Fix for hard-shifting 5 speed '92

[SteveH - Colo]

A buddy gave me a '92 Explorer that was hard to shift in the forward gears and made horrible grinding sounds going into reverse. The rest of the truck was perfect.

The mechanic's diagnosis was 'leaky slave cylinder' - which was not true - it was dry. I surmised that the clutch was not fully disengaging, based on pedal travel measurements and other factors. Ford sure uses a lot of cheap plastic junk in the clutch actuating system.

The clutch master cyl. actuating rod is fixed-length on this truck - not adjustable. So, I bought an adjustable clutch rod for a '86 Ford pickup (DORMAN Part # 14570 - from NAPA), which is too short. I then removed and cut the factory rod in half. I drilled and welded in a section of the threaded rod, and used the threaded end-link for the pedal end. You have to be careful not to cut in the area where the neutral safety switch lives. I made the minimum length equivalent to the old fixed-rod length - 8 3/4". I installed it, and then adjusted it to be about 5/8" longer than stock. The clutch pedal now sits higher, for what that's worth.

In the end, for $10.49 and 4 hours of fab time, the truck now shifts perfectly. There is no 'drop in' adjustable clutch rod for this truck (that I could find), but fabbing one sure beat dropping the tranny and replacing all the parts and hoping that would fix it.

I can't post photos of the fab job, but have some, if anyone replies with their email address - I will send them.

Steve

 

[jumpn4jesus]

use photobucket. It's easy and free. If you can email them, you can upload them to photobucket or similar site.

 

[SteveH - Colo]

Thanks!

Link to clutch rod photos.

http://s373.photobucket.com/albums/oo179/SteveH-Colo/?albumview=slideshow

 

[jumpn4jesus]

Looks good. Doesn't the weld get in the way?

 

[SteveH - Colo]

The welded area just butts up to the clutch switch when fully disengaged - but it's close. You need to remove the clutch switch and keep it handy when fabbing so that you cut the rod in the correct place. I got lucky on this one - there's pretty much just one place you can make the cut that allows this to work without the weld interfering. The weld will crush the plastic clutch switch if it interferes.

Steve

 

[jumpn4jesus]

Yeah, mine looks like it was modified in a similar way. Is your clutch really stiff? Mine is very grabby. I can let off the clutch and it will go on it's own.

 

[SteveH - Colo]

My clutch functions well, but I get an occasional grind going into reverse. My favorite transmission shop tells me it's a dragging pilot bearing, and I suspect they're right. Having said that, I won't pull the tranny until really necessary!

The fluid in my clutch was black and nasty - try opening the bleeder screw and letting lots of fluid go through the system. Keep a close eye on the clutch reservoir as it's small and will go dry fast. Most hydraulic clutches have never been bled. They also will adsorb water in the fluid and can ice up in the winter, resulting in a gooey-feeling clutch, if you live in a colder area of the country. Bleeding the clutch to replace the fluid is cheap insurance against future failures.

 

[jumpn4jesus]

My fluid was BLACK as well! And thick. Bled it when we changed the clutch. Fair warning. It's not a fun job to change the clutch on these beasts!:thumbdwn::thumbdwn::thumbdwn:

 

[FORD903]

Thanks for the tips I gotta get around to doing it myself.

 

[SteveH - Colo]

On removing the clutch rod:

I had to take a piece of aluminum roof flashing and wrap it around the clutch slave rod and slide it down into the master cyl. to disengage the clutch rod from the master cylinder. It WILL NOT come out any other way. I tried brute force, small screwdrivers, etc. Thinner aluminum or steel won't work - I tried a small piece of steel tape measure, curled around the rod, and it didn't work - too thin.

 

[Peder_y2k]

A buddy gave me a '92 Explorer that was hard to shift in the forward gears and made horrible grinding sounds going into reverse. The rest of the truck was perfect.

The mechanic's diagnosis was 'leaky slave cylinder' - which was not true - it was dry. I surmised that the clutch was not fully disengaging, based on pedal travel measurements and other factors. Ford sure uses a lot of cheap plastic junk in the clutch actuating system.

