slave cylinder question

[fordkrazy]

im replacing my slave cylinder in my 94 before i let it go to my buddy (he's helping ) is there anything that can be done to it before its installed to get a longer life out of it...in my oppinion theyre crap....all plastic except for the bearing. oh yea does anyone have any tips on bleeding it after we get it in?

thanks

P.S. if anyone knows someone who works for a company that makes shop manuals be sure to mention to them that the y-pipe has to come out to get the tranny out....mine failed to mention that!!!

 

[410Fortune]

Nothing you can do, they are crappy. There are a few different brands, the OEM unit is the only one I would ever use since dropping the tranny is a PITA.
You dont have to move the Y pipe, but unless you have a tranny shop with a tranny jack and all that special stuff it sure does make it easier, especially when it comes time to stab it back in.

Good luck! That internal slave cylinder is a joke, I cannot believe the design of that thing.

Also when bleeding it, do yourself a favor and bleed it up to the pressure fitting on the line, then plug in the slave cylinder and bleed some more. Also you may try jacking the rear end up in the air about 24-30", this helps to eliminate the air pocket that can form in that slave cylinder.

The hydraulic line can also trap air in it, some genious at Ford decided that this thing should go under the frame, over the frame, and back down, this is a nice spot for air to sit while bleeding, and it doesnt always want to come out.........I have seen some later model Explorer's where the hydro line does not do this which is nice, but in my BII, this was where the air was getting trapped and it caused me all sorts of problems, so much that I finally converted to automatic!!!!

 

[fordkrazy]

believe me....i have to move the y pipe. i spent a day and a half trying to convince myself that i didnt have to take it off (had the tranny sitting on a floor jack that was sitting on a caster rack for an air pump)
thanks for the bleeding tips though....my line dosent wrap around the frame

 

[410Fortune]

Well the first time I ever did a clutch was with my 2.9L and mitsu 5 speed, we didnt touch the Y pipe and it made things interesting to say the least. The next 6 times I was in there I dropped the Y pipe frst thing, takes like 15 minutes, saves 2-3 hours.

I am an expert Y pipe remover guy, I guess you could say. Of course I can do that damn clutch in 6 hours by myself with hand tools, so I'm not sure this is a good or a bad thing..I do know that the internal slave cylinder is a bad idea from the get go.....and the reeason I am now running an auto......