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Many of you members are familiar with the ‘ranger’ method to replace clutch system fluid. I’m having a problem with the pedal sticking so took things a step further. I purchased some 3mm OD tube and epoxied to a syringe. I inserted it down into the master cylinder. I alternated forcing air ... and sucking fluid from the master. Got a lot of nasty stuff out! Not sure if it will cure my problem, but thought I’d share
IMHO the ranger method is useless. It doesn't get the fluid all the way down the line or in the slave cylinder. At best you just clean up what's recirculating around the master or just into the line.
It would have merit if the fluid recirculated but it doesn't. I cringe every time I see it recommended.
Not sure how it get's dirty if it doesn't circulate. I usually repeat the process every few months and the fluid is brown. It has made a difference (less clutch sticking to floor/slipping) on a couple Vettes I have had.
IMHO the ranger method is useless. It doesn't get the fluid all the way down the line or in the slave cylinder. At best you just clean up what's recirculating around the master or just into the line.
It would have merit if the fluid recirculated but it doesn't. I cringe every time I see it recommended.
I’m not sure how useful it is either. But the fluid does get dirty. Where does the contamination come from? If my problem continues, I’ll disconnect the master from the slave and try the same flush process on the slave before I start replacing parts.
Most of the time either the master cylinder is getting weak or the springs/fingers on the clutch pressure plate are damaged from heat and don’t “spring” the slave cylinder back all the way hence up the food chain your pedal is limp.
Most of the time either the master cylinder is getting weak or the springs/fingers on the clutch pressure plate are damaged from heat and don’t “spring” the slave cylinder back all the way hence up the food chain your pedal is limp.
Curious.... how does a master cylinder get ‘weak’? I can understand the springs/fingers losing tension. It’s hard to visualize other failure modes.
I can understand that the preferred method to flush out, but I'd never heard the ranger method was bad. I've been doing this for at least 20 years across multiple cars, probably at least once a year and when I have finally gotten around to flushing it at the bottom, I've never seen a problem. I know this is only anecdotal evidence, but I would guess it about 12 cars, with some as old as 40 years old. This is also across american, german, and japanese cars. The fluid may not be "circulated" with a mechanism, but fluid dynamics being what they are, it does move around and this method, if done consistently, certainly seems to work. If this was a different situation and it hadn't been changed in 20 years, I would be more on the side of "flush completely". Anyway, that's been my experience.
Not sure how it get's dirty if it doesn't circulate. I usually repeat the process every few months and the fluid is brown. It has made a difference (less clutch sticking to floor/slipping) on a couple Vettes I have had.
The fluid dead heads at the slave- it doesn't recirculate. At best it just moves back and forth a little. If it absorbs moisture, it will all turn - it doesn't have to recirculate to do that.
Bottom line is that it is not a true flush and does not get the bad fluid out. It's just not a legitimate service method. Imagine having to go to the dealer every few months for them to pump your clutch pedal a jillion times and all you are really getting is the fluid at and a at best a little past the master.
Last edited by Ed Ramberger; Aug 4, 2021 at 08:27 PM.
IMHO the ranger method is useless. It doesn't get the fluid all the way down the line or in the slave cylinder. At best you just clean up what's recirculating around the master or just into the line.
It would have merit if the fluid recirculated but it doesn't. I cringe every time I see it recommended.
This video explains clutch dust. He does the Ranger Method. If that does not get rid of all the dirty fluid, how do you flush it to get rid of all the dirty clutch fluid?
I will take a photo later of my slightly different setup. I suck out the old fluid, and replace with new fluid.
The second step is that I have a cap fitted to a mighty vac hand pump that I pull about 20hg of vacuum onto the reservoir, and then pump the clutch. The vacuum collapses the slave, a couple cycles of this brings up a lot more gunk than the standard ranger method.
This brings up SIGNIFICANT amount of sludge that would otherwise remain in the slave cylinder. I've had it pull up black sludge into an otherwise clean reservoir filled with fluid.
As others have stated, it's not a true system flush but it definitely helps get air out of the system and also pull more contaminated fluid out than simply replacing the fluid at the reservoir.
IMHO the ranger method is useless. It doesn't get the fluid all the way down the line or in the slave cylinder. At best you just clean up what's recirculating around the master or just into the line.
It would have merit if the fluid recirculated but it doesn't. I cringe every time I see it recommended.
Diffusion is what mixes the fluid even if it's not recirculating. It's a slow process but it happens, and that's why fluid in the reservoir gets dark. If you change out the fluid in the reservoir frequently, you can get a worth-while percentage of new fluid throughout the system. It's not ideal at all and isn't going to help much with "sludge" that isn't suspended in the fluid, but it's better than nothing.
Just do it right every 2-3 years. Take off the mid pipe (this is the worst part because the exhaust studs are a bear...you may need replacements), then the tunnel plate, and if you don't have super fat hands you can stick a piece of (I think?) 3/16" tubing into the bleeder and it fits perfectly. Crack the bleeder open, keep the reservoir full, and run fluid through until clean. When you get a new clutch, install a remote bleeder and a couple hours turns into 10 minutes.
Enhanced Ranger Method