The clutch master cyl. actuating rod is fixed-length on this truck - not adjustable. So, I bought an adjustable clutch rod for a '86 Ford pickup (DORMAN Part # 14570 - from NAPA), which is too short. I then removed and cut the factory rod in half. I drilled and welded in a section of the threaded rod, and used the threaded end-link for the pedal end. You have to be careful not to cut in the area where the neutral safety switch lives. I made the minimum length equivalent to the old fixed-rod length - 8 3/4". I installed it, and then adjusted it to be about 5/8" longer than stock. The clutch pedal now sits higher, for what that's worth.

In the end, for $10.49 and 4 hours of fab time, the truck now shifts perfectly. There is no 'drop in' adjustable clutch rod for this truck (that I could find), but fabbing one sure beat dropping the tranny and replacing all the parts and hoping that would fix it.

I can't post photos of the fab job, but have some, if anyone replies with their email address - I will send them.

Steve

Steve, thank you so much for the idea. I did mine by using most of your concept and it worked great, no more hard shifting.Took me about 4 hours also, but cost a few dollars more. I cut the plastic pedal end of the original push rod off, and removed about 2 inches of plastic from the rod, then threaded it to match the internal thread of the DORMAN Part # 14570 adjustment end which is 1/4-28 thread, and just threaded both parts together. Instead of using the oem plastic bushing, I machined down a bronze bearing (bushing type) found at my local ACE Hardware and used an 'E' clip for retainer. Then after installing, I adjusted the pedal so it would not impact the floor anymore with about 1/8 inch clearance from the floor, and that resulted in the master cylinder moving more fluid to shove the slave cylinder an additional amount to fully disengage the clutch. WOOOPIE!!!!! No more thinking about pulling the tranny for a rebuild as it doesn't need one.
Will buy you a beer, maybe more, next time you are in Lakewood, WA
-Pete

 

[RangerX]

Peter, think you could post a closeup pic or two of your version?

 

[Peder_y2k]

There seems to be no uploading of images from my computer on this site. Maybe this will work for downloading

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0a94m309j2bgoyl/rod fix instructions (1).jpg?dl=0


On close examination of the original conversion pics with my version, there seem to be 2 different push rods for the gen1 exlpoders and rangers. My '94 exploder has a 1/4 in metal rod that is the same diameter its entire length, while the earlier version transitions to something larger towards the pedal end. My version of simply threading the 1/4 in rod will not work on the earlier rods that have the larger dia. I simply lined up the new adjustable end with nut alongside the original rod as a guide for removal of the plastic cover. Once the plastic was removed from the metal rod, it was easy to cut new threads using a 1/4-28 thread Die. Once assembled on the vehicle, adjustment is achieved by rotating the rod, not the pedal connection end. My version retaines the plastic cover that works with the safety interlock switch. I was replacing a leaking master cylinder so that made it easy to work. My 94 has 162,000 miles on it and if the clutch lasts another 13,000 miles, I am satisfied. - Pete

 

[natenkiki2004]

You have to be a member of the Elite Explorers which requires a membership fee. You can upload images elsewhere such as Dropbox, Imgur and other places. I much prefer Dropbox as it lets you share albums or single images as well as any other file. Very easy to upload and use. Great for a personal backup too.

 

[Centaurious]

The only reliable way I have found to bleed the clutch is to remove the line from the slave and pull the master cylinder. Hang it up and stretch out the line and tap the line to get the bubbles out. Work the master cylinder piston till the air is out and the piston will only move a slight bit. Re-install everything and then bleed the slave like you would a brake system.

I have noticed that the bleed lines are different on the slaves between factory and aftermarket. The factory slave has the bleed line horizontal to the bleed screw and the aftermarket has the bleed line exiting the top of the slave and looping down to the bleed screw. The aftermarket slave will trap air and will NOT gravity bleed. The line looping over the frame rail is another air trap and the master cylinder pointing downhill is a third.

I won't say that the changes to the rod are a bad idea, I will simply say that barring other problems the system has enough throw to release if it has no air in it. It's just a ******* getting it all out.

 

[natenkiki2004]

Pete, your link doesn't work. You gotta find the share link option in Dropbox. I found a video that gives you an idea, just ignore the part where they tell you to change dl=0 to dl=1. The first part of the video shows you how to get the link to share with us:

 

[Peder_y2k]

I won't say that the changes to the rod are a bad idea, I will simply say that barring other problems the system has enough throw to release if it has no air in it. It's just a ******* getting it all out.

I agree, after thinking about the design, the only adjustment lengthening the clutch rod achieves is raising the pedal, and this gives a little more movement of the piston in the master cylinder.
Pete