Hello All,

I have been having a tough time getting the 2005 2.3 2x4 ranger into first gear for a long time and I am so sad that I will likely have to change out the slave cylinder to resolve it.
It has 100k and I drive it very gently. I have never had to change a clutch in my life other than failing internal slave cylinders.

So far I changed the shift bushings, Not hard to do but did nothing that I could notice.
Pulled out the master cylinder and bench bled it like the internet says.
Gravity bled the slave cylinder.
It felt better but once everything got warmed up the same hard into first.

So now I am thinking that I will replace the master cylinder with one of those pre bled ones on rockauto and just hope that resolves it.
If not then I will have to take it in to put a clutch and slave in there.

I would try to do it but I have done a clutch in a wrangler last year and I just don't think I want to go through that again,

I am thinking that it should not be too expensive for a shop as it books about 4.3 hours.

I love my little ranger but this clutch system is BS.

Thanks all for listening.

BOB

 

Often the problem is not technically the slave but the pressure plate

The SAC(self adjusting clutch) pressure plates cost a but more but they keep the pressure plate the same throw distance as the clutch disc wears down.

And then there is the line from master to slave, as it gets older it will expand a bit when under pressure, so you won't get full expansion of the slave to disengage the clutch disc

And 3rd is the pilot bearing, this would generally make a noise as it wears out when clutch pedal is pushed down all the way
The pilot bearing allows the clutch disc and input shaft to slow down to 0 RPMs while the flywheel/crank continues spinning at 750RPMs
The Input shaft must match the RPMs of rear wheels for you to shift into any gear, and when stopped thats 0 RPMs

That' what can make any manual trans hard to shift in to 1st when stopped
The pressure plate must release all pressure on the 9" to 10" clutch disc so it and the input shaft can slow down to 0 RPMs
So any air in the system means ALL pressure is not released, disc is rubbing on flywheel or pressure plate so the 4" synchro gear(in trans) has a hard time slowing down the 9/10" disc to 0 RPMs

With external slaves you could adjust for most system issues without repairing them, lol
So they were better in that respect, but you did need to swap external slaves more often, although it was easier to do

Internal slaves should last the life of the clutch disc, probably longer, but just best to replace them when you do a new clutch because they are hard to get to

Not sure why you are having the slave issues, have have had quite a few Rangers over the years, all manuals, and never had a slave failure
I believe you have, just saying thats not my experience with these internal slaves

 

Thank you for your detailed answer. It helps explain things.
I would think that the OE is the self adjusting clutch. If I have to change it out I will put in a self adjusting one.
I just can't think that I would ware out a clutch. I drive very slow and easy and have never wore out a clutch on any vehicle I ever owned. As a younger person I would not have a car that was below 125K and still would put 100K on the car without any clutch issues.
Maybe after 15 years the old ranger just needs some love.
Overall it has been a very reliable and cheap to own car. The only item that ever failed was the fuel pump.

Thank for your help.

Bob

 

I was thinking a bit more of your explanation.
Is it possible that the pressure plate tension can just ware out over time and not necessarily miles.
Being that the truck is not driven too much but is 15 years old anything that maintains tension, such as a spring, is susceptible to fatigue.

Bob

 

It's possible but never heard of that type of failure and symptom would be a slipping clutch, so easy to get into 1st when stopped

Hard to get into 1st when stopped is always clutch disc rubbing, or pilot bearing not allowing input shaft to spin freely, well slow down to 0 RPMs

 

Well I may have gotten lucky at least once in my life.



I changed out the master cylinder and the problem has reduced 90 percent. There a little bit of resistance going into first by nothing like it was. This I can live with.



Thanks for the help.



Bob

 

Good work

Thanks for the update

 

yes the slave is literal bullshit. Not sure who was in charge of designing the trans, but they need to be kicked in the ***** for that bonehead design

 

Just as a tidbit of info

Springs/things designed as springs will not "wear out" when fully compressed and left in that state for a long time. There is an old wive's tale surrounding ammunition magazines, "don't leave them loaded, you'll wear the springs"

The constant compression/decompression of sprung material is what wears them out.