1995 Ranger will not shift while running

[afbryant]

Hi everyone, I have a 95 Ranger with 2.3 and M5OD 5 Sp trans. Last yr, what I thought was the slave went out because it would not change gears all of a sudden and I bought the cheap ebay clutch kit. Yeah, I know... It Sorta kinda worked okay for a few days. Ebay seller replaced the slave cylinder for free. Same issue after the replacement slave, it would not shift while running but it would shift otherwise.. Bought a LUK slave and a pre-filled clutch master assembly after the second time taking trans out. Believe me, this system has been bled, burped and bled again. I took off the new pre-filled master assy just for good measure to tie it to a ladder to bleed it again. It has no air leaks. It has a new clutch, pp, pilot, on the third slave, all with the same results. This is the fourth time I will be taking it out. I have went through 4 bottles of brake fluid.
I think maybe it is time to look somewhere else. The original pilot was worn down to nothing, all the needles were gone and the only thing left was the outer race.. Well, it now has a new pilot which does have the same OD as the one that came off and it does fit the input shaft . The input shaft does seem to be out-of round at one spot. Could this be the problem? The shaft has very little or no play in and out. It has app. 3/16 play side to side.
Can someone explain to me when the input shaft is supposed to turn and not turn. Maybe, some troubleshooting test to try. I did jack the rear of the truck up tonight. The driveshaft will not turn with the truck in gear until the clutch is depressed. Isnt this telling me that the clutch is disengaging as it should?? I could actually see it through the access hole while my wife was pressing the clutch and daughter turning the tire.

 

[974X4BLACKSPORT]

Are you sure the clutch plate is installed the correct way? The clutch plate has a "flywheel side" and a "transmission side".

 

[afbryant]

Thanks for the reply blacksport. yeah, I made sure of that.Forgot to mention that the truck does surge if it is left in gear while cranking with the clutch pedal all the way to the floor. This has been consistant every time I have tried anything new or different. I have seen all the perfection videos and everytime I do it, I do have 1/8 or less travel on the pushrod. As far as the slave bleeding, I have tried gravity bleeding dozens of times. I have tried bleeding it like brakes(pump,pump,hold,bleed,repeat) If I leave the trans in 4th gear and crank it, I can shift it out of 4th to N, I don't know what that is telling me. This is the only movement I can get with the shifter while it is running

 

[boominXplorer]

Try putting the resivior under 20# of vacuum for (3) 10 second intervals. You can get an extra cap an drill the cap to install a fitting to make it really easy. I use a drilled cap and an o-ring to seal it. Then I vacuum it up with a mighty vac, they can be had for under $50.

This should get all of the air out as I use this way all the time and usually never have to touch the bleeder screw at all. I cought hell on my first few ranger clutch jobs. My first time I did a 2010 mustang clutch with no bleeder and found the vacuum procedure was how it had to be bled. I've tried it on everything since with great success.

 

[poker4me007]

Just a thought:
Try looking under your dash at the clutch pedal assembly, it may have a crack in it.
Happened to me a few years back.

Here's a post on it.From (EvilTheCat).
How to: - Replacing clutch pedal assembly

 

[afbryant]

Thanks for the suggestion poker, I took the master assy out last Thursday and bench bled (burped) it and checked it for leaks while is was out.. Any suggestions are appreciated