# JRs first truck



## ozzy42 (May 10, 2010)

Tell me what you guys think.

Went and picked up my sons first truck with a car hauler today.
Here's the situation.


1998 ford ranger ext cab v6 4wd 90,000 or so on the odo.

Swapped out about 6hrs of lite tree work [just the boy and me]



Anyway got the truck from the diceased owners mother.
Truck starts and runs good,cold ac seems decent enough.
Does not move at all when clutch is engaged.Can put shifter in all gears with engine running and clutch pedal released.
I was told thet the driver was able to limp it home in 4 low[or so she thinks]

We are hoping it is just a clutch that got fried,but my question is this:

Are their regular problems with the 5sp trannies ,and,or the transfer cases that we may run into that could be the problem?


I know my way around a motor ,and clutch,but all I have ever done with trannies is change them out.Too many little parts in them for me.


----------



## loadthestove (May 10, 2010)

Have heard a few complaints about clutch problems but cannot remember anyone speaking of trans or transfer case problems.owner probably drove around using clutch pedal as a foot rest until he destroyed clutch..


----------



## Damon (May 11, 2010)

The clutches in these rangers are notorius for having leaky seals in the slave cylinder in the tranny the easiest way to find out if this is what it is is to open the hood and on the drivers side there is a small white cup with a black lid if there is not fluid in it add some and then bleed the clutch the procedure goes as follows make sure you have a full container of brake fluid you will need it eventually!!

1 fill the cup with brake fluid and push the clutch down and hold it 
2 have your son climb under the truck and on the tranny there is a bleeder screw near where the hydraulic line enters it takes an 8mm wrench when he cracks it he will see air and fluid shoot out which will probabley go all over him,
dont tell him this it will be better experience for him to get a little dirty : P 
3 then he will close the bleeder and you will realease the clutch
4 repeat the process untill the fluid squirts out clear with no air you can do about 10 bleeds per adding of fluid so you can do quite a bit before having to add more fluid

this will probabley get him up and going however the problem will recur eventually in college i had a ranger with this problem and every 3000 milles i would bleed it wether or not it needed it whne i had the oil changed, eventually he will get so he will know when it is starting to loose pressure and pull over and add fluid with no bleeding necessary 

Hope this helps for a kid on a budget 10 dollars worth of brake fluid and a 2 dollar wrench is much better then a 1000 dollar clutch job however if you do opt for the clutch job eventually be sure to replace the slave cylinder at the same time, likewise if he needs a new oil pan for any reason they will have to drop the tranny and make sure they put one in then 

If you have any questions about the procedure feel free to PM me i have owned 6 rangers and have WAY to much experience doing this : )


----------



## ozzy42 (May 12, 2010)

Damon said:


> The clutches in these rangers are notorius for having leaky seals in the slave cylinder in the tranny the easiest way to find out if this is what it is is to open the hood and on the drivers side there is a small white cup with a black lid if there is not fluid in it add some and then bleed the clutch the procedure goes as follows make sure you have a full container of brake fluid you will need it eventually!!
> 
> 1 fill the cup with brake fluid and push the clutch down and hold it
> 2 have your son climb under the truck and on the tranny there is a bleeder screw near where the hydraulic line enters it takes an 8mm wrench when he cracks it he will see air and fluid shoot out which will probabley go all over him,
> ...





Thanks.
Good advice on the hyd. throwout bearing as we will be installing everything new when we take the tranny out.It's too labor intensive to scimp on parts that will bite you in the ass down the road.

However

The symptoms of a faulty t.o.b. would be the oppisite of what we have with this truck.
A bad t.o.b. would prevent one from putting the truck in gear when runningas the clutch drive plate would not dis-engage from the pressure plate.Would get nothing but grinding.

This truck is going into all gears with engine running while clutch pedal is relaxed.
A sign that either the clutch drive is severely damaged [not driving the input shaft] or the input shaft is broken and not engaging the tranny.

Of course there is the possibility that the t.o.b. is stuck in the open [expanded position],but I have never seen that happen .


I am guessing at this point that the driver dumped the clutch at high rpm,or as loadthestove mentioned had a habbit of riding the clutch.


Probably gonna tear into it this Sunday and see whats going on . 


Thanks for the replies.


----------

