Ok ive pretty much desided to get the ranger ive been looking at, i didi notice on thing when i was test driving it yesterday that did concern me, Before i can take off after it sitting for a bit i have to pump the cluthc about 15-20 times to get everything to work like i should, second alose if it driving for a bit (30 minutes, it was a long test drive) on the highway than to get the clutch to work i have to pump the clutch several times. I had a similat problem in my 91 camaro rs and it just turned out that i boiled the hydrolic fluid and needed to bleed the system i did so and it worked fine for abotu 6 months untill the clutch master cylinder started leaking, i have heard when master cylinders go out that they can have this same problem, so i was wanting to get some idea if the master cylinders in rangers have a tendancy to go out. bare in mind this ranger just broke 100,000 original miles and my camaro had 250,000 when the cylinder took a nose dive. I didnt check to see if the resivoir was full on the truck im looking at i had to go take care of business and was in a hurry. I was just wanting to see like i said if the master cylinders in rangers are kinda weak and if so how hard are they to replace and about how much does it cost?? And if the master cylinders arent weak than im hoping that either a good bleeding and refill, or maybe just topping it off will take care of it. Well thanks everyone and Marry Christmas.

Jess

 

I would be more inclined to suspect the slave cylinder. Either way, something is leaking and letting air into the hydraulic system. Inspect the master, line, fittings and slave cylinder for leaks. From what I know several of the manual transmissions used in Rangers had the slave cylinder INSIDE the bellhousing, which would mean that if its bad, the transmission will have to be removed to replace it.

 

so you dont think that a good flush and refill will take care of the problem??

 

on the 89 is the slave cylinder located inside the bell-housing??

 

This is just becuase im curious, why does pumping on the clutch help for a while?? If the slave is leaking that wouldnt it work untill you run out of fluid?? and simply than not work at all??

 

also is there a bleeder vlave?? otherwise if the cylinder is in the bell-housing how do you bleed it without pulling the transmission??

 

When the fluid leaks out of the clyinder, it has to be replaced by something, usually air.
Pumping the clutch will pump new fluid into the slave clyinder to replace what leaked out and push the air out. The leak wont draw more fluid through the line to replace what is lost, unless it is a very large leak.
Just because you have to pump the pedal though, doesnt automatically make it a slave cylinder problem, but it is the most likely.

There should be a bleeder screw on the outside of the bellhousing near the hydraulic line for the slave cylinder.

 

Well i hope it isnt the slave cylinder, at 100 dollars for a new one plus labor i will simply will keep my car and my buddy will just have to put it back on the market. has anyone ever heard of boiling the hydrolic fluid in a clutch line before?? That was my guess with my camaro sense simply bleeding it and refilling it fixed it for 6 months.

 

Its not very common but it can happen. Usually becasue someone has been riding the clutch too much.

 

Like i said in my above posts, i had a similar probly with a 91 camaro rs, i flushed the system and it was fine for 6 months than the master cylinder died not the slave. when i changed the clutch on that car, i had got the clutch so hot, that the fly wheel was bright blue. I changed the clutch about 2 months after i flushed the system, so thats where i got that assumption from. Also im gonna test just for fun and see what the boiling point of dot 3 is. And you are probobly right it probobly does need a slave cylinder. How hard is it to pull the tranny on a 89 ranger? with my t-bird i have to pull half the exhaust system and pull the fuel tank and thats just too much work for me. also does anyone know how many hours it should take a shop to do incase i go that route

 

2

 

I was able to get a look at it for a bit longer tonight and the clutch hydrolic fluid was black, not clear, not amber not even dark brown but black, and it smell strongly of carbon (burnt), so im gonna bleed it and refill it tomarrow and see if that fixes the problem, if it does than thursday i will be the proud owner of an 89 ranger.

 

so how long should it take a shop to replace the slave cylinder?? that way i can calculate the price, sense i know about what the going shop rate around here is and i also know how much the part is too.

 

ohh also dot 3 boils at 401 defrees f, just fyi

 

well i just had my slave cylinder replaced today in fact and it took the mechanic one day to drop the tranny and replace the slave and reinstall the tranny. I dropped it off late last night and it was done by 4:00 this afternoon. I was having the same problem as stated above with having to pump the clutch and this seems to have fixed the problem. And he charged me $350 to do it all also. Idk if thats a good price or not but thats what i paid.

 

Not if its old fluid. Brake fluid absorbs water over time, which is why you are supposed to change it every 2 years. Clutch fluid is exactly the same, and if you dont change it for ten years, then its a good bet that a fair amount of the "fluid" in the system is oily water. And water boils at just 212 degrees.

 

My guess on the time is about 4 hours. Thats what it is to change most clutches on trucks. Im figureing 1.5 hours to drop the tranny 1.5 hours to reinstall the tranny and 1 hour to actually change the part. How does that sound?? about right??

 

Is there anything i can put in the system to seal the leak temperaily?? like for just 6-8 weeks?? I need it at least survive that long, i need to truck to tow 2000 pounds 6 times in the next 8 weeks, and i cant really afford to fix the problem until than. Normally i wouldnt even get the truck but i killed the tranny in my t-bird yesterday and the truck is cheaper than another transmission. so any advise on prolonging the life of that stupid cylinder would be appriciated.

 

Any one know the size of the bleeder valve? Trying to open it but i don't have any small wrenches. 2005 ford ranger

 

you do realize this post is from 2006...


















and i do believe mine is an 8mm

 

8mm or 5/16" is the bleeder screw wrench size.