Okay so I bought a 2002 xlt with the 2.3 and 5spd from a guy and the truck is in really good shape and he supposedly replaced the clutch at 175k it's at 220k now.
I didnt notice this when I bought it for some reason but the clutch master cylinder cap and gasket were gone. No fluid. Like dust in the reservoir I liked to have **** when I noticed it. This sounds nuts but the clutch worked great was easy to push and never didnt engage all the way. Well when I seen that my buddy had a spare cap and gasket so I put it on put fluid in the reservoir and he helped me bleed it. I know these things can be a bear to bleed but it bleed good. Clutch felt the same as before. But now for some reason it's getting so stiff it's hard to push in and going into 1st or reverse is sometimes almost impossible. We've bled it numerous times with no success to fixing the problem. Does anyone have any info before I begin tearing the clutch apart? Like I said I have no idea how the clutch operated and worked perfect with no fluid or cap but then starts acting up once I put everything as should be. Any info would be appreciated.

 

Did you pull the master, fluid line, and reservoir out to bleed it, or did you bleed it in the truck? If you bled it in the truck, it's possible you have some air trapped in the master cylinder. To get rid of it completely, you'll have to pull the master cylinder, reservoir, and fluid line out as an assembly and bench bleed it.

You also need to make sure the valve in the fluid line at the slave fitting is actually opening and letting fluid into the slave.

 

I believe I have a problem with the valve in the fluid line. At first we tried it in the truck and the other guy breaking the line loose to bleed the air out. And once it started acting funky we bench bled it but now were back to square one. So we shall see how this plays out.

 

When my quick disconnect failed, I had the same issue, rock pedal (because of course the fluid cant go anywhere)

I had said I was over replacing the line every time it failed, so I replaced the whole unit wit a stainless braided AN line. I had the shop do it up for me, but they sell AN adapters for the master/slave couplings. Its a o-ring type fitting pinned in place with a roll pin. Very easy to remove.

This will obviously make bench bleeding impossible, so what I do is just bleed it on the truck. Pull the master out, and turn it upside down, so the air can get pushed out of the system. Have a friend crack the bleeder, then you push the master rod down against the ground. Do this a few times and you're done. 100% easier than trying to "pressure bleed" it and spraying brake fluid all over the place.

While you have the truck, replace the slave cylinder, or at least the throw out bearing. Also replace the water neck outlet gasket and the EGR gasket. Inspect all hoses for wear, and pay extreme attention to the 3-way hose on the driver side of the engine, above the starter. If it looks suspect, flex it a little, and see if it breaks. If its OEM or old, its probably going to. Replace this now as well, its practically impossible to replace otherwise. Use the Dorman replacement variant. It uses a metal 3-way union instead of the ford plastic.