Hello new to these forums.

i just picked up a 2003 ranger 4.0l with the 5 speed manual trans. Clutch was slipping so I figured I’d go ahead and drop the tranny and replace everything.

Somehow I ordered the wrong flywheel and the old one looked great so I just reused it. Replaced the pressure plate and friction plate as well as the slave cylinder. Put it all back together and while trying to bleed the master cylinder I accidentally broke the clutch safety switch. Oh well. Just ordered another. Decided to jump the starter to see if the truck would even turn over and the starter winds but doesn’t catch the flywheel? I figured it was a bad solenoid so I dropped some more money on a starter, replaced it, jumped it, and the same result. Just spins and doesn’t catch the flywheel or turn over the truck? Extremely confused as to why that’s happening. As I said before it’s the same exact flywheel. Didn’t even remove it from the truck. For the record I still need to bleed the clutch. Couldn’t bleed the master cylinder and bleeding the slave wasn’t doing much, although I didn’t bleed it that much tbh. Wanted to see if the whole rig turned over first.

Extremely confused and honestly being new to rangers I’m really lost. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Did you replace whatever shims came out with the starter? I know my 3.0 had a big tin plate that went between the engine and trans and acted like a shim. Haven't done a 4.0.

 

i didn’t notice any shims on the starter itself. The one between the engine and trans stayed put when I bolted the trans back up.

im just jumping the starter with a screw driver. Honestly I’m a little new to all of this so I hope I’m doing it correctly.

 

I suppose it's possible that you damaged the starter when you removed/installed it. It's tight, right?

Engaging by jumping it wouldn't cause it to simply spin, it should engage and turn the engine. It doesn't sound electrical to me but something mechanical. Remove the starter and apply 12 volts to it to get it to spin. Does the bendix come all the way out? If not, there's your issue.

 

So I am just jumping the power supply post to the large bottom post. Skipping the ignition wire post. Something tells me that ignition wire post engages the Bendix? This is a brand new starter. And the old one was also fine before the trans swap and was spinning but not engaging as well. I feel like the missing clutch sensor means that no power is being supplied to that ignition 12v wire and not extending the bendix?? Am I barking up the wrong tree here? That’s two starters in the last hour that have done the same thing now.

 

Correct. Sounds like you're testing it incorrectly. You need to provide 12 volts to the signal wire connection to engage the solenoid.

 

Did exactly that and she fired up! I guess I need the correct clutch sensor on and I’ll try it with the key. Thanks!

also, after installing the slave, what’s the proper bleed procedure? Should I take the master out, bleed it through the plunger, then gravity bleed the slave, then hook up a line and bleed the slave while someone is depressing the clutch? Just trying to figure out the order of operations here. Sorry if this all sounds very elementary!

 

How I did it - first I made sure the master had no air. With the pressure line disconnected from the slave, that pedal/rod shouldn't have much movement at all and should be fairly difficult to push. If you're good there, connect it up, open the bleeder and keep the reservoir full. Let it flow out (into an appropriate container) and run two or three reservoirs through - don't let it empty. Once you've done that, close it up, top off the reservoir, cap it and test.