98 3.0 Automatic to 98 Compatible Manual Tranny

[azrangerman85]

Please help me . Can anyone point me to the correct order of operations to swap my transmission to manual?

Bell housing ? same or different? what Must I do to leave my engine as is and just change the tranny?

 

[sgtsandman]

Manual transmission bell housings are very engine specific. You'll need one that came in a Ranger with the same engine. You will need the wire harness from that engine since the electrical connections and inputs are different. You need the ECM from that vehicle too along with the pedal assembly, and the master cylinder for the clutch. It's do able and I'm sure I'm missing something.

Oh, the driveshafts may be different lengths. Look for that. The driveshaft on my RWD 1998 was tough to find since most Rangers are automatic and the transmission itself tend to be longer than a manual. I don't know if that holds true for 4X4 Rangers or not but it probably does.

 

[RonD]

You will need a 1991 to 2008 M5OD-R1(M5R1) manual transmission from a 3.0l 4WD Ranger or Mazda B3000 4WD(1994-2008)

Must be from 3.0l and must be for/from a 4x4
Bell housing is NOT detachable
Your current transfer case will bolt to a 4WD manual trans

Need the clutch-brake pedal assembly from 1998-2000 Ranger/Mazda with manual trans, any engine size and 2WD or 4WD doesn't matter

Clutch Master, flywheel and clutch kit

You computer will work as is but..................you will want to get a 1998 3.0l manual trans computer as the CEL(check engine light) will be on all the time because the current "automatic trans" computer has no feedback from the automatic trans it used to control
1998 had no PATS to deal with

 

[don4331]

You will need the wire harness from that engine since the electrical connections and inputs are different.

To be clear: the OP needs the wiring harness for the transmission (the wiring harness separates in the engine compartment for the different transmissions). The rest of the harness for the engine is the same.

As pointed out by RonD: Your existing ECM will work, it will just have a permanent CEL on. Opposite way i.e manual to auto doesn't work without appropriate ECM.

3.0 4x4 manuals are rare. It is possible to mix 4x4 manual parts with 3.0 4x2 manual to build a 3.0 manual, but that is more work (and required some specialized tools).

 

[azrangerman85]

To be clear: the OP needs the wiring harness for the transmission (the wiring harness separates in the engine compartment for the different transmissions). The rest of the harness for the engine is the same.

As pointed out by RonD: Your existing ECM will work, it will just have a permanent CEL on. Opposite way i.e manual to auto doesn't work without appropriate ECM.

3.0 4x4 manuals are rare. It is possible to mix 4x4 manual parts with 3.0 4x2 manual to build a 3.0 manual, but that is more work (and required some specialized tools).

i dont think they are rare I have seen quite a few locally on offerup

 

[RonD]

"Standard" transmission was a manual transmission since there were vehicles with transmissions, lol
And the word "standard" came to mean a manual transmission

If you wanted an automatic transmission you had to pay extra
Until the late 1990s
Automatics became the "standard" from vehicle makers and you pay extra for a manual trans if...............its even an option

Now-a-days Auto braking and traction control rely on having automatics, pretty hard to do these safely with a manual trans

So yes, after the mid-1990's most Rangers would have automatics, but there were plenty of manuals made, just fewer than automatics
Manuals are usually found in the 4cyl Rangers since the point of a 4cyl Ranger was MPG and manuals have better MPG

But there will be 3.0l manual 4x4s to be found

 

[azrangerman85]

Manual transmission bell housings are very engine specific. You'll need one that came in a Ranger with the same engine. You will need the wire harness from that engine since the electrical connections and inputs are different. You need the ECM from that vehicle too along with the pedal assembly, and the master cylinder for the clutch. It's do able and I'm sure I'm missing something.

Oh, the driveshafts may be different lengths. Look for that. The driveshaft on my RWD 1998 was tough to find since most Rangers are automatic and the transmission itself tend to be longer than a manual. I don't know if that holds true for 4X4 Rangers or not but it probably does.

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If I order a 3.0 4x4 manual version of this willl I need to worry about the bell housing bolt pattern matching?

 

[RonD]

Should be fine
3.0l and 4x4 version is what you want

 

[azrangerman85]

Should be fine
3.0l and 4x4 version is what you want

so you don't think Id need to worry about 3.0 engine pattern and the bell housing ?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

so you don't think Id need to worry about 3.0 engine pattern and the bell housing ?

Yes, you need the 3.0 engine pattern bellhousing. Other engine patterns will NOT work. The bellhousing is not removeable from these transmissions.

 

[don4331]

Strange that they don't have engine option as that is critical.

3.0 4x4 transmissions are less common.

If you were buying a 2.3 4cylinder, you were cheap and manual was less expensive then automatic. It also provided better performance from the limited power available. And dealerships only ordered in 2.3 manual 4x4s to be able to advertise "lowest cost 4wd" Ford discontinued option fairly early (say about '00)​

​

The 3.0 engine was discontinued in '09, so for last 3 years production, you couldn't even get that option. And a lot of people wanted automatics, e.g. your truck.​

​

For the majority of people, if you were springing for 4wd, the cost of 4.0 over 3.0 was insignificant.​

​

So, while there are 3.0 4wd manuals out there, they aren't as common as 4.0 ones.​

​

p.s. Year doesn't matter for you as you have a 4wd. In 4x2 transmissions, some uears need the speedometer gear/hole.

 

[azrangerman85]

"Standard" transmission was a manual transmission since there were vehicles with transmissions, lol
And the word "standard" came to mean a manual transmission

If you wanted an automatic transmission you had to pay extra
Until the late 1990s
Automatics became the "standard" from vehicle makers and you pay extra for a manual trans if...............its even an option

Now-a-days Auto braking and traction control rely on having automatics, pretty hard to do these safely with a manual trans

So yes, after the mid-1990's most Rangers would have automatics, but there were plenty of manuals made, just fewer than automatics
Manuals are usually found in the 4cyl Rangers since the point of a 4cyl Ranger was MPG and manuals have better MPG

But there will be 3.0l manual 4x4s to be found

I appreciate the input

 

[RonD]

Yes, if there was no selection for 3.0l engine model M5OD-R1(M5R1) then cancel the order

There were 7 versions of the M5R1, NONE are interchangeable
2.3l/2.5l SOHC, 2WD and 4WD
2.9l/4.0l, 2WD and 4WD
3.0l, 2WD and 4WD
2.3l DOHC 2WD only

M5R1 is a MODEL number, not what it fits
Like a "Ranger" is a Ford model, could be regular cab or extended cab, 2WD or 4WD, could have a 4cyl engine or a V6
"Ranger" just tells you the Ford model not what it is specifically
M5R1 just tells you the model not what it is specifically

 

[sgtsandman]

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If I order a 3.0 4x4 manual version of this willl I need to worry about the bell housing bolt pattern matching?

As long as it is for the 3.0, you won't have a worry but it MUST be for a 3.0. As others stated, the bell housing is part of the transmission case. So, they are not interchangeable. There are exceptions to this but since you have a 3.0, none of those exceptions apply. 3.0 and 3.0 only.