How's your 5-speed tranny holding up?

[Remodelboy]

My son just bought his first vehicle - 2002 Ranger Supercab with the 2.3L and 5-speed. On the way back from buying it, I noticed a slight whine in 5th gear that would show up when I pressed on the gas slightly and dissapeared when I let up on the pedal.

The previous owner said that he just had the tranny rebuilt and overall it shifts well - not sportscar smooth, but kind of heavy duty, like a bigger truck.

It has larger tires on it and on the freeway, even though the speedo said 55 and 60, I'm pretty sure that I was going about 10 mph faster. I'm thinking that part of the problem was that I was in 5th gear on the freeway, but probably not really going fast enough for 5th gear.

I've just finished reading every thread on this forum about the 4 cyl engines and it seems like most everyone thinks that this engine is strong and will hold up well - even with it's noise and vibrations. I was just trying to find out how well the 5-speed manual transmission will last and if anyone else has that whining noise in 5th gear.

Thanks in advance!

RC

[locovaca]

My 93 has always had a little whine in 5th gear, and I don't think it's necessarily uncommon. Haven't had any problems yet with it.

[Wicked_Sludge]

the M5OD is the best transmission ford put in the ranger, it generally outlasts whatever powerplant its attached to.

[4byRANGER]

4th gear is the only gear in the m5od that is directly on the main shaft(the quitest) all the others run on a different shaft so its normal to hear a little somethin on each gear

[Will]

the M5OD is the best transmission ford put in the ranger, it generally outlasts whatever powerplant its attached to.

Not in my experience. I've never seen a tranny last as long as an engine in anything, except VWs.

[wahlstrom1]

^^^What he said.....I'm on my second M50D now, due to input bearing and synchro wear (no failure, but replaced with spare before I got stranded).

The extra noise is just all the other gears and bearings like previously stated, 4th is usually the quiet gear.

[Hahnsb2]

My dad's 2.3 ranger probably had well over 200K on it when he got it and hes put 90K on it and I drove it for 8 months as my first vehicle, we've both beat the hell out of it and the motor and tranny are still doing great. The tranny has a bit of input bearing and 5th gear noise but it's always had it and it's never gotten any worse.

[oldjohnny]

I hear a small humming/whine (hard to describe) as well. It happens from 65-75 (IIRC) mph on 5th gear. It's very hard to hear sometimes and most of the times I don't notice it, but it has always been there. Granted the truck has a hard time picking up speed on 5th gear, but like you said, it ain't a sports car.

[Beanmachine7000]

My '90 2.3 Ranger had 290K on it when we sold it and it still had the original clutch and M50D and I never did any maintenance on it (I was 16 and stupid)... My '92 2.9 Ranger was on it's third A4LD at 250K and it was beginning to slip when I sold it... As long as you keep fluid in it, it should last... When I bought my Explorer it has some obvious tranny noises, it was completely empty (maybe 5-10% fluid left)... I put some ATF in it and you can still hear it, but it's much quieter now... I'll be rebuilding it this winter so I can live with barely being able to shift it, lol...

[Ferris Bueller]

My 2004 leaks out of the rear seal. It was down to under 1/2 quart when I checked it last november. I got some expensive fluid and installed it. I think I put Redline synthetic in it. Its quieter now but I need to replace the rear seal. Someone told me its an easy job to do. My 2004 has 116,000 on it now.

[jax4bangin]

the whine u hear could also be the rear dif.. maybe check it out, put some fresh gear oil in there. in my owners manual, ford says the rear dif lube shud last the life of the vehicle. but when i took it to get re geared at 44k the mechanic said the bearings were burnt up and i saw it for myself. they reccomend changing the gear oil every like 16k or every 2 years.

[locovaca]

Every 16k miles? Haynes manual says every 100k or when submerged in water. Every 16k seems... excessive.

[jax4bangin]

yea thats wat i thought too but shit its cheaper than 500$ to replace bearings