Hello all,

I drive a 2004 4.2L V6 F-150 Heritage. It has a manual 5 speed transmission.

Yesterday morning I started my truck to go to work, backed out of the drive, went to put it into 1st and lost almost all clutch pressure. It now disengages about a little less than an inch off of the floor and is a total bear to shift. The trans does shift just fine when the truck is turned off and will start.

After reading the forums and doing a little trouble shooting I found/did the following:

1. Clutch fluid was low so I topped it off.
2. Checked all lines and fittings down into the transmission, no leaks or cracks.
3. With a little more light I looked under the dash by the pedal and found some sort of fluid on the inside of the firewall by where the line goes out. I am assuming that it is clutch fluid since the cylinder is coated in it on the inside of the cab.

Does this sound like the cylinder went and is something I could do or should I take it in to get looked at? Quite honestly, I am out of my depth with transmissions.

Thanks for any input!

 

You need a new clutch master cylinder.

 

Ok, so I replaced the clutch master cylinder, refilled fluid, and bled the system via pumping the clutch as per the directions as there was no bleeder valve on the replacement cylinder. It seemed to work fine last night.

However, when I wnet to go to work this morning, there was almost 0 pressure and I could not get the truck into gear.There was no lwaking fluid anywhere, the reservoir is still full, and it shifts when off.

If I pump the crap out of the clutch it will respond normally for a while but then goes back to being almost impossible and I have to either pump the clutch 20 or so times or power shift.

Any thoughts?

 

Reverse bleed the system. Get a pump handle oil can and slip a rubber hose over the spout and connect it to the bleeder screw. Fill it with fluid, take the cap off the master cylinder, loosen the bleeder screw, and start pumping.

 

Assuming the master is good the slave let go. Pumping the clutch and having it work properly is a sign of a leak. If you have air in the system pumping might push it out and firm up the pedal but when the leak allows more air back in the pedal goes soft again. Are all the connections tight?

 

Thanks for all the input. Really appreciate it.

I bled the system via the slave with a one man bleeder kit through a local parts store. After getting all the air out, I did notice that I may have a slight leak as the was fresh fluid on the bottom edge of the bell housing. I'll have to keep an eye on it but the clutch has maintained pressure since I bled it.

 

Be prepared to pull the tranny out and replace the slave. It's only a matter of time now.