Every once in a while, my truck has to be forced into second gear by me throwing the shifter hard into gear. After checking the fluid for the slave cylindar, I found there wasn't any, so I filled the resivor back up. I've also noticed that there are signs of a slow leak between my engine and my transmission, which I seem to remember being a sign of the slave going... I don't know if that's right or not.

I'd like to know if this is a sign that my slave cylindar is on its way out? What happens when the slave cylindar dies on me, will I lose all function of the transmission?

 

Its going brother man, get it fixed asap! If it goes, your truck wont...

 

mine has went out on me plenty of times your truck is still drivable but you can do some damage to your sycnros like i have. i wouldn't recommend driving it without the clutch bc then you will have to ram it in to gear and trust me even if you find it your going to grind it

 

Mine went at 38000. It's getting harder to shift sometimes, so at 66,500, I expect it's going to give up the ghost again soon.

 

Replace the slave cylinder....it's on it's way out or it is already shot.

With the brake fluid everywhere (the hydraulic clutch system uses brake fluid, as I'm sure you are aware), replace the clutch plate (get a clutch kit), and replace or resurface the flywheel. I recommend replacing the pilot bearing in there too. Might as well do it now, because it beats diving back in there to replace it later.

 

If it does go and you need to shift it, just let it rev either up or down very slowly. That will help you find the hole when the time comes. Just like big rigging.

 

Damn... looks like there's no way to get around it. Thanks for the info guys.

 

Good luck Winks, what a bummer before Christmas, trust me I know...

 

Mine went completely drive in the resivoir and I had it bleed by a shop and it is working great. Try bleeding and see what it does.

 

3 things can happen when the slave starts to go...

1)Pedal starts getting alot of slack.....nothing for the top 4", loose...liketheres nothing there. Eventually...youll only have ability to use the bottom 2" of clutch pedal....and soon after...undrivability. That's how my first went out. I drove it for 2 days clutchless, then it was undrivable.

2)Becomes really hard to shift. This could be due to lack of fluid too.

3)slave starts leaking fluid....and that fluid on the clutch isn't really a good thing.


I suggest.....Get that new Spec 2 ordered, get a slave....and get it going.

 

Quote:
my truck has to be forced into second gear by me throwing the shifter hard into gear.

That is not a slave cylinder problem.
The syncros are bad .
If the slave is going you would have a hard time shifting into FIRST gear while sitting still.

 

Not if he starts his truck in first. It's not just one gear that is hard to get into when the slave goes. It's all of them.

 

When mine went out, the first telltale signs were on a cold startup, the clutch woud grab and spin the tires. Only did that once really, and I was a loooonnng way from home, like in Elizabethtown, KY on a roadtrip from West Virginia to Nashville. A few weeks later, I was leaving a friends house and I could barely get it in gear. Then when it finally did get going, on the highway, it would slip (rev up and not go any faster). Then it wouldn't even move. It died on Christmas Eve, and I was "vehicle~less" for the holidays until the Ford dealership opened back up.

Edit: I just remembered something else symptomatic: For a good while before it went ka-put, after fairly long interstate drives w/o using the clutch/changing gears (say, an hour), the clutch would feel different when you pressed it in. I can't remember now if it felt soft or more stiff.

 

Well he stated it was only second gear.

 

When clutch discs start to go, in high gear(5th or 4th) it'll start to slip. A slipping clutch has nothing to do with a defective slave cylinder.

Shifting clutchless is fun......I really started getting good on downshifting w/0 the clutch.

 

Why are the spec 2 clutches better then like a luc (spelling) clutch?

 

better friction material. It's segmented, etc. It's a grabby SOB! I love it. Grip like a mother.

 

When the slave cylinder is in the bellhousing, it leaks, coats the clutch/pressure plate causing it slip, it definitely has something to do w/ a defective slave cylinder. All Rangers have the slave cylinder in that location, so I would say that is symptomatic for our trucks.

 

Well I do think I'll be replacing the clutch and slave soon, but as Ken stated, its just second gear that gives me a hard time... however it hasn't happened for the last two weeks now.

As for the slack in the clutch, its not bad at all. I can hold the truck in gear on a hill with only using about 25% of the pedal.

If the syncros are going bad, how can you tell? Also, how hard are they to replace, or do you need a new transmision?

 

they are not that hard.....all the syncros are in the top of the transmission under the top cover........

if you are going to go that far, i would do a complete rebuild.....you can get a rebuild kit for around $300 for these transmissions...

 

What's included in a rebuild kit?

By the way, I won't be doing any of this work, its going to a mechanic. I have no experience whatsoever with transmissions, other than draining and filling the fluid.

 

the rebuild kit consist of the input shaft, all the bearings, the syncros, and the seals......

 

[QUOTE=OTRtech]Quote:
my truck has to be forced into second gear by me throwing the shifter hard into gear.

That is not a slave cylinder problem.
The syncros are bad .
If the slave is going you would have a hard time shifting into FIRST gear while sitting still.[/QUOTE

yes i know that i had to drive my truck about 50 miles to get me home when it went out. you have to start your truck in first gear or reverse to go the way you want to go then after that its hard to shift. when you come to a red light you have to cut the truck off. then i replaced my slave and i was telling him that its not a good idea to drive it long like that bc he will mess up the syncros like i did and now i have to ram it into second gear everytime now. but when your slave is out then yes every gear is rough

 

ya down shifting is the easy part

 

you can tell they are bad if you have the clutch to the floor and you are gettin ready to go into second from first for example and it grinds or is hard to get into gear. like mine it only does it when i go to second. every other gear is fine.