Hydraulic Clutch Questions

[SuperRob]

Ok....so I started the drive back home with no 4th gear from Alberta to Victoria, and then all of a sudden my clutch goes. Gone...Nothing....(except smoke and smell)

So I refill the reservoir and it pumps dry again right away without even so much as a hesitation. My initial reaction is that the slave cylinder is shot. There is NO clutch fluid anywhere except below the bell housing, the lines are all dry and everything.

Oh as we get started I have the Mitsubishi Transmission.

Q. 1) Do you concurr with my diagnosis?
Q. 2) After all this reading I've done I've realized that I have to take the transmission out. any tricks you are willing to offer to make this job easier? Is it easier to split the TCase? If so will I lose fluid from it?
Q. 3) Whats up with this bleeder that the clutch has, its just a bolt with a hole in it? LAME-O. Any tricks to that?
Q. 4) When I take the shifters out, I guess you have to pretty well totally disassemble the linkage for the t Case, and for the transmisson, do you take the 4 Torx bolts out or take the (6) 12mm bolts out to remove that cover?

Finally, anyone in Red Deer Alberta wanna give me a hand for their favorite cold beverage?

Thanks.

 

[MAKG]

IF the bellhousing fluid is brake fluid, yeah, your slave probably died.

Don't split the transfer case. Remove it from the transmission as a unit. While you don't HAVE to drain the transfer case, you risk making a big mess (and making it somewhat heavier) if you don't and you screw up. For a Mitsu, you DO have to drain the transmission, or you won't like the results.

What four Torx bolts? All Mitsu and TK transmissions have the stick secured by for rather normal bolts. Mazdas have it secured by a single eccentric bolt.

 

[SuperRob]

the 4 torx bolts I'm referring to on my particular truck are right on top of the shifter tower coming from the trans, then that tower itself is held on by 6 bolts, it removes the cover as opposed to the top four torx looking s if they hold on just the shifter itself....not too sure how to explain sorry.

I was meaning actually do I have to remove the transfer case from the transmission to do it or can I leave the whole assembly together?

Will drain that transmission though, thanks for that one!

 

[SuperRob]

ok....this is stupid shit. I'm on the road...only have a small toolbox, n torches, no impact, nothing to help not even a freakin breaker bar. I'm doing the one thing I swore to never do...I'm calling shops.

 

[MAKG]

While you "can" leave the transmission and transfer case together, it's massively easier to separate them. The center of mass is right at the mount, which is inconvenient for balancing on a jack, and a single 160 lb weight is a whole lot harder to deal with than two 80 lb weights.

 

[grnrngr]

+1 on that, the first time I changed a clutch on my Ranger, pulled it as a unit and was a total PITA, and had to have a friend and a couple floorjacks to help me handle it. On my B2, took the t-case off first, then the trans, did the whole thing myself, only used the floorjack to hold it in place while I dropped the crossmember and unbolted everything else. Have done it that way at least 4 times since, the only way to go...wish I was closer, I'd be happy to have a beer with ya.... You don't say what year it is..on my ranger, you can get by with just pulling the shifter handle off, kind of a weird setup, looks like all-thread going thru the bottom with a nut on one side. it's a wedge fit, pull the nut off and put it on the other side, crank it down, and it pulls the "pin". On my B2, had to pop the shifter off the top of the trans. Just 4 bolts but be sure to stuff a rag inthe hole so it doesn't get contaminated. T-case shifter doesn't need to be disassembled, 3 or 4 bolts unbolts the whole linkage from, the side, although that's one of the things I really like about the electric shift...no extra handle, and it's the same t-case so there's no difference in the way it functions. Just make sure to use it every now and then so the shifter motor doesn't freeze up...not to mention, it's just a good idea to get off the road now and then, to see what the world really looks like. Good Luck

 

[Hardwareman]

I'm sorry to hear that brother.





Allen

 

[cocoasranger]

OK, I have an 89 4X4 Ranger, but with the Mazda trans. My slave also went bad and I was able to slide the trans back and down enough to replace the slave without removing the trans completely. The slave is only held on to the bell housing by two small bolts. The trick is to have plenty of light, take your time, and make real sure the slave is correctly seated against the bell housing and the bolts are tightened to spec.(don't strip them). Hope this will work on yours.

 

[SuperRob]

ok...well I got the job done in the transmission shop yesterday, the slave cylinder was definitly the problem and the guys only charged me 400 bucks for changing it. not a bad deal. Thing is that I knew already that the transmission was on its last legs, and I had no 4th gear....so I was heading out this morning planning to take it VERY easy to drive home, and what happens, but the slave goes AGAIN. And its only got 23 km on it. I'm going to talk to the guy at the shop when he opens up today, but my thoughts are that the input bearing is bad enough that it must have beat the piss out of the slave cylinder already. but in 23 km? WOW. Either that or I got a bad part from the supply store. Which buggers me because the shop wont warranty it cause they didnt supply the part....which means its a good thing they already had to loosen all the bolts for me cause now I"m going to clean the garage, put the truck in and do it myself even if it means having to buy more tools. And I'll have that transmission from victoria shipped up here to Red Deer if I cant find one for a good price at a local wrecker.

Anyway thats the update. Anyone in Red Deer want some beer just let me know I could use a hand.

 

[Hardwareman]

Dang bro! What a bummer!

I would say at this point replace the entire clutch while you're in there. There was another member here who blew out 2 master cylinders caused by a bad clutch disc and pressure plate. I would hate to see you have to pull it three or more times too.




Allen