Trouble bleeding the cluch

[rmcilvaine]

Hi,

My son has a 94 Ranger 3.0 liter with a manual transmission. We replaced the clutch, slave cylinder w/ throw out bearing and the clutch master cylinder. I've done this before on my 91 ranger with no problems. On this ranger, I cannot get the air out of the system. We've run three reservoirs of brake fluid through it and still have no movement of the slave cylinder.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get this done?

[bychance ford]

i had the 2.3 litre and changed all those things,and tried bleeding it for days,it turned out that i needed the hydraulic line too.i could only get it at ford,it was $50 if i remember--couple years ago.as soon as i replaced it--magic.couple times and it was bled.it drove me nuts,you can't tell it is leaking by looking at it.

[bychance ford]

i am not sure if my reply went through,i am not getting the right process down but,i said i had the same problem couple years ago,changed everything you did on my 2.3 '94 ranger.tried bleeding it for days so as to last resort replaced the hydraulic line,can only get it from ford,and that did the trick.it bled in no time,a few minutes. i had not replaced it because it was kind of pricey and i saw no evident leak in it.but it was the culprit.

[rmcilvaine]

Hi all,

I'm still having trouble. I really could use some of your expertise here. Has anyone heard of the need to bench bleed the master cylinder before connecting everything up?

[bychance ford]

everyone kept saying to bench bleed it,but i did not and had no trouble when i replaced my faulty line from the master to the slave.it was different to bleed than brakes.you push the pedal all the way to the floor THEN open the bleeder.then it blows some air out and then tighten it.thenyou let the clutch up and do it a few more times.i did put a small hose from the bleeder valve into a jar with fluid already in it,so you can see when bubbles stop.i actually did this process by myself with a breaker bar jammed from my drivers seat to the clutch pedal.in case you have no helper.but just to restate,leave the bleeder vavle closed till the pedal bottoms out,then open the valve for a second and then close it before you let the clutch back up.i hope it works,i'm not a pro but i am learning from trial and error and never had a problem with the clutch again.

[mitchell1204]

I'm sure alot of us ran into this problem with Ranger clutch slave cylinders.

I've done the same and bled and bled. One thing you have to remember, this is not like brake bleeding with multiple lines. You can pretty much freeflow the system. But the location of the bleeder valve doesn't seem to let that last air bubble out.

I know this sounds corny and stupid, lol, but just try to drive it if you can start it in 1st. A hill helps, lol. I've run across this problem maybe 5 times in my life and driving it got what little bit of air or whatever out of the way. All of a sudden you have clutch pressure. Something about that throw out bearing turning against it. Worked every time to the point of that's how I handle them Rangers/Bronco's.

I wish I knew the physics of it. I'd say the shop vacuum bleeds it. Air rises and if the bleeder valve is not at the highest point, a bubble will trap.

Once I did a brake job on a 90's model Tbird. I could not get the brakes to bleed. I scratched my head for days on that one. Replaced the whole system, including the lines. Still would not bleed out. Laying under there frustrated, I seen an "L" on the caliper. Wait a minute....lol, the guy at the auto parts store pulled the calipers out to show me and put the left and right back in the wrong boxes. I knew they were marked before hand. I just didn't pay attention to his error.

The only difference in them was the location of the bleeder valve. About a 1/4 inch lower if you try to reverse them.

Replacing lines is usually when the inside deteriorates and acts like a check valve with the bits and pieces of lining. It will more leave the piston extended (froze) than prevent the bleeding process.