actually the tranny is really good, put it into first right before you come to a stop while barely moving it makes it alot easier and i dont have this problem unless ive been doing stop and go traffic for hours.

 

ummm. yes stupid Ford. if someone sells you a bunk item, bad them, if you continue to buy said bunk item.... stupid you.

also.. isn't the slave also a source of some of the problems? and also how the line is run all retarded setup to TRAP air in it? Once again. thanks alot ford engineers.

 

There have been a few drips of fluid here and there on the floor under the clutch pedal. I usually clean it off when I see it and am on my way. Finally decided to take a peak at my clutch reservoir and noticed it was bone dry. Hmmm, probably the reason for the difficult shifting. So if there is a intermittent and slow leak of fluid from the pedal region, what would that be? Knowing me, and my current finances, I will probably just continue to clean it up when I see it and not actually fix it. But I am curious to know what it is.

 

Sounds like your master cyl is shot. You are going to have to keep an eye on the level. If you keep an eye on it it should be fine for a while that way, but you gotta keep an eye on it.

 

mine just started doing this a couple months ago .... have had the truck for over 2 years ... unacceptable for me since it only has 137k on it

i put new atf in and that was cool for a little bit ... and its not bad all the time

 

The slave cylinders on the Rangers are a joke. Thanks Ford for A) making them out of cheap plastic, and B) putting them in such a PITA spot to have to drop the tranny to reinstall.

If it is your slave, plan of purchasing a new clutch kit along with the pilot bearings and don't forget to have the flywheel face machined while you're in there. Brake fluid f**k's all the components it touches, so resurfacing the flywheel cleans it up, also removes any pitting. Replace that pilot bearing too!!

 

where did you put this atf???

 

you know they are on revision #13 now for the slaves. they have been bad for a very long time and they know it. If they can't make a proper slave, DON'T MAKE IT CONCENTRIC! Put it on the OUTSIDE of the tranny like Honda. It only takes a few minutes to change then! Unfortunate for us though... ours go bad. theirs do not. There is NO EXCUSE FOR THIS. This problem has been prevalent for OVER A DECADE! WTF!

 

in the transmission .... under the truck on the passenger side there should be 2 plugs, a drain and a fill, you drain out your old stuff, put the drain shut, then fill up the fill till it starts coming out and youll be good

 

i think he thought you put it in the master resivoir....

 

alright, well, go buy a dodge then. have fun replacing the whole tranny instead of a slave. Chevys trans arent that good either. I've seen 3 of them blow completely in the past 6 months..

 

part of the reason for the hard shift into first gear is most people do not realize first gear is not synchronized like all your other gears, same as reverse... this means you need to manually synchronize first gear by allowing the trans a second or two to match speed with the engine


dont get me wrong... most people commenting in this thread are showing signs of bad slave cylinders but others sound like they expect the trans to just go in gear instantly. truck transmissions are not built exactly the same as cars... they need to handle more torque

 

Ya, i agree what ranger4.0 said, but my truck was acting the same exact way!! I changed the flywheel, fluids, slave cylinder and all that and it worked like new! SO i jus suggest u do that :)

 

well i dont have to worry about shifting into first anymore, trucks for sale and was replaced with a 97 toyota t100

 

lol well thats one way to solve your problems

 

Don't be like that. Its one thing if this was a new model and it had some kinks to be worked out but to be putting the same problematic part in for over a decade. Please. There is no excuse for that no matter how you look at it.

Why are you standing up for them? they made a lousy part and are being called out on it. Simple.

 

So ballpark figure on the work of replacing slave/flywheel machined/bearings? Should I expect to go into a repair place and lay down $500? $1000? More?

 

it all depends on the place...RWD vehicles arent bad...in fact they might be a little cheaper than FWD because you have less **** to R&I...but id figure somewhere between $5-700

 

You are incorrect, 1st gear is synchronized. All gears in light truck trannys are. If you had no synchro, everytime you tried to grab 1st you would have to match rev the engine, which you do not on a Ford Ranger. You would also need a clutch brake to get it into first, otherwise it would just grind. I've had no issues for the 50k miles I've had mine.

 

Mine has done this for awhile, even after I had the clutch and slave replaced less then 30k miles ago.

I dont know what it causes it but it pisses me off.

 

I bet the mechanic just did a regular bleed on it after they put it in. absolute best way to bleed that sucker is to remove the master and the line and bench bleed it. period.

i was absolutely amazed at the amount of bubbles I kept getting out of mine. watch the youtube video of the guy doing it.

with the reservoir attached up highest and the rest hanging down and the master upside down tap it with a screw driver handle. more and more bubbles kept coming out of the master's base as i tapped it. when i put the line back in i made sure the reservoir was full as possible and i kept it up right during install. got it all in and bingo best feeling clutch i have ever had in the ranger.

If you go get some brake fluid, and do the work yourself... the only thing u will have to pay for is the brake fluid. i say do it man. its not fun, but it is doable.

 

True. All 5 forward gears in the Ranger M5ODR1 and M5ODR1HD are synchronized. Even reverse is synchronized.

 

well i guess i have been corrected. im a transport mechanic... trade school taught us that no trans had a synchonized first or reverse gear.... shows how good my teachers are

 

Most late model automotive and light truck transmissions have first gear synchros. Reverse is less common.

 

i come from the world of big rigs... no first gears are synchronized and most other gears usually are not either lol