Frozen clutch?
 

Ok so today is my second day owning my ranger. I just went out to start it, first time since last night and It starts right up, but when I go to push the clutch in it feels like its frozen, It will not push all the way to the floor. I tried pumping it continuously and had alot of trouble getting into gear, and that is without pushing the clutch in all the way. I am in CT and it has been really cold over night, I think it was in the 20s last night? But will this happen every morning? If I let the truck warm up for like 10 minutes will that help? I let it warm up for about 5 while I cleaned the snow off. Is this normal?

Moisture in the line? Try bleeding it.

My clutch would sometimes stick. When I replaced it, I found the cause to be an overly worn out clutch (not friction material thickness, but over worked and over heated) and a scorched flywheel surface.

The owner before me rode the clutch instead of fixing the vacuum leak.

Well the clutch was fine all day yesterday, I was driving literally all day, I bought it on friday, and saturday It was fine when I started it up, the clutch worked fine, and I have put on 130 miles so far since I picked it up and the clutch seems to work fine. Im wondering if it was just too cold last night so the fluid in the clutchline is frozen?

The fluid in the lines wouldn't freeze. If you have moisture in there that would freeze. Try bleeding it and see if that helps like fddriver02 said.

how do I bleed it? Where is the bleed screw?

I have started my truck when it has been -15 outside and the pedal is hard to push down and it is hard to get in gear. I think it is because the fluid is so cold. I have never had any problems.

hmmm bad slave cylinder coming?

Hate to say it, but same thing happened last winter to my wife....slave was gone by August. If it repeats it this winter, get ready to do a clutch job....

Well I just finished bleeding the clutch line, and no improvement. My mouth and eyes are filled with break fluid and still no working truck. I am so pissed. I just bought this thing Friday I paid $7000! I emptied my bank account to get the truck, Now I have no money for the clutch repair. I am screwed, literally. Bleeding the line did nothing. I will tell you whats going on maybe you can tell me what i need and I will order the parts next paycheck and try to do it myself.
Last night I smelled something burning, but yesterday I put on a flowmaster 44 series (just swapped it with the original muffler, no catback duels or anything), so I thought it was that being broken in. I have put on 130 miles snce I bought it with no clutch problems, But as I posted before I bought it I asked if it was ok that the clutch grabbed really far out. And it did, but this morning went to start it up and the clutch would not go all the way to the floor, it goes about 3/4 of te way down, and I can FORCE it and i mean FORCE it to the floor, btu that doesnt help. I finally got it into nuetral and started it, let it run for a while. I have tried driving it around and it is very hard to get it into gear, If i push the clutch in about 1/4 of the way in and play with the stick I can get it into gear sometimes. While im driving if i give it alot of gas, instead of picking up speed, it just revs up really high and doesnt move any faster no matter what gear im in, also while Im driving i still cant push the clutch in all the way, even after I bled it. When I got back in my driveway I smelled a strong burning scent. What do you guys think? It must be something more than just bleeding it? It needs a new what? clutch? slave? master? flywheel? throwout bearing? Something else? What do you think? Mechanics around here will charge around 1200 and up to do a clutch and I have 30$ to my name, as i said i emptied out my account to get the truck. I dont have a backup car and I need to get to work to make money so I can fix my truck. I dont know what to do I called the guy I bought it from and he said it was fine when I bought it. ****!!!!! What should I do? I have a paycheck coming for about 300 or 400 that will be enought o order a a clutch and slave from clutch city, hopefully tht is all i need? And I have never done serious work to a car, I have changed oil, tranny fluid, radiators, alternator, and a battery but never tranny or engine work. I dont know if I could actually replace the clutch but I have no other option since I wont be making money that is needed to have a shop replace the clutch. I also have a loan out on the truck and I will need to make payment next month but wont be making money if i cant drive to work!!! Is there anyone in the area that can help me out in putting in a new clutch if I order it and I could throw you a couple hundred bucks when I get paid? Or maybe I could borrow some money from a friend to pay you? What do you guys think I am screwed right now.

Oh ya Im in Durham CT

Is this what I need?
http://www.clutchcityonline.com/products/07-167S.shtml
Is it cheaper anywhere else?

i dont think theres many CT members here. id love to help, but ive never done a clutch either. thankfully my mustangs clutch is ok still, and my trucks an auto.

If you can make it up to VT, (05086) I can help. Just did one on my wife's truck in AUG. Got a nice heated garage too. I did save my old clutch, it was in pretty good shape if you want to use it. The slave is the weak part, but it sounds like your clutch is toast also if it's slipping.

Yes, that is all you need.

It is a 4 hour drive, I would totally do that If my truck could make it all the way up there. Do you think I could make it? I can drive it and shift it but it gets stuck at stop signs and lights, and like i said I think while im driving its constantly stripping more and more because I dont think its fully engaged, since the engine revs up if i give it gas, without gaining any speed.

