TheLWord

I bought my ford ranger from a friend of a friend nine days ago. It is a manual 5 speed 4 x 4 that had 82,000 miles. He sold it to me for 6,200 and the truck was sweet...for the first five days... then i had trouble getting it into reverse, it was grinding a bit. This is my first standard, but I knew enough to be worried. I asked one of my co-workers to have a look and he thought the clutch felt ok, so I drove it home and the next morning I had trouble again with reverse. I asked a different guy to try it and he said right off the bat, you need a new clutch. My clutch is hydraullic so he said maybe it is just a slave cyllinder... the fluid was a little low and we topped it off and drove it to the mechanic. On the way there I noticed I was having trouble getting it into first gear. I left it at the mechanic friday and when I called him he said the truck seemed 'bound up" and he mentioned an adjustment or a problem with my transmission. He said he'd let me know Monday, so... I'm worried. Do any of you have any ideas on this? I've only had this truck a week, but I hadn't driven much standard before it. Could I have majorly messed up my new baby? Help!

MajiK

iv got the same prob with my 93' for the reverse thing put it in first with the clucth pressed then go in reverse and get up the clutch its will be ok! (its stop your primary train to turn and then you can put it in reverse) secondly i have a new clutch and sometime its hard to put in one too...so i think its mainly air in clutch system =| but havnt figured yet ...lets me know if you notice anything else

dvaut

I would try bleeding the hell out of the clutch system. Takes two guys. One to pump and one to bleed. Do it about 30 times--I'm not kidding. If it fixes the problem great. but if you notice that the clutch starts to fade if you keep the pedal in for a long time you have a leaky cylinder. doesn't have to actually leak, just get around the cup. If you pump your clutch and it clears the flywheel and you can shift you know that you have a leaking cylinder (don't know which one). It’s a lot easier to overhaul the master. You don't have to drop any major component.

augieo

I've been told that the Clutch Mechanism on the Manual transmission Ford Rangers can be a bit pesky to get all the air out of the system. A transmission guy told me the only way to get it all out is to put the vehicle on a steep angle then bleed the hydrolics. I had a problem similar to what you describe and was told I needed a clutch etc for about $800+ I went elsewhere and got it bled for about $30. That was at about 60,000 miles ago, I now have 120,000 still the same clutch. Also at times shifting can be hard like you describe when the synchro's start to wear. When I have trouble shifting I just go to 4th gear then it'll go into whatever I need. Minimized the problem by shifting down and leaving it in gear (clutch depressed) rather than nuetral when stopped. In other word shifting only while moving. Hope this helps.

kblast523

I have a 1992 4.0 5 speed. I have owned two other Rangers, a 1986 2.0 4 speed, and a 1990 2.3 5 speed. All three had hydraulic clutches. If the clutch is not properly bled, it will not properly open the clutch discs, and make it nearly impossible to engage reverse or first. My 1986 was the hardest on clutches...one every 70K. The 1990 had 42K on it when I got it in 1994. It made 92K before it needed a clutch. The 1992 was a junk yard refugee, but had its first clutch at 112K. Mow with 145K no problems. Bleed that puppy...make sure its not leaking.

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K. B. Eric Riddle

Frgsn27

i have a 97 ford Ranger 4.0 v6 5 speed and i had the same problem and i talked to some people and they told me it was the cluth so i replaced the cluth plate, pressure plate, new flywheel, slave cyl, and bleed the hell out of prolly 50 times went through a ton of fluid and i still have the same problem good clutch but still grinds sometimes, i even had the tranny rebuilt not because of the grinding but a broken out put shaft and that still didnt do the trick, well anywas what i was getting at is the guy that rebuilt the tranny said that he hears about the grinding alot and he told me he thinks its just the way the trannys were built and the clutches are set up, but if anyone finds a solution please inform me of it thanks.