the vehicle. It is not that hard though. Just takes some time.

 

[94 4.0 5-spd 4wd ranger]

oh my ranger ain't goin nowhere! lol ill muster up enough confidence and dive in head first when it needs to get done. Of course with the help of my haynes manual and you guys lol. So the truck has 115k miles on it. i bought it with about that many. So would you say if thats the original clutch its deffinately time for a new one? Other than that do you think there's somthing else i can do to try and get a few more months out of it if indeed it is the clutch?

 

[Donnie strickland]

If it won't go in gear, you're due for some clutch work, no two ways about it.

I just had mine done on my 94 4.0 4WD, 190,000 miles, original clutch. I took it to a transmission shop I know and trust, and which I have used before for other vehicles. I had him replace everything -- clutch (Luk), pressure plate, release bearing, slave cylinder, and master cylinder, and transmission fluid. I priced the parts myself first to get an idea of how much they would be, and his parts charges were right in line with those.

The total was $746, of which $325 was labor. Now it shifts silky smooth, just like brand new.

 

[metalmacguyver]

If you try to limp it along with the bad clutch, all you will do is beat the crap out of your tranny. I know because I need to rebuild my tranny soon because the clutch wasnt releasing all the way and was wearing the syncros bad.

 

[mhughes165]

normall clutches dont wear out like that for me, mine just like togo all at once LOL....even had one ro two explode while wheeling in my old ranger, had them replaced under warranty(parts only no labor cuase i did it)


but just take a weekend and take care of it, it would be really easy to tackle the truck on a weekend

 

[94 4.0 5-spd 4wd ranger]

yea well it that looks to be the direction ill go in then. I kinda want to do it in my driveway to save labor cost but the tranny is fully warrantied so im kinda leaning to putting it in the shop just in case the syncros for any of the gears need to be done also otherwise ill be pulling out the trans nd then if the syncros are bad itll just have to go in the shop and have the trans pulled again. right now it drives and doesnt hesitate to go into first or reverse(the only two gears it hesitates to go into) until ive driven it for a while, atleast 30 mins or so. What do you guys think about doing it myself or going to the shop? The warranty also has a deductable for labor too.

 

[Hahnsb2]

Doubt it's the clutch itself, almost certainly a bad slave cylinder.

 

[Donnie strickland]

What do you guys think about doing it myself or going to the shop? The warranty also has a deductable for labor too.

Well, I don't know what your warranty spells out specifically, but if you put it in the shop the warranty will probably only replace the part that's actually bad (i.e. most likely the slave cylinder). You would likely have to pay for replacement of any other parts. But you really want to replace everything inside the bellhousing while the trans is out.

As far as doing it yourself vs. taking it to a shop -- only you can answer that. Are you well set up for this? Do you have a good place to work uninterrupted? Do you have alternate transportation? Do you have a transmission jack? You get the idea. Consider all your options carefully. Good luck!

 

[94 4.0 5-spd 4wd ranger]

yea all very good points donnie. I would have to borrow a trans jack, and also after brining it to the shop to have a front axle shaft seal looked at ( leaked a lil didnt know if it should be replaced) the guy that usually does the stuff that i either dont have the time or tools to do on my truck gave me the lowdown on his way of replacing the clutch. i would have replaced everything including the slave, but he likes to go as far as to also replace the master too. so when its really due (really not giving me that bad of problems and he knows its not syncros) ill probly bring it to him. they charge 90 per hour (a lil much but they do good work) and he quoted me at 6 hours labor to do everything and then parts ontop. So by the end of the summer (maybe sooner if realy needed) ill get it done