i believe my transmission has melted down!

[lifted4x4ranger]

I have a 1990 2.3 5speed manual ranger with 4x4 (not push button). 31 inch tires and 2 inch lift. Purchased it 2 months ago. Ran fine until one day in 5th gear it let go and smoke came into the cab while going 65 mph. 4x4 still works fine and i only got 4th gear. At any other gear i can just hear the cluth slipping like crazy. I noriced alot of fluid under the truck too. It has a hydraulic clutch. I think tranny is the 50d-r1??? Truck has less than 100,000 miles on it and near perfect shape. Also how do i get the tranny out. It seems to be stuck? Its unbolted, driveshafts unbolted. Everythings unbolted but it still wont budge. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[DFracing]

when i was doing my last tranny, there was a bolt right up on top right next to the firewall that was keeping me from pulling the tranny.just double check all the bolts.

 

[Explorin94]

I have a 1990 2.3 5speed manual ranger with 4x4 (not push button). 31 inch tires and 2 inch lift. Purchased it 2 months ago. Ran fine until one day in 5th gear it let go and smoke came into the cab while going 65 mph. 4x4 still works fine and i only got 4th gear. At any other gear i can just hear the cluth slipping like crazy. I noriced alot of fluid under the truck too. It has a hydraulic clutch. I think tranny is the 50d-r1??? Truck has less than 100,000 miles on it and near perfect shape. Also how do i get the tranny out. It seems to be stuck? Its unbolted, driveshafts unbolted. Everythings unbolted but it still wont budge. Any help would be appreciated.

You should have 8 bolts total holding the transmission to the engine. Make sure you have unbolted the inspection plate as it will hold it in place...starter also. If it is still stuck you may need to pry it off as it is stuck, and probably at the pilot bearing. The transmission is an M5OD-R1. These transmissions are easy to rebuilt but can get pricey depending on what is needed. The reason that you oinly have 4th is because 4th is a 1:1 through the transmission and doesn't use the lower cluster shaft gear.

 

[lifted4x4ranger]

I got the starter off and i seen 6 bolt spots. But top 2 bolts were missing. I read that only 4th is like that but also i have a pdf file of the transmission showing a conplete breakdown of it and it states that all gears use synchhronizers. Im not home at the moment and wont be for a few days but when i get there ill give it a good lookover and ill update on everything.

 

[tx3nc]

I got the starter off and i seen 6 bolt spots. But top 2 bolts were missing. I read that only 4th is like that but also i have a pdf file of the transmission showing a conplete breakdown of it and it states that all gears use synchhronizers. Im not home at the moment and wont be for a few days but when i get there ill give it a good lookover and ill update on everything.

Yes, 4th gear has a synchronizer, it has to or you wouldn't be able to shift into it when in motion. The syncro for 4th gear is shared with 3rd. HOWEVER, 4th 'gear' is not a gear at all. When the 3/4 syncro for 4th speed is engaged, the input shaft is locked to the output shaft and the gear ratio is 1:1.

It is common on these transmissions for the oil to leak out of the top of the transmission at the three shifter rails. There are 3 rubber plugs at the back of the shifter assembly, and when they dry out and harden the oil starts to leak. If the transmission ran dry, all kinds of bad things happen. It's possible the ball bearings for the counter shaft are gone and the counter shaft fell away from the main shaft which would cause you to lose 1,2,3,5 and R.

Pull the trans top cover after you get it out, but if you see that kind of carnage, I would suggest getting a junkyard trans and freshening it up. Remember these transmissions use 5.6 PINTS of Automatic Transmission Fluid, NOT gear oil.

One other thing that might be holding you up, did you pull the shift lever and remove the plate that is bolted to the floor board (under the carpet) that the shifter goes through. Some might say removing that plate isn't necessary, but pulling it out made removing and installing the transmission much easier for me.