1994 2.3L - clutch fluid needs refill every month or so..poss leak? where to look?

[desimunda]

I followed the hoses that go from the cylinder that is located in the corner by the driver side. Nothing obvious and the small hose goes into the tranny seems like.

There is a wet spot towards the END of the tranny where the FILL plug is for the tranny. There is eight bolts there and seven on them are wet the whole back end is really 'wet' no drips just 'wet'.

is that tranny fluid OR is that the dot3 clutch fluid i am losing?? or neither?

[toddler62]

if its clutch fluid and its not leaking where you can see it its probably leaking at the slave cylinder inside the transmission. I believe the trany has to be pulled to replace it

[toddler62]

My 94 ranger 4.0 manual did develop a leak at the top of the tranny behind where shifter goes into it. There are 3 rubber plugs that push in towards the engine at the top of tranny. you can raise car and feel at top of tranny for this leak, you cant really see them but if you hand comes out with red ATF fluid this would be the problem. I pulled the plugs out, cleaned the area around them, put a bead of silicone around the plugs and stuck them back in, That was about 60k ago and they have'nt leaked since

[rhandwor]

Save your money as you need to pull the transmission you may as well do the whole job. Advance will quote a price for all parts so you are aware what it will cost.

[toddler62]

when the clutch plate needs replaced you might as well replace pressure plate throw out bearing slave cylinder and master cylinder all at once. because the big cost is in pulling the tranny out and puttting it back not the parts

[desimunda]

well i guess my best option here is to just keep topping off my clutch fluid eh?? but my question is where does it go? i don't see any leaks other than the wet spot at the end of the transmission where the 8 bolts are. is that the dot3 fluid? i'll try to post a pic soon since i am going to have the truck jacked for brakes today.

toddler : how did u know it was leaking there? was it dripping out on the road? i don't really know where ur asking me to check so just wondering....and if it was red fluid then ur losing transmission fluid right why would the clutch fluid(dot3) go down??

rhandwor: advance who? i'm in canada...is that a shop down in states?

[toddler62]

My transmission was leaking out of the top and working its way back getting most of rear of tranny wet with red ATF fluid before leaking in garage floor. You might not have this problem, you definitly are leaking clutch fluid if you keep putting it in. It might be sitting at bottom of manual tranny where you cant see it . i think the other guy is refering to a auto parts store when he said Advanced

[desimunda]

Originally Posted by toddler62

My transmission was leaking out of the top and working its way back getting most of rear of tranny wet with red ATF fluid before leaking in garage floor. You might not have this problem, you definitly are leaking clutch fluid if you keep putting it in. It might be sitting at bottom of manual tranny where you cant see it . i think the other guy is refering to a auto parts store when he said Advanced

well some of my tranny is wet too toddler and the back part where the fill and drain is for the tranny is the wettest but not leaking bad. now it doesn't really have a color to it so my wild guess is this could be the DOT3 fluid finding its way there somehow.

funny thing happened last weekend. ran out of clutch fluid lost clutch(sucked in air) completely....had to get towed...temporarily ok after bleeding and refilling but its still leaking and now i really have to fix it. I am going to investigate some and will post again.

[mkshootie]

I have the same issue with my 94 ranger. The clutch kept engaging lower and lower, until eventually I have the clutch was engaging ass soon as I took my foot off the floor. I added fluid and it "bandaided" the problem, this worked for a while. After about two years of bandaiding the problem, the resevoir stayed full and the clutch would not give any resistance. I relplaced the master cyclinder, and bleed the clutch. This lasted for about two days and the clutch started to lose resistance again. Does anybody have any idea what I should do next? Slave cyclinder? Clutch? Both?

[rhandwor]

Due to the labor cost either go to a good clutch rebuilder or a parts store buy the clutch,pressure plate and throw out bearing. They will grind the flywheel for you free if you buy the parts from them. Then buy a new slave cylinder I doubt the new master went bad in three days. If it did you don't need to pull the transmission to replace it. These are very hard to bleed make sure you don't just have air in it before starting.

[mkshootie]

Thanks for the quick reply. It took me forever to figure out how to bleed the clutch properly, and I am pretty sure I got it all. Just in case, I will bleed it again before dropping the tranny. I am also going to replace the hose that runs from the master cylinder to the slave cylinder. It doesn't appear to be leaking, but its my last hope before getting into the tranny. Do you know of anyplace that sells this hose? I tried a couple auto parts places, and they don't carry it. The ford dealership wants a hundred bucks for it.

[rhandwor]

Some parts stores that install new air conditioning hoses will put a new piece of high pressure hose on the tubing and install new clamps for you.
They are very leary of this as of the liability if they do a power steering hose.
You have to explain exactly what you are going to use the hose for. They do a proffessional looking job and the clamps look identical. This is the cheapest way to go and get a good job.

[inafogg]

hi desimunda if you cant see a leak check under the firewall where the master cyl. goes through.under the dash feel rod that connects the clutch pedal.at the firewall.you may have to pull down the carpet.if its wet the clutch master cylinder is leaking. good luck

[desimunda]

Originally Posted by inafogg

hi desimunda if you cant see a leak check under the firewall where the master cyl. goes through.under the dash feel rod that connects the clutch pedal.at the firewall.you may have to pull down the carpet.if its wet the clutch master cylinder is leaking. good luck

it was the slave cylinder man already replaced and all good to go now!
heres my replacement thread!

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...=1#post5012451