Sludge in Clutch Line

[BP99Sport]

I went out this morning to go to work and couldn't get my truck in gear. I checked the master cylinder fluid level and it was empty. I filled the resevoir and tried to bleed the system. Chiltons says gravity will do the trick. Nope. I had a friend depress the clutch pedal and this NASTY gunk came out of the bleeder valve. It was thick like molasses and white.(???) For the next few iterations of the bleed procedure, DIRTY hydraulic fluid did come out, but it was slow. Then it just stopped altogether. The fluid level never dropped thru the whole process. There's obviously an obstruction of some sort in the system. I will be buying a vacuum bleeder tomorrow and try to clear the line.

My questions are.....
Anybody ever seen anything like this before?
Is this a symptom of a bad slave cylinder?

Any input is appreciated.

Thx
BP99Sport

99 Sport 5-Spd 4.0 OHV 96K miles

 

[dkchrist]

Have you been in any water lately?

 

[BP99Sport]

Other than the usual South Florida rain.....No

 

[BrooklynBay]

Have you ever bled the system since you had it?

 

[BP99Sport]

About 5 years ago Ford replaced my second gear syncros. I would assume they had to bleed it then. Otherwise, no. Never had any problems until now.

 

[IZwack]

Look around the slave cylinder assembly, see if there are any traces of brake fluid leak.

Funny thing is, I did the same thing to my Civic this morning. I knew it had a clutch problem for about a month now and havent had the time to work on it since the Explorer is priority. But this morning I just couldnt even get it into 1st gear. Anyways, as you stated, I bled it and it temporarily solved the problem. I saw traces of leakage around the slave cylinder assembly tho.

 

[KPT]

Gravity will bleed it but it takes a long time. I let mine sit overnight one time when I couldn't get it to bleed, level in the master cylinder dropped and all of a sudden I could get it into gear.