I have a 1996 Ford Ranger pickup truck, 4 cyl. engine, manual 5 speed transmission. The shifting has become very very difficult. Engine runs well. 215000 miles. Is the master or slave cylinder bad, or is the clutch no good? And how do I tell? And how much for a new clutch? And where do I get a clutch that old?
Just check with one of your local parts stores and you will have the answer . If you are not going to do this yourself most shops can solve this.
At that age and mileage and you plan to keep the truck, might be wise to replace all clutch related parts, if clutch is the problem.
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A typical clutch replacement on a low priced car is about $1500 or so. Budget at least for that amount!
If you can shift thru the gears without the engine running, but shifting is difficult while the engine is running points to a clutch master cylinder leaking internally.
Tester
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If the problem isn’t taken care of soon the transmission will take an expensive beating.
It’s unlikely to be the clutch. Have the master and slave cylinders, and the hydraulic lines checked for leaks.
If it has an internal slave cylinder like mine doe’s the transmission has to be pulled to get to it & with that many mile’s it would pay to put a new clutch in as the labor is already done.
Yeah, I suspected something along those lines. I was just hoping the OP could avoid the added expense for now.
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When my clutch master cylinder develops an internal leak on my Corolla – this has happened three times in 27 years – the first symptom is it’s difficult to shift into first from neutral at idle. But pumping the clutch pedal a few times before doing the shift makes it as easy as before. So that’s a test you could try. I should add that when this problem first appears, the car can become un-drivable within days. So it has to be addressed asap. Replacing the clutch MC has always fixed it for me straight-away. Common sense says to first verify the clutch fluid level is correct.