Mushy clutch?

Sep 25, 2007 3 Replies
H

This morning I noticed the clutch pedal on my 2001 Ranger (4.0 6cyl,



2WD) went all the way to the floor and would not disengage, leaving me stuck in reverse. (I park facing down on a sloped driveway). After a bit I was able to knock it out of gear and roll down the driveway, I let the truck warm up and tried again. This time I was able to get it into and out of gear smoothly, albeit the pedal was still soft and mushy. Checked fluid, full and no visible leaks. Any prognosis? Thanks.
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T

Time to bleed the clutch. Be forewarned it's a real bitch if air gets trapped in the master cylinder. If this happens I have a simple trick to force air out of the cylinder using a pump oiler. Post back if you have trouble, otherwise bleed it just as you would bleed brakes.

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H

Thanks, Tom. The way it feels, that seems to be the problem. Just out of curiosity, I called a Ford tech this morning. He told me, on the phone mind you, that they'd have to replace both cylinders at a cost of about $350. Never mentioned air in the lines!

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W

Question remains how did air get in the system? On your getting it out of gear problem, correct use of the parking brake, ie applied before letting weight of vehicle hit drive train would have made getting out of gear much easier.

Whitelightning

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