1996 explorer 5spd "problem engaging gears"

[porshapower]

Recently my explorer is not shifting as smooth as usual. Last week I actually had a day when I started the truck and pressed clutch all the way down and when I tried putting it in first gear or any gear it was making a grinding noise like the clutch wasnt pressed in? That was the worst its happened but I shut it off started it back up and it went into gear. I have had a hard time when taking off from a red light or stop sign in 1st gear and sometimes downshift into 1st and hold the clutch in at light so I wont have to fight to get it in gear. Its not all the time though??? Only sometimes. I have checked the clutch reservoir and its full of fluid. Took it to Jiffy Lube and they changed out the transmission oil with no change at all. They used the penzoil atf which does work with the ford manual transmissions. Do I maybe need to bleed it? or Ive heard of running a 80/90 weight synthetic gear oil like redline or mobil 1 would cure this?? Thanks again!! Nel

 

[RangerX]

It's your slave cylinder. You need a new one. Do a search, you'll find alot of info.

 

[porshapower]

It's your slave cylinder. You need a new one. Do a search, you'll find alot of info.

Is this something I can do? What does this involve? THanks!Nel

 

[MalcolmV8]

Nel, on a Ranger the slave is internal. I imagine the Explorers are the same. It slides on the transmission input shaft before you install the tranny so replacing it requires pulling the transmission. When I had a slave going out I replaced the clutch while I was in there just because it's so much work to get in there you don't want to do it twice because there was more than just the slave at fault.

 

[porshapower]

Nel, on a Ranger the slave is internal. I imagine the Explorers are the same. It slides on the transmission input shaft before you install the tranny so replacing it requires pulling the transmission. When I had a slave going out I replaced the clutch while I was in there just because it's so much work to get in there you don't want to do it twice because there was more than just the slave at fault.

Yikes pull the tranny? I always associated a "bad slave cylinder" with clutch pedal falling to the floor sometimes? Mine doesnt do that..Its actually hard as heck to push down. No leaks from what I can see as far as brake fluid. Hmmm......THanks for the reply. Is the clutch master cylinder the same as the brake master cylinder? I mean I see the clutch reservoir but it doesnt have any cylinder under it like the brake master cylinder??

 

[MalcolmV8]

The clutch doesn't have the huge vacuum booster. It's a tiny master cylinder. Trace the clutch resThe clutch doesn't have the huge vacuum booster like the brakes. It's a tiny master cylinder. Trace the clutch reservoir hose down and it goes right to the master cylinder. It's only about an inch or so in diameter.
A bad slave could cause the pedal to go to the floor but it can also simply not press the clutch in far enough making it hard to engage gears as you are experiencing. Like I said if you go to the trouble of pulling the tranny replace the clutch too. You don't want to put all that back only to find you still have the problem because perhaps the pressure plate is not working right and causing the hard gear engagement.