Clutch/Transmission Problem

98 Ford Ranger XLT, 3.0L V6, Manual Transmission

Ok so here's the skinny. For about the past 2 weeks every time I would engage the clutch, I would hear rattling and clanging, which would intensify as I disengaged the clutch to start the vehicle moving. When I would come to a stop and put it into 1st gear, the shifter would vibrate and shake uncontrollably for a few seconds and then start the clanging and rattling of the clutch again. Then a couple of days ago as I came to a stop, I went to put it into first and I was locked out of every gear, so AAA came to the rescue :rolleyes:.

I had a mechanic friend come look at the truck and when he came and checked it out, everything was working again. He went under the truck and I just shifted from gear to gear until it locked me out again. He said that the slave cylinder was "doing its job" even though I was locked out. So to diagnose the problem, he took out the drive shaft (4x4), transfer case, tranny, clutch components, and the flywheel. The bearing inside the shaft on the tranny was completely destroyed, and I needed a new clutch anyways, but he doesn't feel that that was the only problem going on.

Has anyone had a similar problem to this, or have any ideas on what parts might be messing up?

Thanks for any info!

Did you get any info on your clutch problem. My son has the same problem. My mechanic told me it was definitely the clutch. There is so little tolerance for clutch wear that when they go out they may not look all that bad (when you take it out an look at it). Anyway, we are in the middle of replacing all the clutch parts and ran in to the problem of the hydraulic throwout bearing. It costs $314. I'm looking for the parts online.

I had the transmission "shaken down" and got the OK to put it all back together.

But yeah, i'm in the same boat with the throwout bearing. :shakehead

A worn throwout bearing would certainly cause those symptoms you described. They are constructed from plastic and melt if they get too hot. And they are costly boogers too.

I got my truck (1994 ford ranger 4x4 v6 automatic) about 6 months ago. A couple months after driving it the tranny went clear out. I spent about 150 dollars just getting it diognosed and the best deal I found was $1,400 with free towing, free instalation, and they also through in some free parts acording to my dad. I still think I paid a bit to much on getting it repaired considering I didn't pay that much for the truck itself. I was just wondering if anyone else thinks I paid to much or if it was a fair price. Also I have a set of futura tires on it, which I love, and I need two new tires, they are 31x10.5x15r.... i was wondering if anyone knew about how much those would cost...

Update!

After putting in a new clutch kit, (clutch, pilot bearing, throwout bearing, etc...)resurfacing the flywheel, and putting in a new slave cylinder, the problem persisted. Then came the master cylinder. After bleeding it for about an hour, the clutch still wouldnt gain pressure.

Turns out, the O ring around the connection at the slave cylinder from the master cylinder had cracked, and the smallest leak ever possible was happening, which explained the slow deterioration of the clutch performance.

In my knowledge and what I was told, the problem is as so...

Air in the line that pressurizes the clutch pedal, that won't let it engage to move the clutch off the transmission, therefore locking me out of gear sometimes, but going in at others when it gained enough pressure back.

If you are having this problem, check the master cylinder and all the parts leading from it to the slave cylinder for leaks... If i had done that, I wouldn't have had a week long headache!

:iceslolan