Sorry If I've posted in the wrong spot. Have not been on site in awhile. I've got 2 Rangers with the same problem . A 1995 & a 1996 3.2L 5 speed. In summer when hot (90's) and humid (sticky) here in Kentucky the clutch will hang-up when the whole truck heats up and run for awhile! Let them sit 45 min. to an hour and they'll start to work good enough to get home! The 95 will work if you pull the inspection rubber of the bellhousing and spray the shaft good with WD. Usually lasts for a month or so till summer is gone. Been doing it for at least 15 yrs.! The 96 is new ( less than 12,000 miles) and looks it! Took it out today for the first real run. Same thing! Got it home pulled the plug different looking inside. Spray the WD, no help! Let it sit couple hours, works fine in the driveway. Anyone got any ideas/fixes for a cure? I've heard that heat expansion or slit rust causes this. Because the hydraulic clutch shaft and trans center shaft have very close clearances! Thanks for any help, Mike.

 

Welcome back to the forum

"Clutch hangs up" ?????

What does that mean?

Can you not shift gears, or can't get it into 1st when stopped?

When you let up on clutch pedal in gear does the truck not move?


There is no hydraulic clutch shaft?

Input shaft on transmission is what clutch disc is connected to and it spins in the Pilot bearing which is inside crank shaft end.
But problem there would make a noise.

Spraying any lubricant into the bell house would just make the clutch disc slip and wear out faster

In hot temperatures I could see the hydraulic hose from the Master to the slave getting soft, so it is expanding when you press down on the pedal, not transferring all the fluid to the slave, so clutch doesn't always disengage, i.e. hard to get into gear and hard to shift in general

Hold onto the hose and have someone pump the pedal, it should NOT expand

 

It sounds like the clutch disc is somehow binding on the transmissions input splines and opening the inspection hole and spraying WD40 on it, temporarily clears this up.
Possible contamination on the splines from a leaky slave cylinder or front trans seal, but that would eventually show other symptoms. Like low master cylinder fluid or low trans oil...
And why that would worse when it was hot out ?

This is what I'm reading Ron.

That, and or the needles bearings in the crank are shot and binding when it gets hot.
Hard to say what's going on...

 

Ron,pushing the pedal in the clutch disengages. Shifter works fine. Releasing the pedal the clutch does not reengage! (hung-up) It may pop out in a few seconds or an hour, when things cool down. If the engine is running and shifter in gear truck jumps and usually stalls. The hyd. clutch unit slides into the clutch fingers and releases the disc. It rides on the trans shaft. That's where the clearence issue is suppose to be. The whole thing is exposed on the 95'. That's where the WD-40 is sprayed and works through the heat wave. The 96' seems to have what looks like a plastic sleeve over most of the shaft. WD-40 appears to work there also .Just takes time to seep in. Jeff you're off on all your ideas. Mike.

 

"The hyd. clutch unit".... thats the Slave and throwout bearing

Carry a Clutch bleeder wrench with you and next time it happens see if there is pressure in the slave by opening the bleeder.
There should be no pressure with clutch pedal up.

Brake fluid used in the clutch system should be DOT3 or better, if there is contamination then heat can expand a less heat resistant fluid, causing slave to stay open too much so pressure plate is not fully released.

If there is pressure in the slave then Quick connect fitting or Master is the problem, assuming fluid is all DOT3 brake fluid

Its possible the pressure plate is sticking just never ran into that problem, on any vehicle

 

Ron, I'll try bleeding the slave unit although i don't believe there is pressure there. Still thinking its a clearance problem when all the parts expand from the excessive heat. My Ford mechanic mentors tell me this is a common problem with standard tran. pickups from the 90's. One of them gave me a can of a spray lube similar to WD-40 but it forms a jell instead of evaporating. That's the cheap fix! Otherwise it's a complete teardown to polish all the surfaces and reassemble with a special 'neversieze'. THANKS FOR YOUR THOUGHTS, mike.

 

I have a standard, and it has gotten hot here, maybe not as humid, and I don't have your problem.
I think you have a dirty master cylinder with a faulty check valve that's not allowing the fluid back into the reservoir.
I would start with that before tearing things all apart.

Even bleeding some new fluid through may solve the problem.

If it doesn't work, then at least you have gotten that off the table.
I would even replace the master before dropping the trans.

I've never owned an automatic in my life, driven everything from an 59 Chev truck to a 51 Bentley (very close tolerances there).
Never heard of such a like thing like that happening, there would be enough pressure from the pressure plate to disengage the clutch, no matter how dirty/sticky things are.

If you assume what your saying is true, how come it doesn't stick on the way down when you push the clutch ?
If it's that tight to make it stick on, then you should have incredible peddle pressure _ and from what you said earlier, that's normal.

