Yep, those late 80's early 90's Ranger clutches were a nightmare to bleed.
I worked at a trans shop and we did lots of them.

Can't tell you how many times we "thought" we had it bled..... called the customer to come get it.... and....
Customer pays and gets in his truck and the clutch pedal just falls to the floor. No clutch action.
Very embarrassing.

We learned that once we thought we had it bled and it worked fine on the road test.
DON'T call the customer as soon as it's "done"...

Put it in the shop and let it sit overnight and check it again the next day.
Inevitably it would need just one more bleed. OR
Sometimes... just a couple pumps of the pedal and it would be fine.

Later we rigged a little 12V electric pump with a container of brake fluid, (aftermarket windshield washer reservoir and pump)
and pumped the fluid in from the bleeder screw. It works surprisingly good.
Think about it....

Air rises in fluid, so pumping the fluid in from the bottom pushes the air up and out the master.
It's messy but it works.
One and done.
Oh, drain the system completely first, "then" inject the fluid in from the bottom until the master reservoir is full.

There used to be a tool sold for this very purpose.
I think it was called the Phoenix Injector.
Basically a hand pump with a reservoir to hold the fluid.
Fittings for all the various bleed screws.
Same idea just a manual pump.



Edit;
We would "always" replace BOTH slave and master on any clutch job on these trucks.
Actually on any clutch job that had hydraulics, no matter what make it was,
but esp on the Rangers.


If it's time for a clutch, the master and slave are not long for this world anyways.
No matter how good they seemed to work before.

Not to hijack the thread, but I have read many conflicting opinions on the 160-180 topic.  Lots of people say this is too cool, many others say it's fine and that they've never had an engine wear out prematurely for running temp in that range.  My engine was running in the 210-215 range with a 180 stat in the first 100 miles (90-100f southern summer days), but I altered the grill for better airflow and now it sits happy in 178-182.  When I was in the 215 range, it dieseled badly on shutdown. 

Just curious what your thoughts are on the 160-180 being too cool.

FWIW - I run my race engines at 180, that includes if running methanol.  Do I give up a few HPs? Sure, who cares.  I bracket race and consistency wins, not HP.  It's damn hard to keep an engine at 160 in the Texas heat when the ground under you in staging is 140.  I have big fans and a big radiator but burning up battery juice trying to hold that colder temp is IMHO wasted time and effort.  It's a lot easier to control in staging at 180. If I'm 180~190 rolling into the beams on a hot August day, we're good to go.  Especially with methanol, running "in the window" jetting and staging at 180 and ending at 180~200 keeps the oil clean, which can be a serious problem with alcohol. It is kinda fun to have your engine idling at 180 and your intake manifold feeling like you could chill a Coke on it. 

Good that kid will always want to go see uncle. Next time you can take him to get firewood and do some target practice.

Quote from: Heo on May 20, 2024, 07:29:05 PM

Im going to teash this twoguys so much Only problem with the education plan is
Stepsons wife is a POLICE officer

Based upon some of the stories you've told, Heo, you can also teach them important tricks for avoiding the police 

Im going to teash this twoguys so much Only problem with the education plan is
Stepsons wife is a POLICE officer

Based upon some of the stories you've told, Heo, you can also teach them important tricks for avoiding the police