ok, truck is a 1990 f150 with the 4.9 got a 5sp manual, clutch pedal lost pressure, wont go into gear, i have to force it into gear and when i do it sometimes grinds. PLEASE GOD HELP ME. so i go to autozone and buy a slave clutch cylinder, which i thought goes on the firewall, but oh no, autozone has a**raped me again. i have to drop the tranny to put the little sucker in. lets face it, i aint doing that...... . and if i get my buddies to help . so what should i do? in fact, whats the part they gave me?

--zach

 

I don't know how different your '90 is from the later models, but I'll pass on my opinion.

The part that goes on the fire wall is the clutch master cylinder. The part they gave you is probably the clutch slave cylinder. The part they gave you is roughly mushroom shaped with two lines sticking out of it? The master cylinder is the part that is directly connected to the clutch pedal. It is that action that builds or releases fluid pressure that actuates the slave cylinder. The slave cylinder actuates the pressure plate diaphram spring.

Before you bring the part back visually inspect the master cylinder. I believe that it's a pretty simple part and I don't think there are all that many different things that can go wrong with it. I guess it could leak, which you should see. From what I have learned on these boards in the past few years is that the slave cylinders do fail. I believe they also leak, but it's not as easy to detect. There is a good chance that they gave you the right part. It sucks I know, but they do fail. I had my clutch done last year and replaced the slave cylinder while the transmission was down.

Please note that I'm not a mechanic, and I'm giving you my opinion.

Good luck!

 

Oops, double post.

 

Your slave cylinder is probably leaking but not completely shot. And yes you need to remove the transmission to replace it. That being said, you can probably live with it that way for a long, long time, possibly until the clutch disc and pressure plate need to be replaced. You just need to add brake fluid to your clutch master cylinder and bleed it. You may be able to get it bled enough by just adding brake fluid and pumping your clutch pedal many, many times. Your clutch master cylinder is located just to the left, when standing in front of the truck, from the brake master cylinder. It has a round screw off top. There is a rubber cup under the cap that has to be removed before adding fluid. DON'T FORGET TO REMOVE THIS CUP. If this works, you will have to add brake fluid from time to time, but can probably live with it. Don't use anything but brake fluid or you'll eat up all the seals and you'll have to pull the transmission for sure. Any more questions, post back. Please post back anyway and let me know how you come out, I'm curious. Good luck.

 

i just replaced my slave cylinder on my 300, yes it sucks that its an internal concentric slave but taking the transmission out can be done in a couple days with someone helping. the worst part is taking the assinine crossmember off. i mean dont do it unless its leaking really badly, like he said, just wait until the clutch change.