Hi, I have a 2005 ford ranger xl 2.3 l4 5 speed manual. I bought it from someone a year ago. It just recently started having trouble shifting into each gear. I have tried bleeding the slave cylinder and it only helps slightly then gets worse again and the clutch reservoir is full. I don’t have the money to put it in a shop so anything will help please. Thank you

 

Welcome to the forum

Check the fluid level in the transmission, on drivers side there is a DRAIN plug and a FILL plug
Remove FILL Plug, on level ground, should be fluid up to the bottom of the hole, put finger in the hole or ?? to see where fluid level is and COLOR of the fluid, red color
You have an M5OD-R1(M5R1) transmission, it uses Ford ATF, Mercon V, yes automatic transmission fluid in a manual transmission
If gear oil was added it will make it hard to shift
It holds 2.8quarts, bone dry, so not too expensive to change fluid, some prefer synthetic for smoother shifting, but does cost more


Air in clutch system is the most common issue, especially if its hard to get into gear after stopping
Put pan down and open the clutch slave bleeder, should get a nice trickle of fluid with no air, close bleeder, called gravity bleeding
So no air in the slave
Which means you may have air in the Master, which is hard to get out
If reservoir ever ran dry then you do have air in the master

Diagram of clutch system: https://www.phoenixfriction.com/Imag...cs-diagram.jpg

Master is angled up, so any air will collected at the TOP of the master so hard to get out of the system
Only fix for this is to pull master out and hold it level or slightly down hill with Reservoir higher than master, any air should come out the masters hole and up into the reservoir

The reservoir is connected to a hole in the masters cylinder, just below the master's piston, when piston is pushed down it cuts off/closes that hole so fluid is pushed out and down to the slave to disengage the clutch
When piston comes back up all the way, fluid could then run down into the master to replace any lost fluid
Very simple "valve system"

So with master level and reservoir higher, any air could come up and out via reservoir hose
But with master at its uphill angle the air is trapped at the top, no way to bleed it out

Now there is a C-clip at the end of the master, it can be removed, with master in-place, this would allow piston to extend farther and let out any air trapped at the top, hard to do in tight quarters but do-able

Google: Bleeding the clutch in a 2008 Ford Ranger

Watch the video