motorcraft slave cylinder vs local parts store/ ebay | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

motorcraft slave cylinder vs local parts store/ ebay

mr cribb

US Army Retired
Joined
December 16, 2010
Messages
2,343
Reaction score
85
City, State
Naylor, MO
Year, Model & Trim Level
98 Z71, 89 stepside
I called the local dealer here and was quoted a price of $204 for a slave cylinder.

I find that price to be crazy expensive.

I'm looking for pros and cons on regular replacement slave cyl from az, advance, oreilly etc...vs true motorcraft slave cyl.

I found a complete clutch kit labeled HD clutch kit w/ slave cyl for $130 it fit 90-92 ranger explorer. It was on ebay. What is the likelyhood of this being a correct fit?

I have a 92 model. The way I understand it is 93 made clutch/ hydraulic changes. I can get a 93 and up clutch pretty cheap but the hydraulic "upgrade" is $175. The end result is I'm spending the same by buying locally or from another individual.

The ebay item is by far the cheapest deal but I don't want to tear it all apart just for something not to work.

I've read about people having slave cyl issues from local purchase, and the reply has been buy motorcraft. Please steer me in the right direction. My truck has 199523 miles and a slipping clutch.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Having done a couple slaves and knowing how much work it is to do it, I fully understand going with a quality part. I've read too many threads here on cheap slaves failing.
How about calling others dealers? Or if you don't need it NOW, check the price through one of our site vendors for a real Ford part.
You are doing the complete clutch, right?
How much is a parts store slave anyway?
 






Having done a couple slaves and knowing how much work it is to do it, I fully understand going with a quality part. I've read too many threads here on cheap slaves failing.
How about calling others dealers? Or if you don't need it NOW, check the price through one of our site vendors for a real Ford part.
You are doing the complete clutch, right?
How much is a parts store slave anyway?

roughly around $65. My thought is to do it all at once. Granted I don't have any engagement issues hydraulically it's more disc related. But being as ford/mazda had to build an internal slave assembly I find it easier to do it all at once.

I'd hate to "put off" replacing the slave, install a new clutch and then turn around and pull it all out to install a new slave. Or put it all together and then have crap pressure because the old slave was used to the old clutch.

I really like the ebay price at $130 for it all. But unsure of the quality of the components.
 






As was said elsewhere, Ford units are engineered with upgrades. Almost all aftermarket ones do not have these or use cheap plastic fittings for the lines.

There are tons of reports of people's aftermarket slaves leaking, exploding, or just getting air into the lines & failing in 20-30 K miles.

They are worth it.
 






I'd go with the new motorcraft part. It is less likely to fail, I think that is a given. If it does fail and spray hyd fluid all over your clutch assembly, then you have to buy all that a second time, and then there is the labor, and your time is worth money. It's $150 more, and I'd have to say, I'd pay it.
 






I'd hate to "put off" replacing the slave, install a new clutch and then turn around and pull it all out to install a new slave. Or put it all together and then have crap pressure because the old slave was used to the old clutch.

I really like the ebay price at $130 for it all. But unsure of the quality of the components.

I wasn't inferring to not do it all at once, that's the right way to go.
Post up the link for the ebay clutch.
I used a LUK clutch kit, it's what the factory put in it. It came with a slave, but nowadays I don't see the slave listed as included, at least on dialaclutch where I bought it.
I agree with everyone else, don't cheap out on the slave, it's not worth it. Shop around for better price than 204. I've balked at prices at the Ford parts counter and told them how much I can get it online, and the matched it! Try that.
 






I was lucky & scored a new Ford slave off Ebay for $75. It's in my parts box for when I have to do my clutch.
 






here is the ebay item.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160584566281&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

There is also a listing for the "HD" clutch itself for $75. (This is assuming the slave is a no-go.)

I just asked the seller a question, regarding weather it was motorcraft, or some other name.

I did look at the vendors prices 1A wants 122 for a slave; rockauto wants anywhere between 62-110 for theirs.


My wife just drove my truck and she seemed to think it was the transmission, but when I explained the amount of clutch dust I seen built up in the starter a few months back while repairing the starter cable, she further understood the problem. I told her it slips like hell if you try to accelerate at any decent speed.

Hydraulically speaking the pedal is stiff as hell, it's more of a high pedal release than anything else. What would be the chances of installing a new clutch with the existing slave, and everything getting along just fine?
 






Ok ebay seller replied, said the brand name is AMS OE aftermarket parts.

I googled the company, read up on the business etc. I located the actual representative for the southeast region, called him.

The parts is actually world car, the slave is an FTE brand which is supposed to be reman motorcraft. The rep did say that they have had zero issues with this particular brand, and do know about the Chinese knock offs. The only thing the rep suggested was a new clutch master mostly to have it all new.
 






Seems like a generic OEM aftermarket company
 






Seems like a generic OEM aftermarket company

ugh that's what I was afraid of.... my wife likes the idea of the price.

Maybe just buy the clutch kit/ shoot an offer on it if possible and buy a factory slave from a vendor on here?
 






