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Where's your disengage point on clutch pedal?


86_FX4

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Hey all, wanted to cross check the action of my clutch pedal with some of your other rangers! I've been slightly struggling with clutch issues in my 04, 4.0 SOHC 4x4. For clarity here I'm talking about when you are about to take off from a light, and you're slowly lifting your foot to apply power to the wheels, about where does your pedal start engaging the trans to drive? I just burped my master by removing the c-clip and pulling the piston fully out slowly, and also by inverting it and tapping on it. My clutch pedal changed dramatically, it has a much more linear feel on the foot (before it would be soft then hard as it grabbed, similar to older traditional clutches) and feels pretty much identical for the full travel and now the engage/disengage point is MUCH closer to 50%. The pedal is still softer than I'd like personally, but it feels seriously fully linear and grab/ungrab is almost right at 50%. How do yours feel and what's your opinions??!

Long story short the prior owner had the master/slave replaced in 2018. It starting acting up in real weird ways 4 years later, in 2022. I found a completely trashed pilot bearing as the culprit, and evidence that it was installed backwards with the seal facing away from clutch pack. Replaced the master, slave, all lines, clutch and pilot bearing. I used a pre-bled master kit, and bled the slave all different ways, gravity, syringe, and 2man pedal pumping, and while the truck and tranny drove fine it always felt slightly soft for my liking and also the engage point was deep in the travel, meaning that I would have to press the pedal all the way to floor to shift and when leaving a light the trans would engage in the first few inches., and would be fully locked in gear by maybe 20% of the full travel from floor (or 80% deep)

My trans recently starting acting up again :pissedoff: (2yrs after replacing everything) and was getting difficult to get into 1st and reverse. Before cussin a storm and dropping trans to inspect my pilot bearing job I tried to bleed again. The reservoir seemed to have lost zero fluid and was still fully topped off. Did not change anything. I decided to try burping the master and wow, it drives like a different truck. :dunno::headbang:
 


scotts90ranger

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It should engage/disengage before the halfway point if all the air is out. I changed my master about 3 years ago when it decided it wanted to hold pressure and stay disengaged for a random amount of time after 2 pedal cycles (fun times, happened 400 miles from being back home on a 1800 mile road trip), now it's getting squeaky randomly so the piston O ring is going out...
 

Blmpkn

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My credo
Its probably better to be self deprecating than self defecating.
Mine does its business pretty high.. but it also seems somewhat weak? Probably a non-self adjusting setup.
 

scotts90ranger

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Even the Centerforce on my '90 isn't a heavy pedal, I think with the hydraulics it takes less throw and pressure, my theory anyway... pretty sure both of mine disengage in the top 1/4 of throw.
 

sgtsandman

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I've been trying to remember to pay attention when driving the 2011. I've been failing. I want to say at about the mid point.
 

RonD

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There are two types of pressure plates
Regular
Self-adjusting(SAC)
This matters for when clutch pedal engages and disengages

When the clutch disc is new(and full thickness) with regular pressure plate the pedal has to be all the way down to the floor and maybe an inch more to disengage, lol, very much can be hard to get into gear when stopped
But only lasts for a few weeks as the disc gets thinner faster from rubbing when stopped

Self-adjusting has a 2nd set of springs, that holds the pressure plate back farther, matches the thickness of the new disc
So engage and disengage stay at lower middle of pedal travel and "self adjusts" as disc gets thinner over time so never really changes for the life of the clutch disc

Regular pressure plate will slowly engage and disengage higher and higher in pedal travel over the life of the clutch disc until clutch is slipping when foot is off the pedal

Regular pressure plate looks like this: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/nPcAAMXQydtTNqxj/s-l1200.webp

Self-adjusting looks like this: https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/4/d/4d8ddc4a7d6edbcd0dce1b3ed510d360947acb3b.jpeg

Those 3 little yellow springs make a world of difference
 

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