Sloppy Trans issue....

[Dddaviso7]

Driving home from work today I realized my trans has a lot of play..... It wasn't like this yesterday. When I take off in first my shifter moves to the right pretty far, under acceleration..... Then when I'm in any other gear, there is a little bit of play.... I have a 1994 2.3l with the m5OD....

Any idea as to what's wrong? It really feels like the trans is moving in 1st (under acceleration)

Any input would be appreciated.

-Davis

 

[fleck]

If your shifter is sloppy you need this http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/m5r1-M5R2-SHIFTER-REPAIR-KIT-RANGER-EXPLORE-F150_W0QQitemZ140297637189QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item140297637189&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A64|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

 

[Dddaviso7]

Will that fix my first gear problem? It's hard to explain, but the shifter moves very far off to the right when I take off. It honestly feels like the trans is twisting.

-Davis

 

[LittleHorse]

worn bushings just make the shifter sloppy.

movement on accel and decel usually indicate a loose or broken motor mount, allowing the engine and trans to rock to the side under torque. other than just shifter movement, your fan could contact the shroud, and the extra movement allowed by the broken mount can then break the remaining good mount.

the mounts are flexible, so some movement is normal.

 

[Dddaviso7]

I didn't even think about that, but that's exactly what it feels like.

It only does it in 1st gear though. I can mash the gas in any other gear and the shifter doesn't pull. Also, It doesn't do it when I rev the engine. Is a motor mount still a possibility? If so, How hard are they to change?

 

[LittleHorse]

I didn't even think about that, but that's exactly what it feels like.

It only does it in 1st gear though. I can mash the gas in any other gear and the shifter doesn't pull. Also, It doesn't do it when I rev the engine. Is a motor mount still a possibility? If so, How hard are they to change?

First gear multiplies the torque most out of all of them, so during first gear is when there will be the most torque exerted back on the transmission output shaft.

How far is it moving? If it's less than an inch and it's only moving in first gear, that's probably a normal amount of movement. I had a broken mount on a Taurus SHO that would let the intake manifold hit the hood and push it up an inch at the hinges on every shift up to about 4th gear (of course, those *were* 7,000RPM shifts). It was also pulling apart the flex joint in the exhaust so I had an exhaust leak that only existed under hard acceleration.


If it comes to replacing it, there's good news - it's better than doing it on an SHO . It's all relative though - I don't know anything about your mechanical abilities. I'd say it's easier than a clutch job but harder than replacing an axle seal. The main idea is to unbolt the mount, lift the engine, replace mount, lower engine, replace bolts, but there's some key ideas there like not crushing the oil pan (or your fingers), and whether or not there's any other parts blocking access. My 2.9 doesn't look too bad, but I haven't looked that closely at it. Yours being 2WD will give you more room to work without a front drivetrain in there.

 

[Dddaviso7]

It's pulling pretty far over. If i take off very easy, it doesn't pull much at all, but a normal take off, it pulls about 3-4 inches, i'd say. I'm going to take it over to my uncle's house and me and him are going to look it over. He's a mechanic by trade and hobby, so he'll be able to help out if need be.

I looked at the mount, It looks fairly straight forward. Thanks for your help!

-Davis

 

[LittleHorse]

no problem, glad I could help! Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Dddaviso7]

I never could get my uncle to look at it.... I pulled it in the garage at work the other day and me and a friend were looking around. He believes its the driver side that is bad. I Realized I can rock the motor back and forth by hand.... So I went ahead and bought the mounts. I got lucky, A friend of the family had 1 and he gave it to me for free. The other one i got for 20$ shipped. I'm going to be replacing them sometime this week. Hopefully that solves the transmission problem.

 

[rboyer]

This would be a longshot but check the bolts on your bellhousing just to make sure they are tight. Also a bad U-joint can cause something like that under certain circumstances.

 

[fleck]

You can rock any motor back and forth with your hands, that's not how you determine that engine mounts are bad.