If you're not having master cyl issues, maybe your best bet is a new 91-92 Motorcraft slave and the ebay clutch. Then if you have to replace the master down the road, you just throw in another 91-92 Motorcraft master and hopefully things stay as issue-free as they were.

You should probably contact our forum vendors Tousley Ford and Fast Parts Network for a price and availability on the 91-92 parts first, then go from there. If they can still get the 91-92 specific stuff, maybe you could go with that.

I'd go with the Motorcraft hydraulics, even if it's a few bucks more. Considering the time and hassle it takes to drop the tranny, and how vital the system is to driveability, the slave is not the part to skimp on.
 






If you're not having master cyl issues, maybe your best bet is a new 91-92 Motorcraft slave and the ebay clutch. Then if you have to replace the master down the road, you just throw in another 91-92 Motorcraft master and hopefully things stay as issue-free as they were.

You should probably contact our forum vendors Tousley Ford and Fast Parts Network for a price and availability on the 91-92 parts first, then go from there. If they can still get the 91-92 specific stuff, maybe you could go with that.

I'd go with the Motorcraft hydraulics, even if it's a few bucks more. Considering the time and hassle it takes to drop the tranny, and how vital the system is to driveability, the slave is not the part to skimp on.

I did pm fordsvtparts regarding a motorcraft slave. I found a few links on ebay regarding ford parts. (I entered motorcraft slave cyl) of course no results but at the bottom was ford dealers and I checked all of them. I "think" I found one for less than $100, not sure cause I've looked at so many. Either way I have found them for $150 if not $100, which is still less than the $200 the local dealer wanted.

I just find it so odd that the slave is the root of all evil here.

Why on earth did fordmazda build an internal slave cylinder? WTH was the purpose of it?
 






The slave cylinder is a common part of a hydraulic clutch system.

The evil part isn't that it has a slave cylinder, plenty of vehicles have hydraulic clutch systems and a slave cylinder. The slave in the Mazda tranny is just mostly plastic and wasn't made very heavy duty at all. The part has been revised several times, and the design was improved somewhat for the '93 model year, and then again in '98. But they're still made of plastic and still aren't very durable. It probably comes down to cost.

Most big business do stupid things, making a part cheap out of plastic and to do the bare minimum of work it needs to, then having to redesign it several times, rather than make it heavy duty to begin with.

Then again, they've probably made a ton of money (and so has the aftermarket) replacing these things so often, so maybe it was the planned weak leak/constant maintenance part in the system. Who knows.

Having to drop the tranny just to replace the slave every 50-100K sucks, sure, but at least it's a ~$100 part. Probably still beats having an A4LD and getting a rebuild.
 












Well, the image is what a real slave cylinder looks like at least. I don't think that's an image of the actual part from AC Delco though, since it looks like the body is metal. If AC Delco made a metal body slave cylinder for the M5OD, a lot of us would be buying it.

This is what the M5OD slave usually looks like:

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/January2011/M5OD-R1HD/m6.JPG

m6.jpg


Note the black plastic body, blue plastic housing of the throwout bearing, and the arrangement of the hydraulic lines. This is pretty much the setup for any slave cylinder from 91-01.
 






As a mechanic myself, it seems the issue is with the hydraulic portion NOT the bearing itself. Wagner has been doing hydraulic brake parts since before... a long time. I always considered wagner VERY reliable for brakes. "The cream of the crop". I would consider and suggest their slave cylinder which comes with the bearing.
 






Don't skip changing the pilot bearing.

May "look" good but it's not, trust me.

best way to pop it out is to stuff it full of bread, yes bread.

Then stick a 3/8 extension in there and whack it with a hammer.

The hydraulic pressure will pop it out.

Common failure is the pilot bearing killing the slave.
 









Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





I just found this thread:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=399620&highlight=hydraulic+clutch

I wonder if there is something to this? If the slave has to "over travel" due to excessive free play, between the throw-out bearing and the pressure plate, it makes sense that this could lead to leaks and early failures. It may not even be due to a "cut" flywheel, but perhaps sloppy tolerances in the aftermarket (slave, flywheel, or clutch dimensions, or all 3 w/ tolerance stacking). Maybe its even a design flaw from the start, with the original clearances only marginally acceptable?

How would you go about checking that free play? Obviously, anything that involves installing and removing the trans multiple times is a no-go. I wonder if it is possible to loosen the slave mounting bolts, slip some sort of split washers/spacers underneath, and re-torque the bolts, through the inspection hole?

Wait a minute.... Mid post stream of consciousness thought.....

A.) Install clutch/pressure plate. Using straight edge/flat bar, measure from rear block face to pressure plate face, where the throw out bearing would ride.

B.) Install slave on trans. Using adjustable T-Square, or similar tool, measure from bell housing face to throw out bearing face.

C.) B-A = clutch "free play", or clearance between throw out bearing and pressure plate.

D.) adjust with shims behind either flywheel, or slave cylinder.


1.) Does this make sense?

2.) Does it matter if you adjust with flywheel shims or slave cylinder shims?

3.) Anybody know what the "spec" is, from the factory, and/or any "performance" or aftermarket industry recommendations?
 






Back
Top