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Old May 22, 2018 | 12:39 AM
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Default Clutch issue

About 2 months ago i was cleaning under the hood and noticed my clutch reservoir was empty. I have never owned a manual car so i did not know to check that really. I changed the diff fluid and my tranny fluid, but my clutch still feels harder to push in which i am 100% i have air in my clutch system.

How do i go about bleeding the air out of the system?
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Old May 22, 2018 | 06:07 AM
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Empty is not good, and means that there may be a leak in the system.


As for bleeding the clutch, it will self bleed over time. Hence slave is at the lowest point, reserve tank is at the highest point, so air bubbles will be bleed out on their own (so long as the clutch pedal still works, and you did not completely drain the line to trap major amounts of air, and the pedal not longer working instead).

So on that note, do Ranger clutch fluid changes until the fluid stays clean for a while, and keep your eye on the tank to make sure your not loosing fluid on the quicker side.

Hence do the pedal pumps the first fuild swaps of trying to get the fluid clean, then about every week for a few weeks, just pull the old fluid out of the tank without pedal pumps, replace with new fluid and drive the car like norm for about a week again. Once the fluid stays clean after a few weeks, then every few months as the fluid becomes an amber color, just swap the fluid in the tank again.

As for clutch fluid, quart of Dot 4 will be enough to hold you off for around half a year, and don't get the fluid on the car painted parts, since it will will end up eating the paint off the parts.
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Old May 22, 2018 | 09:27 AM
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Originally Posted by Dano523
Empty is not good, and means that there may be a leak in the system.


As for bleeding the clutch, it will self bleed over time. Hence slave is at the lowest point, reserve tank is at the highest point, so air bubbles will be bleed out on their own (so long as the clutch pedal still works, and you did not completely drain the line to trap major amounts of air, and the pedal not longer working instead).

So on that note, do Ranger clutch fluid changes until the fluid stays clean for a while, and keep your eye on the tank to make sure your not loosing fluid on the quicker side.

Hence do the pedal pumps the first fuild swaps of trying to get the fluid clean, then about every week for a few weeks, just pull the old fluid out of the tank without pedal pumps, replace with new fluid and drive the car like norm for about a week again. Once the fluid stays clean after a few weeks, then every few months as the fluid becomes an amber color, just swap the fluid in the tank again.

As for clutch fluid, quart of Dot 4 will be enough to hold you off for around half a year, and don't get the fluid on the car painted parts, since it will will end up eating the paint off the parts.
https://youtu.be/8k7ChEcaCMY

Over time the air will evacuate with doing the ranger method? That would be ideal. So keep sucking out the fluid and putting new dot4 in?
The pedal works fine so far and like i said when you suggested the fluid changes in a different post, i did the ranger method for about 2 to 3 weeks straight changing every time i got home from work and instead of the dark fluid, it now stays clear.


So far it is still at the full level on the reservoir and I will pay close attention to see if its leaking. I never saw any fluid on the ground which is why i didn't think it was a leak.
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Old May 22, 2018 | 10:02 AM
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Originally Posted by Fighta
About 2 months ago i was cleaning under the hood and noticed my clutch reservoir was empty. I have never owned a manual car so i did not know to check that really. I changed the diff fluid and my tranny fluid, but my clutch still feels harder to push in which i am 100% i have air in my clutch system.

How do i go about bleeding the air out of the system?

air in the system wouldnt make the clutch harder to push. It could make it harder to put into gear though....

clutch fluid can’t go anywhere other than a leak so I would start looking for any signs of one. I heard of one member who had clutch fluid leaking and being absorbed by some of the sound deadening or protective coverings.

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Old May 22, 2018 | 11:37 AM
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Originally Posted by Jfryjfry



air in the system wouldnt make the clutch harder to push. It could make it harder to put into gear though....

clutch fluid can’t go anywhere other than a leak so I would start looking for any signs of one. I heard of one member who had clutch fluid leaking and being absorbed by some of the sound deadening or protective coverings.

Well its not harder to push. Sometimes it feels smooth when i push in the clutch to shift but other times and i cant think of a word to describe but there is "feedback" when you push in the clutch to shift...Shifting is smooth as butter even a little better since i changed the fluid to Royal Purple.
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Old May 22, 2018 | 12:40 PM
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Maybe the master has an issue. There are examples of them failing.

Im not saying you definitely have a leak but you might. And I would start looking very carefully over the whole system to see if you do. You can get a good look at the connector between master and the slave line by pulling the left front wheel and the rear fender liner in the front wheel well.
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Old May 22, 2018 | 02:54 PM
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Originally Posted by Jfryjfry
Maybe the master has an issue. There are examples of them failing.

Im not saying you definitely have a leak but you might. And I would start looking very carefully over the whole system to see if you do. You can get a good look at the connector between master and the slave line by pulling the left front wheel and the rear fender liner in the front wheel well.

I can check that out and get back to you on that than this weekend. Hopefully no leaks
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Old May 23, 2018 | 11:30 AM
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Originally Posted by Dano523
Empty is not good, and means that there may be a leak in the system.


As for bleeding the clutch, it will self bleed over time. Hence slave is at the lowest point, reserve tank is at the highest point, so air bubbles will be bleed out on their own (so long as the clutch pedal still works, and you did not completely drain the line to trap major amounts of air, and the pedal not longer working instead).

So on that note, do Ranger clutch fluid changes until the fluid stays clean for a while, and keep your eye on the tank to make sure your not loosing fluid on the quicker side.

Hence do the pedal pumps the first fuild swaps of trying to get the fluid clean, then about every week for a few weeks, just pull the old fluid out of the tank without pedal pumps, replace with new fluid and drive the car like norm for about a week again. Once the fluid stays clean after a few weeks, then every few months as the fluid becomes an amber color, just swap the fluid in the tank again.

As for clutch fluid, quart of Dot 4 will be enough to hold you off for around half a year, and don't get the fluid on the car painted parts, since it will will end up eating the paint off the parts.
https://youtu.be/8k7ChEcaCMY

Hey Dano or Jfry
I also researched that you can possibly use the the $32 vacuum pump from autozone and do a gravity bleed instead of getting under the car and taking apart everything to get to the little bleeder.


What do you think about doing that?
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Old May 23, 2018 | 11:52 AM
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Without accessing and using the bleeder on the slave (or through a remote slave bleeder) you’re not really bleeding or flushing.
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Old May 23, 2018 | 04:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Jfryjfry
Without accessing and using the bleeder on the slave (or through a remote slave bleeder) you’re not really bleeding or flushing.
Dammit Jfry dammit..
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Old May 23, 2018 | 07:25 PM
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Originally Posted by Fighta
Dammit Jfry dammit..
i know I know.....
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