A few weeks ago I posted a question titled "Half an engine"on my ford f150 with a 4.2 engine and a 5 speed manual transmission. Turned out the engine was shot and I had it replaced with a used one that has 64k on it(runs wonderfully). I decided that since the engine was out I would have a new clutch installed as well. The old clutch was working fine but I thought I would get ahead of the curve and do some preventive maintenance while it was inexpensive to do so. Upon getting the truck back, last Monday, the clutch worked fine the first day and then started getting harder to shift each day thereafter till by Friday it was quite difficult to get into gear. The hydraulic reservoir was losing fluid faster then I could replace it. I took it back to the service center on Saturday (needed it during the week) where they tried to bleed it and informed me the slave cylinder was sucking air every time the clutch was pressed. My question is this. Is this one of those secondary problems that manifest as a result of work being done through no fault of the repair, or did something occur that caused this to happen because of a mistake on the part of the technician? I don’t mind paying in the first case but I don’t want to pay for their mistake. Thank you for your responses.
The slave cylinder is located inside the bell housing of the transmission. For that reason, anytime the clutch is replaced the slave cylinder is also replaced. Some clutch kits even come with new slave cylinders.
Tester
Is it standard procedure for a dealer to replace the slave cylinder when installing a new clutch? Is this something they should have automatically quoted me on? My shade tree Haynes manual recommends it. Everything I’ve read online recommends it. Is it part of the dealer repair protocols or is it something that needs to be specifically asked for? Please note, I don’t even rise to the level of novice when it comes to issues like this.
Not always but, sometimes money gets in the way for some folks. Yes, I believe the slave cylinder should be replace every time a clutch is replaced along with the pilot bearing. Both take an high amount abuse. If money wasn’t an issue, I think you need to go back to the repair facility and something should be worked out that works for the both of you without hard feelings.