check clutch fluid
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From: Austin, Tx
check clutch fluid
Ok, really stupid question. All I want to do is check the clutch fluid. It's a 2001 Ranger 2.5L manual transmission, about 210K miles. Never checked it before. I see the little plastic cylinder for it right there under the hood right in front of the driver side. But for the life of me, the cap won't budge. I'm afraid I'm going to break the thing if I work it any harder. How does the cap come off. Does it screw off? (counter clockwise?) Does it turn and lift off? (like slotted, a different thing than screw threads?) Does it simply pop off? If I work any harder at it without knowing fore sure, I'm afraid I'm going to break it. I'm already stressing it too much against its rubberish holding bracket.
And along those lines, the manual stick is a little resistive going into some of the gears. Like maybe a sleeve is having a little trouble sliding into place in the gear box. Is that a sign of clutch, or the tramsmission itself? I just changed the transmission fluid hoping that might smooth it out some. And maybe it did a little. But I'm figuring well why not do the clutch fluid now too.
And along those lines, the manual stick is a little resistive going into some of the gears. Like maybe a sleeve is having a little trouble sliding into place in the gear box. Is that a sign of clutch, or the tramsmission itself? I just changed the transmission fluid hoping that might smooth it out some. And maybe it did a little. But I'm figuring well why not do the clutch fluid now too.
Screws off with regular threads, so "Lefty Loosey", turn it counter-clockwise to remove
Inside is an "air dam", rubber cup, pull it out but be careful where you put it down it has brake fluid on it, so corrosive to paint
Then you can see the fluid level in the reservoir
Brake fluid will absorb water/moisture from the air, which degrades it, the "air dam" is there to prevent fluid/air transfer
Once the reservoir has been checked and has fluid, leave cap off and air dam out, then go under the truck and open the bleeder on the slave
Have a pan down, fluid should run out, called Gravity Bleeding, and any air that was trapped in the slave
Close bleeder if no air bubbles are seen
Top up reservoir and put dam back in and cap back on
See if clutch feels better putting trans in 1st when stopped
If reservoir ever "runs dry" then air gets into the Master, and its very hard to get out
Air in the clutch system can make shifting gears harder, but so can worn out shifter bushings
If the shifter "feels" sloppy then may be time for new bushings, seen here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tec...g-replacement/
You have an M5OD-R1(M5R1) transmission, it does use ATF, Ford Mercon V or synthetic equivalant
Inside is an "air dam", rubber cup, pull it out but be careful where you put it down it has brake fluid on it, so corrosive to paint
Then you can see the fluid level in the reservoir
Brake fluid will absorb water/moisture from the air, which degrades it, the "air dam" is there to prevent fluid/air transfer
Once the reservoir has been checked and has fluid, leave cap off and air dam out, then go under the truck and open the bleeder on the slave
Have a pan down, fluid should run out, called Gravity Bleeding, and any air that was trapped in the slave
Close bleeder if no air bubbles are seen
Top up reservoir and put dam back in and cap back on
See if clutch feels better putting trans in 1st when stopped
If reservoir ever "runs dry" then air gets into the Master, and its very hard to get out
Air in the clutch system can make shifting gears harder, but so can worn out shifter bushings
If the shifter "feels" sloppy then may be time for new bushings, seen here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tec...g-replacement/
You have an M5OD-R1(M5R1) transmission, it does use ATF, Ford Mercon V or synthetic equivalant
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