On my former truck, a '95 F150 4.9L, about two years ago at 160,000 miles, I had a new clutch and slave cylinder installed and then the pedal engaged just off the floor. There was no leakage in the hydraulics so they did not change out the master cylinder, but it would not engage in first gear when below 32 F until I drove it a while to get it warm. They shop said it would improve over time. Another shop said you have to shim the flywheel to make up for wear.
Finally I took it in and said to just put in a master cylinder and see what happens and the pedal then was fine. The mechanic looked at the old master cylinder and saw that the piston was not returning all the way back in it's bore, but was stopping about a half inch short. That apparently was fine for the old clutch, but no good for the new, thicker clutch.
Fast forward to today. I get the 2001 Ranger back from a new clutch and slave, and same thing, engaging right off the floor. Shop is trying to save me money and says that in their experience, these often improve after driving a few hundred miles or so.
Maybe some do improve. Maybe when the clutch is worn the master cylinder piston does not travel as far and the unused part of the bore gunks up. In the cases where the pedal improves with time/miles, the travel slowly increases with use (would then have to add fluid I would think), but in the cases where the pedal does not improve, like my '95 (which by the way I drove for about 10 months before getting a new master) the gunk must be too thick.
So, I'll drive the Ranger for now, it is totally driveable, just weird, and see what happens. I suspect I'll be going in for a new master cylinder before too long.
Both these trucks have the concentric slave cylinder. My '84 F150 had the slave on the outside of the bell housing and the original hydraulics went over 300,000 miles without any parts replaced, and I never even had the fluid bled. Side slave may be better or they just don't make them like they used to.
Finally I took it in and said to just put in a master cylinder and see what happens and the pedal then was fine. The mechanic looked at the old master cylinder and saw that the piston was not returning all the way back in it's bore, but was stopping about a half inch short. That apparently was fine for the old clutch, but no good for the new, thicker clutch.
Fast forward to today. I get the 2001 Ranger back from a new clutch and slave, and same thing, engaging right off the floor. Shop is trying to save me money and says that in their experience, these often improve after driving a few hundred miles or so.
Maybe some do improve. Maybe when the clutch is worn the master cylinder piston does not travel as far and the unused part of the bore gunks up. In the cases where the pedal improves with time/miles, the travel slowly increases with use (would then have to add fluid I would think), but in the cases where the pedal does not improve, like my '95 (which by the way I drove for about 10 months before getting a new master) the gunk must be too thick.
So, I'll drive the Ranger for now, it is totally driveable, just weird, and see what happens. I suspect I'll be going in for a new master cylinder before too long.
Both these trucks have the concentric slave cylinder. My '84 F150 had the slave on the outside of the bell housing and the original hydraulics went over 300,000 miles without any parts replaced, and I never even had the fluid bled. Side slave may be better or they just don't make them like they used to.
