7MT - clutch slave cylinder failure

[BUFFBRONCOS]

Like fell off or to the fire wall? Mine just started acting up it. If feels really loose and this morning it was getting stuck in the downward position.

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[jthomasBadlands]

Like fell off or to the fire wall? Mine just started acting up it. If feels really loose and this morning it was getting stuck in the downward position.

The pedal dropped to the floor (firewall). There was no pressure to hold it up. I could lift it with my foot, but as soon as I pressed it, it quickly dropped back to the floor. This is consistent with what I've read online. There were not warning signs. It was different in my 90s Ford Ranger... the pedal was soft and eventually had no affect on the clutch, but the pedal stayed up. Not the case with the 2021 Bronco.

Good news is, it appears to be a routine fix... dealership had the parts in stock and I should have it back tomorrow. It bothers me that this seems to be a common issue with the Bronco manual transmissions and that it happens at random times in even low-mileage vehicles. Luckily, I was in minimal traffic with the opportunity to pull off the road safely. The circumstances could have been much worse.

I've read that checking the fluids regularly and bleeding the lines properly are a preventative measure that can prolong the life. Could have been air in the lines, a leak, etc... or just a faulty part. I doubt it was a factory issue since I made it 46K miles.

 

[bkirchhoff]

Like fell off or to the fire wall? Mine just started acting up it. If feels really loose and this morning it was getting stuck in the downward position.

Your sounds more similar to my failure -- sounds like the slave cylinder is failing. @jthomasBadlands problem sounds like a catastrophic failure of the clutch. Glad he can get it fixed quickly. Mine took 2 weeks for my dealer to get the new slave cylinder and get it installed. It's been running great for the past month. No new problems.

Hope you both get your issues sorted quickly!

 

[Brian_B]

I've read that checking the fluids regularly and bleeding the lines properly are a preventative measure that can prolong the life.

Hmm.

If there were any air in the line you would know it - you’d be grinding gears like it were hamburger. Once the system is bled properly it’s done - just like the brakes, and if it gets air in it somehow, something is wrong. And just like brakes, if it’s loosing fluid for some reason, again, something is wrong.

Unlike brakes - the system doesn’t tend to run too hot (unless abused), so the fluid shouldn’t need to be changed out all that often. I don’t know if there is even a maintenance schedule item on it. I’ve had MTs with 200k+ miles on a clutch with original fluid. I don’t know if that was the best idea, but I’ve never heard of a clutch flush — at least outside of also replacing the clutch and flywheel.

Those jobs seem to always been clutch, flywheel, throw out and slave cylinder.

I guess my take is I wouldn’t call these preventative maintence - it’s just getting it installed right in the first place.

I don’t know, but I’m willing to bet Ford is just using a cheap plastic slave cylinder made by the lowest bidder and they just break from time to time. As long as it’s inside of whatever allowable failure rate inside the warranty period Ford has…

 

[BUFFBRONCOS]

Your sounds more similar to my failure -- sounds like the slave cylinder is failing. @jthomasBadlands problem sounds like a catastrophic failure of the clutch. Glad he can get it fixed quickly. Mine took 2 weeks for my dealer to get the new slave cylinder and get it installed. It's been running great for the past month. No new problems.

Hope you both get your issues sorted quickly!

Thank you. Got a call into local ford dealer

 

[BUFFBRONCOS]

The pedal dropped to the floor (firewall). There was no pressure to hold it up. I could lift it with my foot, but as soon as I pressed it, it quickly dropped back to the floor. This is consistent with what I've read online. There were not warning signs. It was different in my 90s Ford Ranger... the pedal was soft and eventually had no affect on the clutch, but the pedal stayed up. Not the case with the 2021 Bronco.

Good news is, it appears to be a routine fix... dealership had the parts in stock and I should have it back tomorrow. It bothers me that this seems to be a common issue with the Bronco manual transmissions and that it happens at random times in even low-mileage vehicles. Luckily, I was in minimal traffic with the opportunity to pull off the road safely. The circumstances could have been much worse.

I've read that checking the fluids regularly and bleeding the lines properly are a preventative measure that can prolong the life. Could have been air in the lines, a leak, etc... or just a faulty part. I doubt it was a factory issue since I made it 46K miles.

Yes

The pedal dropped to the floor (firewall). There was no pressure to hold it up. I could lift it with my foot, but as soon as I pressed it, it quickly dropped back to the floor. This is consistent with what I've read online. There were not warning signs. It was different in my 90s Ford Ranger... the pedal was soft and eventually had no affect on the clutch, but the pedal stayed up. Not the case with the 2021 Bronco.

Good news is, it appears to be a routine fix... dealership had the parts in stock and I should have it back tomorrow. It bothers me that this seems to be a common issue with the Bronco manual transmissions and that it happens at random times in even low-mileage vehicles. Luckily, I was in minimal traffic with the opportunity to pull off the road safely. The circumstances could have been much worse.

I've read that checking the fluids regularly and bleeding the lines properly are a preventative measure that can prolong the life. Could have been air in the lines, a leak, etc... or just a faulty part. I doubt it was a factory issue since I made it 46K miles.

Yes I’ve also been lifting it up with my foot. I’ll have to keep ya updated with what I find. I have a call out to the local dealer

 

[jthomasBadlands]

Update: They replaced the slave cylinder, clutch plate, pressure plate, and flywheel. It was covered under the powertrain warranty.

