so, the title of the thread isn't the most descriptive or accurate way of describing the problem, but... I was occasionally having trouble getting into first or reverse from a stop...

I rode it like this for a while...

I had tried this suction trick from the clutch reservoir where you literally suck from a tube fitted into the hole in the reservoir and hopefully pull air out of the line... I'm not positive, but I think the trick helped very slightly a couple times...got me from keeping having inability to get into gear from a stop, for at least a few rides in the truck...

btw...truck is an '07 5 speed manual fx4 with about 104k when I got it and probably about 126k now...

to be honest, the clutch pedal was never the most amazing...it worked...but, I don't know how well it disengaged the gear, because I feel like everything driving was some sort of rev matching especially when downshifting...

so, I could only suck so hard from the tube I had fitted to the reservoir hole, so I figured I could get pressure from a syringe perhaps pull more to be able to get more air if it was in there. big mistake...I ended up, pulling out fluid,no air of that I could speak of, and my clutch pedal went from hard 1/4 to 1/2 of the way, to floppy and completely soft...

luckily I embarked on this "trick" while it was parked, because, now the truck is in gear and I'm trying to figure out anything and everything to get it back going, but I'm not sure I can get it back to at least workable order like it was before (albeit problematic)...

I tried gravity bleeding...that didn't seem to do anything....

I saw videos and read forum comments saying to reverse bleed it from underneath...I tried that...and basically kept running fluid through the system, but still gave me ZERO pressure on the clutch pedal.. I don't think the slave cylinder is leaking, not very much at least (not to create the sudden drop in pressure, I did that myself)...

in fact, when I first checked my clutch oil when I was having problems...the fluid was VERY LOW....but for the years I have had the truck and never checked or topped off the oil, I think it's safe to say a leak wasn't a MAJOR problem or a major leak..not enough to do anything suddenly...I did that myself.

I also tried vaccum pumping slightly with a pump with a guage from harbor freight and at first I thought I was having success because it was pulling air bubbles out at only about 5lb of pressure....but I think it was ultimately pulling in air from the atmosphere, like I may have been doing in the first place when I messed with the reservoir and pulled on the system with the syringe...

because when I had someone depress the clutch pedal while doing the vacuum...I suddenly did not get ANY air bubbles anymore, and the fluid was not being pulled up at all...

I'm still trying to figure out some understanding of this system, but I'm thinking that the problem is most likely a bad master cylinder...and I've ordered a new one....so, tbd whether that will solve the issue....

anyways...I ordered a new master cylinder from NAPA....so, as long as they open tomorrow (CORONA VIRUS has many businesses closing today in NYC)... I will have a new Master Cylinder, and hope that this will finally resolve my issues, and get my truck back moving

any input, speculation, experiences would be greatly appreciated...

sooo...I was waiting on this precision clutch quick release tool to take off the connector from the slave cylinder... it came and after trying it I realized I have this system on my slave where I had to remove a clip with a flathead screwdriver...so, so much for that tool

I removed the fender so that I could get the master out... the instructions above were very helpful...but of course I also googled some other forum articles, etc...

this is the new master I got from NAPA auto...they generally make good parts from the reviews I've read and from my personal experience, so I got the master, even though it didn't come with the line part...I figured the master was likely bad, so I'd just attach it and surely there couldn't be too much wrong with the line, so I could re-use it

excuse the mess...this isn't my normal shop setup, but I just rigged this out of convenience...but I got the line hooked up so everything was moving downward, and was excited to bleed the new master when...as soon as I put brake fluid into the reservoir it ran to the bottom and ran OUT of the valve at the bottom! ugh!!!..... so my "check valve" is bad! so, now I ordered the new part (the line that runs from the master to the slave) from Rock Auto...from Precision Clutch...and paid expedited shipping so that I can get it early next week in some sort of reasonable time and hopefully get this truck moving again...

I'm REALLY REALLY hoping that everything goes well here and that there is no problem with the slave and the connection between the two...

I appreciate all the help here...just wish this weren't so drawn out, but I know doing it myself that I'm probably taking more care with my truck and def saving myself a ton of money (but NOT time!!!)... UNLUCKILY covid has shut down NYC and kept me out of work, so it's okay that the truck sits on the street (also alternate side parking regulations are suspended). Kind of a good time to have a clutch crisis, but I'm still tryna get the truck on the road asap!!

sidenote...I'm thinking about keeping those plastic fender guards off the truck...removing the other three...I don't think that plastic look is very elegant at all....thoughts? about anything?

I tried to unclude some pics to make the post a little more interesting...

Keep the splash guards if you can. They keep the engine bay mch cleaner and easier to work on.

Also, keep the master off the truck until the whole system is bled. What I do is turn the master upside down, have a buddy crack the bleeder at the slave, then I'll push the master cyl rod inwards to flush fluid out of the slave. Then hold the pushrod in while my buddy closes the bleeder. Should only take 3-4 pumps to bleed. What this does is moves the reservoir line "above" the feed line to the slave, and moves the pressure side coming out of the master "below" the end of the piston stroke, so no air can get trapped between the two and it all gets pushed out. It's very common for air to become completely trapped in that master when it is installed and has air introduced into it.

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2001.5 2.3 213xxx and counting
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Don't bother looking for 1st gear synchros, I bought the last one