Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Clutch slave cylinder?

[9 Lives]

my 98 12 valve 5 speed gave out on me the other day when coming up to a stop sign. Clutch went to the floor board and had nothing left... couldn't get the truck in or out of gear.



So we put a slave cylinder on it and what we can't figure out now is why the pedal still goes to the floor but it will let you get it in and out of gear but not without a struggle?? #@$%! The clutch will disengage at about 1" off the floor board and you have to struggle with the shifter to get it in and out of gear. Im trying to figure out if we did something wrong? or if there is a massive amount of air in the line seeing that we took the reservoir off to get the lines down to the under side of the truck. The reservoir has the proper amount of fluid so I guess I can rule that out.



The pedal is easy enough to push down with your hand until you get to the last 3" or so towards the floor board.

 

[9 Lives]

It's going into gear alot better now that I re-routed the slave away from the steering shaft. Although the clutch has to be nearly to the floor to shift... . it's a little different than im used to. Is this normal? before the slave went out the clutch would be 3/4 the way off the floor before it would engage/disengage

 

[Missouri Mule]

9 Lives, Did you bleed the clutch fluid when you installed slave cylinder?

 

[9 Lives]

sure did not. I had done a search and didn't find much for my vehicle make & model on this site. So I checked and found some info on a 24 valve
From what I read the guys said that they sat there and just pumped the clutch pedal for a while until all of the air had come out.

What is the best way to do this?

 

[KevinH]

it's a sealed unit i don't believe there is any way of bleeding it. mine wouldn't engage until the pedal was almost all of the way out and wouldn't disengage until i pressed it all the way to the floor

 

[hcole]

my 98 12 valve 5 speed gave out on me the other day when coming up to a stop sign. Clutch went to the floor board and had nothing left... couldn't get the truck in or out of gear.



So we put a slave cylinder on it and what we can't figure out now is why the pedal still goes to the floor but it will let you get it in and out of gear but not without a struggle?? #@$%! The clutch will disengage at about 1" off the floor board and you have to struggle with the shifter to get it in and out of gear. Im trying to figure out if we did something wrong? or if there is a massive amount of air in the line seeing that we took the reservoir off to get the lines down to the under side of the truck. The reservoir has the proper amount of fluid so I guess I can rule that out.



The pedal is easy enough to push down with your hand until you get to the last 3" or so towards the floor board.

I did a quick search and could not locate an old post about the gasser slave cylinder being a different stroke from the cummins. I do recall a guy making this mistake as he was given the wrong part across the counter and it acted the same as you are describing. Maybe you can do a better search than I did. Hope this helps.

 

[Champane Flight]

Manual

According to manual, the master and the slave should be replaced as a unit. Fluid added on assy. If there was a way to add a tee to the line near the slave you could bleed there... Ideally put a bleeder on the slave from an old brake caliper?

 

[Missouri Mule]

9 Lives, got this from a thread on the 2nd gen (no engine or trans)a while back .



Un-bolt slave cylinder, take lid off resivour, have a person watch the resivour.



Go under truck and slowly push the slave rod in and let out very slowly until person on top side can not see any more bubbles.



It will probably take ten time of pushing in and lettting out. Bolt slave cylinder back in and put lid back on resivour.

 

[9 Lives]

ill give that a try.

 

[GCroyle]

Worth a try.

When you have the S/C out, let it hang down, and try to create a path for air bubbles to flow UP and not stay trapped in the S/C. Push the push rod in, let it come back slowly let the bubbles work their way up up, possibly let it hang like this overnight.



Somebody needs to try this next tip and let me know if if it works.



We own a 2005 Mustang GT. When we change the clutch the S/C gets disconnected every time, NO BLEED SCREW, INTERNAL S/C, CANNOT REPOSITION IT! The Ford manual says to apply VACUUM to the top of the M/C (this is completely dry bleeding, you DO NOT touch the fluid) we put a rubber stopper on it, copper tubing through it, vinyl tubing to the vacuum source, apply vacuum for 10-15 minutes, disconnect all, push the pedal and we go from NO clutch to 2-3 strokes and FULL clutch action.



It amazed us when we did it.

 

[JGK]

9Lives,



Next time you have the slave unbolted from the housing, reach in the hole with your fingers or a pair of needle nose pliers and grab the end of the release fork (it'll look like a pocket for the end of the rod in the S/C) and check it for fore/aft play. It should not be tight but have a little movement, maybe as much as 1/2" or more fore and aft. If its tight, then you have some preload on the release levers on the clutch. That's not good but its contrary to what your experiencing. If there's a LOT more, then that might be at least part of your problem. The fork is having to be pushed a long way to release the clutch. I'm unsure what would be causing it.



On another note, if you decide to replace the whole clutch actuator assembly, consider getting the heavy duty one from SouthBend Clutch. They are about the same price as a new one from the dealer but the slave is much more robust, plus the linkage at the pedal is adjustable!



FWIW:

-Jay

 

[GCroyle]

Fork Position

When you remove the slave, the fork is free to move back and float on the guide tube. There should not be any preload on it because when you remove the slave, you remove the preload that the slave provides.