tk5 trans shifter issue

dispatchrobb · Sep 16, 2011

Just purchased an 89 Bronco II, that's had the TK5 transmission supposedly rebuilt. The shifter is extremely loose, yet when I take it off, the ball and shifter appear to be all there. The issue is I cannot get it to go into gear, most of the time, like it's not lined up, and sometimes it will go right in. Sometimes when the clutch is depressed it's still sort of in gear, and sometimes its fine. When the engine is off, it will go right in, but sometimes when its running, it won't go in. The part in the trans that the ball of the shifter sits in seems very loose as well, it moves all over the place and rotates very freely. I looked at a schematic at a ford dealer and it showed a bolt in this part, but I think it's missing that bolt. Would that tighten this thing up without replacing the shifter? I will try to post some pics to hopefully show what I'm talking about. It's very frustrating driving this thing.

Thanks in advance.

John Smith · Sep 16, 2011

I was just purking and noticed your post..

This may not help you but a couple of things come to mind. How new is this car to you?...Since a TK-5 never came in an 89..perhaps the fellow you bought it form may have an answer to what may be happening inside the trans?...

It's been a while since i had a shifter off of a tk-5 and i can' t remember exactly what they look like vs: a tk-4..i know ONE of them has a detent spring in the tower but i can't remember which...but sound like there may be some internal issues anyway..

Can you take the car back to who sold it to you to get some answers?...probably not...but since someone obviously change it over from what it originally came with they may have some ideas....

anyway good luck

martin · Sep 16, 2011

What you describe is the clutch not fully disengaging.

dispatchrobb · Sep 16, 2011

Yeah, the guy I bought it from did a swap to this transmission. He just said it was because the shifter was plastic and messed up, but after I took it off it looks normal to me. I just got a tk4 shifter, which is the metal one, and it has a spring in the tower, and the tk5 plastic one does not have a spring. Not sure why one has one and the other doesn't, if they can be swapped. The previous owner said he rebuilt the trans completely, and it went back together the way it came apart, so either something broke since then, or it was broke prior to him "rebuilding it".
I'm about to install the new shifter, so hopefully this will help with the troubleshooting. If it's still shifting bad, I'll know it wasn't the shifter.
I really would like to find out if there is a bolt that holds the receiver part in the transmission to the shaft it rides on.

dispatchrobb · Sep 16, 2011

Update. I installed the tk4 shifter, which lined up with the bolts perfectly, so no drilling, and it tightened up the shifter like a normal shifter. However, it won't go into ANY gear now when the vehicle is running, but shifts fine when it's not running, so now I'm wondering if it's the clutch not disengaging fully. I usually put it in gear and start it, and then while I'm driving it will shift, harder in first and second, but easier in third through fifth. Grinds when I try to put it in reverse at a stand still. Could it be that the guy used a wrong master cylinder for this set up and it doesn't push the slave far enough? The pedal does seem a bit weird, but again, sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't so maybe something is hanging up? I live in an apartment so I can't just take this transmission out in the parking lot to check.

dispatchrobb · Sep 16, 2011

..... oh, and if anyone knows, do I really need that spring inside the metal shifter cover of the tk4? It seems to shift fine without it.

John Smith · Sep 16, 2011

if i remember right...

the spring has more to do with the reverse gate?...not sure..i know the tk-4 is desired for replacement cuz it's metal...

about the master slave...hard to tell what has been done there...make sure it's full and bled properly....then we not sure which clutch or disk is used...has ths been run successfly for a while..or ...

dispatchrobb · Sep 16, 2011

I'm having trouble with the troubleshooting because I'm not sure the person that did the work is correct in what he's telling me. I just bought this 89 Bronco II, that's been lifted and the trans was replaced with a supposedly rebuilt tk5, with the clutch parts replaced. I have at this point fixed the shifter problem, but now it's shown me another problem. So I'm going off of what the guy's telling me. I'm just starting over from scratch with the troubleshooting. I've figured out the clutch pedal has quite a bit of slack in it before it appears to push the fluid to the slave. I can pump it a couple quick times and it feels like it will build up pressure to release the clutch, but then immediatly goes back to the slack, but when depressing it, it does tighten up about half way and pushes the slave a bit and appears to hold that part of the pressure. Sometimes it would work fine and I could drive it with no problem, and other times it just plain doesn't work, it's not an all the time problem which is what was thowing me a bit along with the loose shifter issue.
So, after all my blabbing, I'm assuming the master cylinder has a bad seal, so I'm going to start there, replace that, and bleed the line and see what happens.

84bluebronco2 · Sep 16, 2011

Does it have an external slave cylinder?

Insanejughead · Sep 17, 2011

I agree with everyone else. You have a slave cylinder/throwout fork/pressure plate issue there.

dispatchrobb · Sep 17, 2011

Another update. Replaced the Master cylinder thinking a seal in there was bad, then tried to bleed it, and nothing would come out. I'd push the pedal and nothing, I'd suck it out with a suction gun and nothing. So I take the resivoir off just to check, and there's a paper disk, like out of a brake fluid cap, inside the resivoir. So, I removed that, and wow, fluid flows, but now spent all day trying to bleed this thing and nothing, can not get this bled whatsoever. Fluid flows just fine, gravity bleeding it will flow for a bit then it seems to stop, not sure if it's supposed to just flow out or what. So now I guess it's the slave cylinder that's screwed up, and it's an internal slave. So I'm outta luck till I can get it somewhere to fix that.

tk5 trans shifter issue

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