I recently noticed that my truck was getting harder and harder to shift so I decided to replace the whole kit and kaboodle. Slave, pressure plate, clutch, flywheel, pilot bearing and rear main seal. Once I got it all done the truck was shifting much smoother but over the last month or so I’ve noticed that it’s getting really hard to shift again so I replaced the master. Probably should’ve done it when I did everything else but whatvever. It shifts fine when cold but once it warms up (I have a 25 mile drive to work) it’s almost impossible to shift into any gear. I have to smash it into first and then just float the rest. Reverse grinds. The pedal doesn’t feel spongy, it doesn’t slip or anything it’s just getting it into and shifting gears. I’ve read that it might be that the clutch isn’t disengaging properly but what does that mean? Did I not do something correctly when I replaced everything? The input shaft on the tranny felt a little bit wobbly but it’s a 95, I didn’t expect it to be perfect. It doesn’t leak fluid and everything seems to be normal. I’m at a loss and any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum

First a bit of "how it works"
The rear wheels are connected full time to the transmission's output shaft, there is no disconnect
The clutch disconnects the engine from the transmission's input shaft

To put the transmission into ANY gear(except Neutral, lol) the input shaft and output shaft RPMs must match
When you are stopped with engine idling at say 750rpms, the output shaft is at 0rpms
So to put the transmission into ANY gear the input shaft must slow down to 0rpms

When you press down the clutch pedal the slave expands and pushes in the pressure plates springs(fingers) which pulls the pressure plate back away from the Flywheel, which releases the clamping pressure on the clutch disc
The flywheel and pressure plate always spin at engine RPMs
The clutch disc is attached to the input shaft

So when stopped with clutch pedal down the clutch disc must slow down to 0 rpms from 750rpms, to match output shaft rpms
If there is any rubbing..........................well the clutch disc can't slow down to 0rpms
This usually indicates air in the hydraulic clutch system, i.e. slave is not expanding far enough to release the clamping pressure fully
Less likely is bad pilot bearing, its outside is always at engine RPMs and its inside supports input shaft and needs to slow down to 0rpms

Your transmission has synchromesh on all gears, even reverse
Synchromesh is a softer metal "gear" that is pushed against the selected gear to RPM MATCH the input shaft to output shaft
But its only 4" diameter and it has to slow down(or speed up) the 10" clutch disc
So don't "slam" the shifter, push on it gently to try and RPM MATCH that gear with clutch disc

When driving its usually easier to RPM Match

Having to force shifter into a gear usually means clutch issue not transmission issue

Try gravity bleeding clutch system
Remove clutch reservoir cap and pull out the "black cup", make sure there is fluid in it(be careful where you put the cap and "cup", the fluid EATS paint)
Go under the truck and put a pan down, open the bleeder, fluid should flow out, slowly, with NO AIR bubbles seen, close bleeder
Test clutch pedal, reservoir cap can stay off, start engine, see if it goes into gear any better

The cold and warm thing is odd, hopefully you didn't get a heavy duty or "racing" clutch disc, these have a material that gets sticky when warmed up for faster engagement, but suck in daily driving, lol


One of the better inventions is the Self Adjusting Pressure Plate(SAC), I recommend these for Rangers, well any vehicle that doesn't have an exterior clutch adjustment
They only cost a little more than regular pressure plate but are way more tolerant in hydraulic systems for disengage and engage

 

Thank you very much for the reply, when I initially replaced everything I bled the system but I must’ve allowed air in somewhere. After gravity bleeding today (about 2 1/2 reservoirs worth) it shifts flawlessly. I can feel the clutch disengaging much farther up when I release the clutch pedal so I must’ve had a bunch of air in the slave. Again, thanks for the reply. I’m still a shade tree/youtube certified mechanic and have a lot to learn.