The slave is the real issue, a worn clutch should get you a few hundred miles...unless it's really bad. How bad is it when you press the gas hard?


How bad is the slave? Whne it goes, it goes. I went through two on the last Ranger, and both just died when they finally went. Fill the fluid, but if it dies it's going to be a PITA to get it far. People have driven clutches with bad slaves, but I wouldn't.

oh dude, this is definetly crappy. Did you buy the truck from a dealer? I hope you did,because there is a lemon law. Go in there first thing Monday morning and you either tell them straight up that they owe you all your money back IN FULL or that they foot the repair bill,because you have had the vehicle for less than one week.

I had a similar situation with my Cadillac. I bought it from a shady used car dealership in the city and I paid $6000 cash. The day I picked up the car, it wouldn't start. They charged the battery on the lot and I drove to work. Went to leave work that night and the battery was dead. Had to wait an hour for a tow truck to come boost me. $110 later,bought a new battery the next day. Rear air shocks were bouncing all over the place. One had a leak causing it to not hold pressure,so it kept trying to pump up and the back of the car would bounce and jolt all over bumps on the road. Parked the car on a hill and set the e-brake. Had to move the car so my dad could back his car out, so instead of starting the car,i just put the key in ON and popped it in neutral. The parking brake was set,but the car rolled back,meaning the parking brake didn't work.

I was pissed with all these problems so I went back to the dealer after having the car for about 9 days and I wrote them a letter saying how unhappy I was with the purchase, listed all the problems and wanted a complete refund upon returning the car to the dealer. However, the dealer wouldn't take the car back because I had gone over the 7 days, but they said they would pay for all the repairs to fix the car properly for me.

And you know what? They spent $2300 out of their own pocket to fix the car for me. They replaced both rear shocks, e-brake shoes (shocks alone were $360 each) and fixed the sunroof that was acting up on me as well.

From the sounds of it,your clutch is totally shot. If you're giving it gas,but it feels like its slipping or not gaining speed, you need a clutch job. When you get that apart, the clutch,slave,throw out bearing and flywheel should all be replaced. Go to the dealer first thing and do what I said. Doing some b1tching and threatening can really work wonders, especially right now with lots of people being in tough times. If the dealer foots the repair bill, you're all set.

Best of luck and sorry to hear about the problem. I can totally sympathize.

oh yeah, ontop of the $2300 the dealership spent to fix my car, they also paid me back the $110 I spent to buy the new battery.

Its not from a dealer, I bought it from a private seller and called him today and he said "well it was fine when you drove off with it"

and driving is not the real issue, I can go 65mph I just ave to slowly gas is to get up to speed without slipping, the problem is getting into gear from stop.

ohhh...not good. unfortunately since it was a private sale, you're pretty much out of luck on getting any assistance. It's just the age old adage of Buyer Beware.

It seems like you're pretty much screwed and have to perform the repairs out of your own pocket. However, you could be in the same situation had you bought any other vehicle,so this isn't a Ranger specific problem.

Before you bought the truck,did you have anyone else drive it? Did you get it inspected? Or did you just drive it and let the excitement of a new truck take over? I realize you came on here beforehand seeking advice and tips, which was great, as we all helped answer your questions and concerns. However, many of us,including myself told you that it seemed like it was having transmission problems.

Unfortunately I think you're going to have to make some sacrifices or find some money from family or friends so that you can repair the truck. If you paid cash and do not have monthly payments tacked onto your truck, then getting together the money from whatever sources you can so that you can take your truck to a mechanic and have it fixed properly and quickly is your best bet.

yup,it's your clutch. My clutch was so fried that I would have the clutch pushed right to the floor and I would have to fight with the shifter to get it into 1st gear. It would go into 2nd or 4th easily,but not into 1st or reverse. When I had everything taken apart, my slave and flywheel were good,but my clutch was just plain worn out with over 200 000 miles on it.

However, you need to spend the money on a slave because it is located inside the bellhousing. You may just get the clutch replaced now and not do th eslave, but the slave could fail a month later and the entire thing needs to come apart again just to replace the slave.:scared1:

Well someone offered me 800 cash for my quad, but that is my life!! I can afford the parts and try to do the repair myself and keep my quad, or sell the quad (which I have over 1800 into in the past half year) and have a shop do the repair.

sell the quad. you need money. you need to make sacrifices. selling the quad will give you cash in your hand. Cash that didn't come from a financial insritution with an interest rate attached to it. Take that $800 and run with it. You have a truck now. The more you hang out on this place, you'll start playing with the truck more than your quad. You need a reliable vehicle to get you to school and work. A truck does that. A quad doesn't.

would you reccomend trying to do it myself in the driveway, or bringing it to a small auto shop I have a local one that has one mechanic, they would probably be a lot cheaper than the ford dealership, but If I bring it to the ford dealership it would cost more but I would get a warranty on the clutch.