I just bought a 04 3.0 5sd ranger with 71k miles yesterday, and has a clutch issue. It has maybe 2 or 3 inches of play in the cluch pedal, and it was releasing right at the floor, causing it to either not go in gear when stoped or be really hard. I bled it 3 or 4 times last night, and that helped it a bit, but it still releases close to the floor and has play in the pedal. Its got fluid and no leaks. Do ya'll think its the master or the slave....I know all about the slaves going bad, but just figured id ask. Also, it may have the original clutch so could some of that play be caused by a worn clutch? My last ranger had a nice firm clutch pedal from the very top to the floor. And what brand is the best for the slave and master cylinder?

 

check the bushings on the pedal and the bushings where the pushrod connects to the pedal.

you can raise the front of the truck up until the master is level and try to bleed it, or remove the master from the firewall and bleed it then reinstall it.

I would replace the master first because you dont have to remove the trans (motorcraft only) and if it still is giving you problems youll have to replace the slave. You could have a bad pressure plate as well...use only motorcraft parts...everyone on here it seems that has repeat failure uses aftermarket components. my motorcraft slave lasted 170,000 miles until i changed it because the trans was out, and my master is original at 199,000

 

Bite the bullet and do a clutch job and replace the slave.
City driving will wear it out faster than highway , so mileage is not a good indicator.

 

I had the same problem just recently and I have a new clutch..Now it quite acting up...So i dunno...I notice the Bushing has a little fluid on it in the floorboard..

 

Where would be the cheapest place to get motorcraft parts? And could i just get motorcraft master, and slave and just get a good aftermarket clutch or what? And what about the Sachs brand stuff?

 

Well, I just found out from the previous owner that the clutch pedal started acting up when he installed a hurst shifter about 5 months ago...so maybe it just has air in the system?

 

Changing the shifter has nothing to do with how the clutch is working.

 

yea, i couldn't see how it would...what im saying is, whatever it is, is fairly stable if its been going on for that long (I dont think the slave would last that long if it started to go bad). Anyways, I bled the clutch again, and I have a good pedal now...disengages alittle over half way down and only has about an inch of play. I bled it saturday night, and it kept the same pedal until I bled it again just now in effort to reduce the amount of play in the pedal. Im just not sure how air got in the system.