 

[Imacreative]

Well, this just happened to me while on a stop waiting for light. Clutch stuck. Had to wait about an hour for tow and left at the dealership. Dealer tells me it would take three days to diagnose and will let me know if I can get a rental. '21 Bronco Badlands with 24K miles. Outside of weighted shift knob, and Roush exhaust/intake, no other mods.

 

[dgorsett]

Hmm.

If there were any air in the line you would know it - you’d be grinding gears like it were hamburger. Once the system is bled properly it’s done - just like the brakes, and if it gets air in it somehow, something is wrong. And just like brakes, if it’s loosing fluid for some reason, again, something is wrong.

Unlike brakes - the system doesn’t tend to run too hot (unless abused), so the fluid shouldn’t need to be changed out all that often. I don’t know if there is even a maintenance schedule item on it. I’ve had MTs with 200k+ miles on a clutch with original fluid. I don’t know if that was the best idea, but I’ve never heard of a clutch flush — at least outside of also replacing the clutch and flywheel.

Those jobs seem to always been clutch, flywheel, throw out and slave cylinder.

I guess my take is I wouldn’t call these preventative maintence - it’s just getting it installed right in the first place.

I don’t know, but I’m willing to bet Ford is just using a cheap plastic slave cylinder made by the lowest bidder and they just break from time to time. As long as it’s inside of whatever allowable failure rate inside the warranty period Ford has…

Seems like brake and clutch flushes are all the rage now. I've been of the don't touch it if you don't have to and bleed it and top it off if you do school for fifty years. Back in my day.....oh never mind.

 

[Rabbit79]

Yep, this happened to me today (09/13). Bruce has about 33k and some change on him. I got in the car and dead pedal. I popped the hood and found a popped valve from what I can muster and fluid everywhere. The valve is fed from the Brake Master Cylinder above and then down to the transmission. I gather this is not a part you want to fall apart like this while driving. I took a pic of the part (see below) and the brake master cylinder from above to show how much fluid it lost when the valve popped. It's been towed to the dealer and now I wait (without a loaner/rental) until it gets fixed in 2-3 weeks. Yep..... The dealership put me on a list for a loaner, but no dice so far. It's been an awesome experience so far.. :\

I took some photos of the faulty part. Ford needs to address this and fix. This is the first time that I have ever towed a Ford with less than 200,000 miles on it in 30 years of owning Ford's..

 

[bkirchhoff]

Yep, this happened to me today (09/13). Bruce has about 33k and some change on him. I got in the car and dead pedal. I popped the hood and found a popped clutch master cylinder and fluid everywhere. It's been towed to the dealer and now I wait until Monday to see what they say and then run up there for a loaner. Good times...

I took some photos of the faulty part. Ford needs to address this and fix. This is the first time that I have ever towed a Ford with less than 200,000 miles on it in 30 years of owning Ford's..

That sucks. No doubt. That said, given your past experience with Fords and the fact that my original post was more than a year old without any more alerts about this issue, I think these are super isolated incidents. This is not at all a chronic problem with the 7 MT. They fixed mine in about 2-3 weeks and gave me a rental, and I’ve been problem free with everything since this last repair.

Ford has had a ton of recalls this year. I don’t think these clutch issues are anything more than freak failures.

 

[albart]

Yep, this happened to me today (09/13). Bruce has about 33k and some change on him. I got in the car and dead pedal. I popped the hood and found a popped clutch master cylinder and fluid everywhere. It's been towed to the dealer and now I wait until Monday to see what they say and then run up there for a loaner. Good times...

I took some photos of the faulty part. Ford needs to address this and fix. This is the first time that I have ever towed a Ford with less than 200,000 miles on it in 30 years of owning Ford's..

That part looks chitzy as hell. It's not actually the master cylinder, looks to be a pedal assist or conditioner for 'feel'. the actual master cylinder is bolted to the pedal assy in the cabin. I wish there was better pictures of the inside of this piece to figure out what it is exactly. I'm scared mine will break and I'm wondering if its something that will be deleted (aftermarket repair) in the future. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Rabbit79]

That sucks. No doubt. That said, given your past experience with Fords and the fact that my original post was more than a year old without any more alerts about this issue, I think these are super isolated incidents. This is not at all a chronic problem with the 7 MT. They fixed mine in about 2-3 weeks and gave me a rental, and I’ve been problem free with everything since this last repair.

Ford has had a ton of recalls this year. I don’t think these clutch issues are anything more than freak failures.

I'm on a "List" for a rental/loaner at the moment.. They had nothing available at the dealership apparently... Ford's Service is off to a killer start..

 

[Rabbit79]

That part looks chitzy as hell. It's not actually the master cylinder, looks to be a pedal assist or conditioner for 'feel'. the actual master cylinder is bolted to the pedal assy in the cabin. I wish there was better pictures of the inside of this piece to figure out what it is exactly. I'm scared mine will break and I'm wondering if its something that will be deleted (aftermarket repair) in the future. Thanks for sharing!

Yeah, the more I looked at the more I realized that is a horrible part and design. Also, there's a component under the dash that's connected to the pedal that is covered in bearing grease that really really should be in a sleeve of some sort. That was not pleasant to run my arm past when checking the pedal. I mean what the heck! That should be in a cover or something just because of getting dirt and crap in it..

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