A Little Puzzle - I'm Stumped (Kinda)

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
Ford SportTrac Forum

Help Support Ford SportTrac Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
F

Fudged Undies

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2003
Messages
1,116
Reaction score
0
Location
Miami, FL
So this morning I get in the trac to head over to get my morning brew and then off to work. Press the clutch, start the trac and it starts inching forward despite the clutch being fulling engaged. Shut off, and pump the clutch, absolutely no pressure.... Great... Pop the hood, the master just about empty. So I fill it and pump it up a bit and it seems to be holding pressure. Get my coffee, get back in, pedal goes straight to the floor. Add some more fluid, pump it up and run some errands before going to work. While driving around the pedal gets firm (as it should be) and has stayed that way. Now, obviously there is either a master or slave issue within the system which will have to be dealt with (master first since it's easier). My quiestion is.... Where'd the additional fluid go? I figured there should be a dead spot on my lawn from the leak since this happened sometime during the night as pressure was fine last night, but there wasn't one. There wasn't any drip spots in the coffee shop lot either. So aside from the obvious headache of the problem at hand I'd really like to know where the fluid is. The only thing I can think of is that my slave is leaking and somehow it's not finding its way out of the tranny. Not something I'm looking forward to checking if I have to but still not that big a deal.
 
I'd check the tranny for evidence of clutch fluid. I'm not sure if the two will mix, or seperate, either way, I'd pull the dis stick and see if I could see anything.
 
The slave cylinder has nothing to do with the tranny fluid since the clutch system is dry. A manual tranny has no dip stick, so checking it would be impossible.



I suggest starting at the slave cylinder and following the line to the tranny. The fluid might have sprayed onto the body and has not driped enough to go n the ground.



When I get home from work tonight, I will look up the routing of the hydraulic lines to and frm the tranny clutch.



If you havent done so, get a repair manual from fordcds.com and start there.





Tom
 
Tiger, what caymen said. Clutch setup and tranny are somewhat independent and there's no dipstick. I figure I'll make some effort to check down there tonight. Preferably while not in work clothes.





Thanks Caymen, but I've already been up and down the hydro lines of the Master/Slave. It's actually only one line and by some genius engineering, there is a U-shaped curve in the line which I believe has alot to do with the clutch pedal pressure being so irregular (catches air which is near impossible to remove without pulling the master) on these setups. As far as starting with the slave, a new master costs ~$80. For the time, and labor that would go into just checking the slave, swapping out the master makes more sense. If that doesn't resolve the issue then we move on. Checking the slave involves pulling the tranny, and at 65k miles, if i'm pulling the tranny, i'm replacing the clutch and thus far my clutch is fine. As far as the fluid spraying on the body... I hope not, since brake fluid eats the paint and that would suck.
 
If a seal on your slave is gone, it is likely saturating the clutch with brake fluid, and will need clutch replacement anyways. My ST is an auto, so I am no sure just how Ford has it setup, but on a (manual) Jeep Cherokee, there is a dust hole at the bottom of the Bellhousing. If your slave is leaking, oil will be evident around that hole. If that hole is plugged for some reason, the bellhousing is retaining the oil.



I am willing to bet your slave has blown a seal. Slaves almost always fail before masters, due to the amount of vibration, dust, and many other environmental variables. But for the cost and labor, you are wise to check and completely rule out the master before diving into the slave, for obvious reasons.



Crawl under and look for a hole at the bottom of the bellhousing. If it is wet, your slave is SOL. If it is plugged (intensionally or accidentally) remove the plug and see if there is any oil hiding out in the bottom of the bellhousing.



As far as where the oil went, if it lost pressure during operation, the oild may have been whipped all around the bellhousing. After absorbing dust, dirt and being abosorbed by the clutch, there may not have been much to leave on the ground. But the dust hole will be wet with oil.
 
thanks Andy. Though I considered the clutch absorbing the oil, didn't consider the dust and the like that could be absorbing and clumping. I really hate the slave setups on fords and I believe chevy's use a similar setup. A one piece slave/throw-out bearing..... I'm sure there are reasons but man it's a headache when there's an issue.



Eh, whatchya gonna do... gotta have some headaches to appreciate all the time without. We'll be finding out soon.
 
Yeah, my old Cherokee had a 1 piece slave/throwout. It failed slowly, I had to add about 1/2 cup of fluid to it per week. It never left much in the way of drops on the pavement, but the bottom of the bellhousing was always wet....



good luck,
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ed,

Yep, I think your Clutch Slave cylinder has gone to that junk yard in the sky. When they fail you will get very erratic clutch action. Surprisingly, the usually don't leak much if any fluid when the vehicle is parked. They throw out the fluid when the clutch pedal is pushed. You will usually see that the transmission and undercarridge has wet fluid from the clutch an back but you probably won't see much if any on the pavement where you park. If you park on the grass, the amount that drips would probably be too small to cause damage to the lawn.



...Rich
 
Could it possibly be leaking inside the cab and going under the floor mat? Do you smell something like brake fluid inside your cab?

Lou...
 
RichL, amazingly enough the pedal has remained solid throughout the day and the pressure has not been lost. I'm waiting to see what happens tomorrow but i'm betting it will be fine. If you're right about the slave, well, it's pretty much been bad since day one. The clutch has been a bit frustrating for me and I can think of two other members I've spoken with having similar gremlins. Hopefully when I pull the tranny it will be resolved once and for all.



Lou, thought of that, but there's no smell and at least under the floor mat (not the rubberized floor) there's no leaking or at least no fluid.



I guess we'll see what's happening tomorrow.
 
I still think your slave is misbehaving.



You may be able to live with it for a while, just keep a bottle of fluid with you. But eventually, it is going to go for good.



 
Last edited by a moderator:
I still blame the cold.



I'm not sure what I was thinking really, the clutch fluids and tranny fluids are totally sperated, and if they mixed, you'd have a serious problem, not simply a ghosting of fluid. I just half-read what you wrote, half-thought about a response, and half-made myself look stupid.
 
Follow-up: Well lost pressure again last night after roughly a month of working alright without having changed anything. Go to work today fighting with it most of the way but get there. Decide I'm going to start out by swapping the clutch master since it's "technically" the easiest place to start. Talk to a friend for a second opinion and suggests I check the floor mat and behind it to see if there is a leak. Sure enough, there's the leak. Got lucky, and found a dealer with one in stock. Pick it up and start the swap. What a pain. I think it was worse than swapping the plugs. Haven't gone for a ride yet but the pressure feels "normal" again, unfortunately, not as solid as I had hoped. Still a little play but if it shifts properly I'll be satisfied. I figure the slave isn't far behind so I'm planning a clutch swap soon. If anyone needs more details, drop me a line.
 

Latest posts

Top