I have a 2000 Ford Ranger Sport, 2.5L engine and 5 speed manual transmission. About 2 or 3 years ago, the slave cylinder in my transmission went out. So my dad and I took the transmission out to replace that small part. It was pretty ridiculous to do all that work for such a small part. Before it went out, it had been driving great. Gears shifted beautifully and the clutch worked great. After we installed the new slave cylinder, the personality of the truck had changed. It didn't shift as great as before. Every now and then the clutch will just refuse to disengage at all, making my truck immobile for a short time. Then it'd be back to normal as if nothing was wrong. Now the problem is it won't start normally. I would press the clutch pedal until it would stop and start it up. But now I have to press the pedal as hard as I can just to make it start. Sometimes it would take a couple tries before starting. My dad suggested that I bleed out the hydraulic system in the clutch and add more to see if it would work. We did this 2 or 3 times after replacing the slave cylinder and the reservoir has always been full. I'm stumped on what to do with it. Sometime later at the end of the summer, I'm trading it with my dad's 2002 ranger because I'll be moving away and need a dependable vehicle. Is it worth going through all the trouble or is it something I could fix myself? I want to avoid transmission shops because of $$$. Any advice or help is appreciated.

 

Whenever I do the slave, I do the master also. Also double check your work. If there was air in the lines, you wouldn't have any pedal or very little pedal. It kind of sounds like the springs in your pressure plate are on the way out. Did you use a quality replacement slave or the el cheapo one?