I have a 1994 Ford Ranger/Manual Tranny. A few weeks ago i noticed it was getting hard to shift and eventually became very hard. I discovered that my clutch fluid reservior was empty. When i filled it up it became much easier to shift but the clutch was still a little mushy. so upon further studying online decided that air must've gotten into my clutch line when it was empty and it needed to be bled.

I must've not been thinking when i started bleeding because i loosened the bleed screw and then pumped the clutch in and out. obviously all this was doing was pumping air into my line. once i realized my mistake i gave it a day and then tried bleeding correctly according to Auto Zone's guide here...

AutoZone.com | Repair Info | Ford Ranger/Explorer/Mountaineer 1991-1999 | Drive Train


immediately when i loosen the bleed screw clear clutch fluid comes out, not bubbly or anything. i can tighten it and repeat it forever without any effect. if i let it drain for just a second or two it stops and nothing comes out. is this where the air bubble is? i can let it set open for a while and still nothing bleeds from it. and my clutch is complete mush. is bleeding correctly going to fix this problem? like i said, before i pumped air into my line, it worked fairly well, so i don't know what else it could be, i just can't figure our this bleeding thing.

do you guys have any suggestions or more questions. please let me know, i'd like to have a functioning truck again, thanks!

 

Try leaving the cap of the clutch reservoir and start working the pedal. Air rises to the top of the system. They are a pain to bleed.

 

do you mean leaving the cap "off"?

i should have the cap off to pump the clutch and then have it on when i bleed right???

should push and hold for a second or to and then release like auto zone says or should i be rapidly pumping it. and how long should i do this pumping before trying to bleed it?

thanks

 

I have had many hard times bleeding a clutch system on Fords. You can leave the reservoir cap off and then push down the clutch pedal. Hold for a few seconds, release, and do it again. Have an assistant look for air bubbles. This may take forever.

Another way to do it is to find an extra reservoir cap. Drill a hole in the cap and put it on. Close the bleeder and hook a vacuum pump into the hole and try to get the air out that way.

 

my neighbor is a ford mechanic and checked it out. he said since there is absolutely no pressure being built up from pumping the clutch (when you bleed it there isn't any type of strong flow at all, just a slow trickle)... than he thought the master cylinder must have gone or have a air leak somewhere not allowing pressure to build in the line. The slave looks good and is no trace of leak there, so it probably is the master.

does that sound right to everyone else? i guess there's no way of really knowing other than buying the part and replacing it. i'd rather not spend that money and then find out it's something else though if it is though, what's your thoughts?

 

Usually a master will leak when it goes bad, but it is worth a shot. Go for it!

 

sounds like an internal master cylinder leak to me on my 99 it feels like mine is about to take a **** too they hid that sunabitch under the booster and it does not even look like a master cylinder. i wish they would of made it easier to change like on the older tacomas

 

I just recently replaced my clutch master and went through the long - laborious bleeding process.

I bench bled the cylinder as best as I could. It's not like a brake cylinder however because it is difficult to hold the fluid in the clutch cylinder as you install it. Once installed, I bled it as suggested in the Haynes repair manual but got no pressure at all for the longest time. I rebled - no pressure - rebled - etc. After a few days of this I started to get some pressure but not enough to throw the clutch. To try something different, a ran a hose from the bleeder valve up to the reservoir - pumped away. This seemed to help quit a bit.

The truck now shifts, but catches low on the pedal throw. It seems to be improving as I drive it.

The moral to this story seems to be that the bleeding process takes time. Stay with it.

 

the worst thing with the ranger if you look at the master it is not level and air gets trapped at the top. If you loosing the master and keep it level and just gravity bleed them it will work I have spent 5 hours untill I loosen it off. Then you have to pump it dozen of times.

 

i started all over again and tried bleeding correctly. it seemed to be working but it never got anywhere. my neighbor mechanic said he thought that my mastercylinder may have gone out since my clutch doesn't build any pressure up after pumping it repeatedly. i also read that about the master cylinder getting air caught in the top since it isn't level. i was going to try and take it off but it is a nasty bugger. i can't quite get it off, i'll give it another shot i guess.


it seems strange that what caused the problem was me pumping air into the line, it makes sense that it would just need a massive bleeding. but i just can't get that to work. any suggestions? what does it typically mean if your clutch builds up no pressure when pumped? it's good to hear from 00Ranger about his clutch that wouldn't build up pressure but is slowly beginning to take shape. i guess i'll just keep with it, man this stinks. whatcha say?

thanks a bunch.