>> > If you have to pump it, you probably have air in the hydraulics, or a
>> > bad
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
> So I guess I need to take it in and say that the pressure plate and the
> flywheel. Do you know how much something like that would run?
It all depends on where you live, my friend. Understand that the
transmission has to be dropped completely. While you're there, the clutch
plate, slave cylinder, etc., all have to be removed. As someone else said,
now's the time to do replace everything between the engine and transmission.
Clutch plate, slave cylinder, maybe flywheel depending on condition, etc.
It's not an extremely technically challenging job, but it can be done wrong
by someone who is careless or ignorant. Find someone reputable to do it. I
live 10 miles from the White House, and everything's expensive here. A job
like yours is one I'd take to a good mechanic near my parents home in WV
because the labor charges are literally half as much.
If it's any consolation, the clutch on my 1997, 2.3, 5 speed, 110k mile
Ranger has acted goofy once or twice too. Thankfully all that was last
summer and it's still going a year later. I know I'll need to do the same
job one of these days tho.
CJB
I. Care - 11 Aug 2006 18:04 GMT
> <SNIP>
>
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> CJB
I had this exact (I think) same problem just recently. 1995 Ranger,
4cyl, MT, 35,000mi. I could depress the clutch pedal and when releasing
it it would stick and not come back up. I could press really hard
several times and the clutch pedal would pump up until it was jammed at
the top and could not be pressed in again. The clutch would be
completely disengaged from the transmission, i.e. shift to any gear you
want but it goes nowhere.
I stomped so hard trying to get it to release I broke the plastic rod
connecting the clutch pedal to the master cylinder. Course you can't
just replace the rod, needs a whole new master cylinder. I told the
dealer I thought the slave cylinder was binding and it needed to be
replaced also, so I wouldn't have to pay another towing bill when it
failed. They told me they were "experts", it was a problem with the
master cylinder, they had road tested it thoroughly and it was
definitely fixed. $350+
Since I only use the truck every couple of weeks to do garden stuff, 2
months later guess what happened? You guessed it, it failed again with
a heavy load in the back (heavy for me to lift) and it cost another $80+
to get it towed again. Of course since the new master cylinder wasn't
at fault the work warranty didn't cover paying my towing bill. After 15
min of talking with the "service advisor" and "mechanic" who was going
to work on it they decided to discuss the problem with the "lead tech".
The lead tech's comment....of course it's the slave cylinder that's a
common failure mode for the symptoms I described. $600+ later I had a
new improved slave cylinder that was covered with a rubber boot to keep
out the dust. I examined the old part and it looked to me like the open
plastic slave cylinder assy with throw-out bearing got full of dirt and
was binding.
Bottom line, it's been working fine for a couple of months.
Thanks for reading my story. You need a new "improved" slave cylinder.

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