Hello,

I hope this post finds everyone well.

Have a "beater" Ranger that I need to keep on the road for (hopefully) another 90 days at least.

Clutch and slave cylinder was replaced around three years ago and with the cold weather up north here (below -0- at night sometimes lately) the cylinder has been leaking.

I'm not overly mechanical but it seems a little odd to me that the receptacle (filling with dot 3 brake fluid) is empty in the mornings (must be the cold) but it's not leaking much (if at all) no matter how much I drive it and use the clutch pedal.

Anyway, I have a few questions and any help would be appreciated. I simply cannot afford a $700 repair right now.

1. Can the system be bled without doing a "bench bleed"? Hoping this is something that myself and a friend can do.

2. Is there ANYTHING else I can do to stop the leak apart from replacing the slave cylinder? Apparently there is no stop leak product for this (due to the pressure involved) but I've heard some reports of people using Lucas Power Steering Stop Leak (a small ratio / percentage of the mix) but Lucas is advising against this.

3. How difficult is this repair really? I have a friend who fixes vehicles and is pretty good...

4. Is it dangerous to drive like this assuming that I'm keeping the receptacle full? When it is, the pedal is at about 90% pressure of what it used to be (at the moment at least.)

Any other insight would be helpful...

Again, any help appreciated so I can keep this guy on the road!

 

if its the master (end of the pedal in the engine bay) you can try to rebuild it or replace it. but... not much you can do if its the slave. the slave cyl is mounted on the input shaft of the trans. to get to it, you have to separate the motor from the trans. and.... if you are that deep into it, put a clutch plate and resurface the flywheel...

sorry bud. good luck.