My daughter's 1989 Ranger (2.3 L engine, 5-speed manual) has been giving her trouble -- extremely odd for this vehicle. Several days ago, she had a very hard time shifting. When she got home, I checked the clutch fluid resevoir. I couldn't even see the level, so I refilled it to the proper level and could here the air bubbles cming out of the hose. That seemed to do it. Two days later, the same thing happened, except that she couldn't get the transmission to go into gear at all. Checking the fluid level again, I had to refill it. Would low fluid level cause the shifting problems? The truck has been well maintained, and NEVER abused. And it appears that the hose from the resevoir is leaking, explaining where the fluid is going. Would this cause the problems she's had? Thanks, folks, in advance! Dan

 

Time to change the slave cylinder.Throw in a new clutch while you're in there.You have to pull the transmission to do it.

 

Has a fairly new clutch, less than 50K miles. Never done this before -- much of an SOB to do?

 

The slave is mounted in the bell housing of the trans.You have to pull the trans back in order to change it as it is around the input shaft.a bit of a PITA.
Being that is an 89 you may also consider changing the master. Bench bleed it first before installing.