Problem with 5.0 manual M5R2 swap clutch won't disengage

[96ex5.0]

On the master I used an 89 ranger setup with an 88 f150 slave, should all be here somewhere on my write up.

 

[Shadetreeandme]

Well, after reading a few threads along with my desire for manual control, I went for the M5R2 swap with my 2001 Ranger edge (2000 5.0 Mountaineer donor). Following in the footsteps of others, it was pretty straight forward until it came time to test the clutch.

When the truck is off, I can run it through the gears. When the truck is on, I cannot. I bled the clutch 3 ways from Sunday and I know it is properly bled. I bench bled it. Installed it. Bled it again. Tried engaging in 1st with the truck on and no go. Pulled the master cylinder out of the firewall, pumped it upside down like it was cool. Tried it again. No go.

Through the bell housing, I can see the slave moving a bit better than half an inch or so. Pedal feels as it should, stiff from start all the way down to the floor. I used all new master (#10574) / slave cylinder, flywheel clutch disk, pressure plate, pilot, etc.

With the front wheels blocked and the rear wheels off the ground (front driveshaft disconnected) I put the tranny in 1st then started it with my foot on the clutch. It ran in gear at idle for a minute while I pumped the clutch pedal. I was able to get it out of 1st and then with "effort" get it into 2nd, then 3rd. The other gears, 4th, 5th, and Reverse, were still too hard to get into.

As of now, I don't know what else to do.

I could use a little forum magic guys..

Hi, I could use some magic too if you would wave a wand on me. I got this 1997 Ford F150 . I mated a 1989 5.0 to a 1999 4.2 M5R2 and i got the same problem i think. I can jack up the wheels and i can shift out but as soon as i let it down i cannot for the life of me get it to open the pressure plate off the flywheel disc. May i ask exactly what you did to insure a good grip on the clutch disc and still be able to get it to release? I could use some expert advice here to an old man that thought he could figure out most of these swaps. If you don't mind helping me out. thanks,

 

[oddball101]

Hey, no worries. Assuming everything else is correct with your master and slave cylinders, fluids, and such, There are two things that come to mind.

One is the same issue I had with the pressure plate to flywheel bolts. The bolts I used had washers and the clutch I used specifically stated not to use washers. Without the washers, the bolts didn't fully seat all of the way, meaning that they didn't actually pull the pressure plate to the flywheel. You can see this gap in my last pic. I called CenterForce who stated that using washers is fine and that they only say that to ward people away from going to Ace Hardware and just picking up any old thing that will fit without taking strength into consideration.

Second is alignment. In my application I needed to ensure that the motor was squared up properly to the face of the transmission. This can be easy or hard but our applications are spatially different. Yours is full size and the tranny mounts (or some variant of) may already be in the correct position. That is information you will have to figure out. For our ranger/explorer applications, mating an m5r2 to the 5.0w requires that our tranny mounts be lowered about 1.5 inches.

I would focus on these two things first. I may not be on here a lot, but I will look forward to hearing if you were able to make progress.

Wish you luck.

 

[96ex5.0]

Make sure the master and slave mach close in year, I tried to use a 90+ master on my 89 slave and it would not release the clutch. Swapped to an 89 master and never had trouble again.

 

[Shadetreeandme]

Hey, no worries. Assuming everything else is correct with your master and slave cylinders, fluids, and such, There are two things that come to mind.

One is the same issue I had with the pressure plate to flywheel bolts. The bolts I used had washers and the clutch I used specifically stated not to use washers. Without the washers, the bolts didn't fully seat all of the way, meaning that they didn't actually pull the pressure plate to the flywheel. You can see this gap in my last pic. I called CenterForce who stated that using washers is fine and that they only say that to ward people away from going to Ace Hardware and just picking up any old thing that will fit without taking strength into consideration.

Second is alignment. In my application I needed to ensure that the motor was squared up properly to the face of the transmission. This can be easy or hard but our applications are spatially different. Yours is full size and the tranny mounts (or some variant of) may already be in the correct position. That is information you will have to figure out. For our ranger/explorer applications, mating an m5r2 to the 5.0w requires that our tranny mounts be lowered about 1.5 inches.

I would focus on these two things first. I may not be on here a lot, but I will look forward to hearing if you were able to make progress.

Wish you luck.

I am a little late getting back in but i took the transfer case off the trans and then pulled it and it was kinda stuck hard but took a look at the pilot shaft and it seems there is no rubbing on the end or side. I am going to do a precision clutch video like the you tube set up. I have another 5.0 on the ground with my trans bolted and no disc or plate to check if there is some pilot or alignment problem at first. I am then going to install the disc and plate and do the bleed on the slave and master. I got an old clutch pedal assemble mounted to a 4x6 post on my shed and will do the push on the master to see if the trans will not turn with the master engaged. If it still does not disengage first gear or any gear then i think the slave could be shimmed up from behind somehow to give me 1/8 to 1/4 more forward to engage better to the fingers and see if that will do the trick. I am hoping i can figure this out. I have noticed that the finger height was more on the 4.2 plate vs. the 5.0 plate. I will try both pressure plates to see if that makes some difference. I will get back after this heat settles some, so hot here now. tc,

 

[jbrown1238]

I know this is an older thread but I happened on to it by accident and noticed some information mentioned regarding my V8 Ranger and the use of a F550 clutch master cylinder. I just thought I would jump in and update the info, even though it is a different set up then the one outlined in this thread.

I used a T5 trans with an external slave cylinder and a F550 clutch master cylinder. As mentioned I used the F550 master cylinder to allow for a little more throw. It was easy to retrofit and worked very well. I have had issues with the set up as mentioned but that was partially due to cheep Chinese aftermarket parts, both clutch master cylinders and clutch slave cylinders. I will also except part of the blame as at first I decided not to use the protective boot on the clutch slave cylinder. This contributed to accelerated wear in my opinion as it allowed contamination into the bore.

I have corrected the accelerated wear by using Napa replacement parts, which although still Chinese replacement pieces, they are of a much better quality. The Napa slave cylinder uses a double seal design versus a single seal on the cheaper pieces along with a better quality material finishing. I have also started using the included boot.

I am now getting about 40,000 miles usage out of both pieces between replacements. But I must also mention that my truck is used in city, stop and go traffic, for about 300 miles, five days a week. My clutch pedal is depressed thousands of times a day, every day.