 

yea cant say ive ever heard or had that happen. Ive had a slave blow out and clutch discs get rusted to flywheels but never push clutch in and it stays in...

First off stop using WD40 crap is good for nothing and probably helping your sticking clutch get stuck more. Stuff turns extremely sticky and gummy with heat and as it drys out. I also find it weird only you have 2 trucks doing the same thing haha. I live in hot humid IL (91 out right now but feels like 107*) and have never had your issue nor heard of it.

Id listen to Ron and Jeff up there.

 

Jeff R1, guess i'm just lucky. But my 95' has been doing this for over 15 yrs.! Push the clutch in the pedal comes up but the clutch stays disengaged until it decides to release. Up until then the pedal stays solid like when you bleed brakes. Eventually it releases I crawl under, spray some WD-40 on the shaft ahead of the slave not forward on the clutch itself or the disc and it works fine again. I've been working on vehicles all my life. I'm 72 now and have 4 rangers in my yard now. One i've retired is a 85' with 355,000 mi. on it! My father owned an 8 bay shop with 2 lifts and an alingement pit. Just to let you know where i'm coming from. I've done a complete ring and bearing job on a 61" austin healey. Fixed a dropped valve through a piston and fixed first and reverse on a 1500 VW transaxle while in Germany after Viet Nam. Your 51 Bently was a precision machine but i bet it it didn't have a hydraulic slave cylinder on it's clutch! The strangest thing is my new 96' that just turned 12,000 mils this past Sat. does the same thing! I've never seen this before or seen a check valve on a master cylinder! What's Up? Mike.

 

I had a TR7 once as a daily driver, worst car I ever had, it had a very problematic hydraulic clutch system.
It didn't stick, but it was prone to leaks, probably poor aftermarket parts, I don't know.


See post "2", I think the check valve is sticking when it gets hot and doesn't allow the fluid to flow back into the reservoir when the clutch is released.
The return spring on the pedal is returning it back to its position, but the fluid isn't allowed back into the master cylinder.
I would look into the master cylinder as the problem.

There are numerous post here about guys having problems bleeding the system, but none that I've come across about the clutch not disengaging or being stuck on, a web search comes up with nothing either.
Lots of posts where they can't get it in gear, but none with your specific problem.


That's what I have, I would start with the master cylinder as the problem.
Maybe Ron will add something too.




https://www.ranger-forums.com/drivet...0/#post2136546

EDIT:
I'm also trying to wrap my head a round where exactly you're spraying the WD40, you must be spraying it on the slave cylinder shaft, since there is no shaft like on a conventional system where the slave is mounted on the outside of the bell housing.
Your Healy is like my Bentley, the throw out bearing (clutch release bearing) housing slides on a shaft that surrounds the input shaft of the transmission; I can see that sticking.
But with this LUK system, that shaft is gone, there is just the slave cylinder and input shaft, so I'm assuming your putting WD40 on the shaft of the slave cylinder when it's stuck in the disengaged mode ?

 

Are you spraying oil where the green arrow is or the purple arrow ?
On the later slaves there is a dust boot where the green arrow is.

 

I would try what Ron said, I'm betting that the fluid will squirt out and the clutch will release.

"Carry a Clutch bleeder wrench with you and next time it happens see if there is pressure in the slave by opening the bleeder.
There should be no pressure with clutch pedal up".

 

Thanks guys for the ideas. I'm spraying in the area of the green arrow. I'll try to bleed the slave when it happens again. The fluid doesn't come back until the slave releases from the clutch, right? I'm having trouble with the problem only happening in extreme heat of summer and in both trucks. one a 95' with close to 200,000 miles and the other a 96' with only 12,000 miles. I'm waiting on 2 old ford mechanics at Haag Ford across the river in Indiana to be back from vacation (august 1'st). I'v bee told recently that if they haven't seen or heard of problem with RANGERS and can't fix it It doesn't happen.Thanks again, Mike.

 

I just joined the forum because i have a '95 that's been doing the same thing for the past 10+ years.
I don't take it on the road much anymore but i happened to do some driving with it a few days ago and the clutch started hanging up just before i got home.
In the driveway, i could shift in and out of gear without the need to depress the clutch pedal all while the truck was idling. Then, after a few more seconds, the clutch decided to engage and of course it stalled out.
Then the more interesting part. With the truck off, I pumped the clutch pedal a few times and the pedal locked up hard. Couldn't press it in. Checked the fluid level and it was down about an eighth inch. went in the house for about 20mins. came back out and the fluid level was back up to normal and of course, the clutch was operating normally.
Any thoughts on where the fluid was hiding?

 

Mike r, sorry to hear of your problem. I still haven't found the real cause but both my 95' and 96' work fine after spraying the shaft the slave rides on. I try not to run either one when it's 90 or above! My fluid level doesn't change when it happens. Eventually someone will know exactly what's going on! Bruisebrother.

 

Bruisebrother
I'll give the WD40 a try. Its easy enough to do and cheap... Might not get much chance to test it out with the weather cooling off.
Take care.
mike r

 

hey this is kjhpackrat, I own a 96 ranger 2.3 manual and this past summer I experienced the same problem with my truck, after I got out of the hills and the truck cooled down, every thing started working again. I have a new clutch kit and am planning to change it soon. that is the first time I have ever heard of anything like that, but it happened.

 

Pak Rat, you say you're going to change things with a clutch kit. What exactly are you changing? Good luck! Let me know what the results are.Mike.

 

Sorry, hit wrong button!

 

I had the same issue during hot weather. I would shift down to second, or any gear and it would hand and then slap the flywheel and lurch. Did you ever find out why? My clutch will not engage now, and the tranny shifts in all gears with the clutch in or out. I'm baffled.

 

Nothing to report from this end.
Clutch works fine in this weather.

 

Still don't know the cause! But my trucks haven't acted up since middle of last summer!

 

I’m having this identical problem on my ‘97 Ranger 4x4; had to be towed home since truck stopped moving at a stop sign. Three hours later in my driveway it was fine, acting normal. Has anyone diagnosed this problem ?

 

Yeah I had it. It lasted for about 2 years. Finally, I heard a bang, and no transmission. Clutch still acted normal. Looked through the inspection plate didn't see anything wrong with the input shaft or slave. So, I thought the transfer case chain broke or something in there. I rebuilt it, the chain was loose, but no real bad damage as I'd of expected. that didn't fix it. So I took out the tranny, and the input shaft broke just inside taking out the cluster gear too. Everything else was fine. I just stabbed the tranny back in the other day. I haven't hooked up the hydraulics yet. Crossing my fingers, then selling. Need a one ton to haul my excavator. I got some videos on my youtube page. pat hamer on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE9..._as=subscriber

 

1998 Ford Ranger 4x4 4.0 m5......I now can use my Ranger in hot weather, without the clutch hanging.
I have been searching for a solution to this problem for many years. I had found a few owners that have posted the problem, but no real solutions posted. Symptom: In hot weather, after running the truck for about 30-45 minutes the clutch pedal will start to stick, when letting up on it. Eventually it hangs part way up and may not engage. Clutch works fine when cold and when the truck cools. Works in cooler weather also.
I have joined the forum to offer my recent findings. Hopefully this will help others who have this problem. The solution is based on the symptom. Something is heating UP and takes around 30 minutes to do it. I crawled under the truck with this in mind and saw what was going on.. The clutch hydraulic line crosses above the exhaust header, by about 2 inches clearance. It also crosses the exhaust header a few inches from the transmission. Not very much clearance and above the heat source. Since the header heat source can be over 1000 degrees, I figure the dot 3 in the clutch line is probably boiling or extremely hot after 30 minutes. When you use the clutch, you are shoving this hot dot 3, into the slave cylinder. The parts in the slave cylinder are expanding from this extremely hot dot 3 and start to stick. Eventually the slave cylinders internal parts expand too much, to work correctly. The clutch pressure plate spring just doesn't have quite enough umph, to push the dot 3 fluid back through the sticking slave cylinder. The clutch pedal hangs part way up and the clutch doesn't engage in the transmission housing, either. I am sure some owners have fixed this problem with a new clutch slave cylinder or combo clutch, slave cylinder kit. Throwing parts at it is addressing the symptom. I just believe Ford ran the clutch hydraulic line way too close, to the driver side header, without enough shielding. The real problem is extremely hot dot 3 in the clutch hydraulic line and not any particular part. Loose enough internal tolerances in a new slave cylinder could look like a fix. I don't know if there was a particular reason to heat up the a clutch line fluid on purpose. ????
THE FIX ON MY RANGER.
1. The original heat sleeve over the hydraulic line had slipped down and was offering no protection. Moved back into proper position. Just slides on the line.
My problem would begin in low 80 degree days instead of the 90's, like most owners are describing.
2. Bleed out some of the dot3 from the slave cylinder to get rid of some of the old dot 3 that has been getting boiled. Boiling point of dot 3 is around 400 degrees.
3. Bought some additional heat resistant sleeves to put over the original heat sleeve. The kind you can use in engine compartments. They attach with velcro and are holding up fine.
4. I wrapped more than one layer of these sleeves, to offer more insulation from the header heat.