2.3L ('83-'97) 1990 5 speed maual ford ranger

[Tb1776]

I have a 1990 ranger, 5 speed manual, It was shifting perfectly fine, clutch is springy, but when I stopped at a sign I couldn't get it to shift, when I tried to force it in 1st it died, it could shift while it was off, so I pushed it to the sided of the road and left it for the night, came back the next morning ran it through all the gears turned off but no reverse and turned it on, and it shifted just fine, I was able to drive it home so idk what happened, anything like that happen to you?

 

[Ramcharger90]

How much fluid is in the reservoir for the clutch?

Most likely a leaking slave cylinder.

My 98 did something similar but I never had the same problem again ran for years like that.

 

[RonD]

Yes, check the fluid level in the clutch reservoir under the hood, may have run dry which is a bad thing , its a hard system to bleed air out of

 

[Tb1776]

The reservoir is full and it's still shifting fine, I tested reverse and it is still there, is it a possibilty of a cooling issue in the tranny?

 

[RonD]

No, you have an M5OD-R1(M5R1) manual transmission and they were fairly bullet proof

You can check fluid level, it uses ATF, yes automatic transmission fluid in a manual trans
Mercon V, 2.8 quarts bone dry, so usually only takes 2 quarts on a drain and refill
But over heating was never an issue with these

99.9% of shifting issues in Rangers was clutch issue


How it works
Transmission can not be disconnected from rear wheels, so transmission is always spinning at rear wheel speed
Engine can be disconnected from transmission, using the clutch
Engine idles at say 700 RPMs
When stopped transmission is at 0 RPMs, rear wheel speed

In neutral the clutch is spinning at engine RPM
When you push the clutch pedal down the clutch disc is unclamped from between flywheel and pressure plate which are always spinning at engine RPM, say 700
To put trans into ANY gear, when stopped, the clutch disc must slow down to 0 RPMs, to match transmission RPMs
IF.....there is any rubbing on flywheel or pressure plate(700 RPMs), the clutch disc can't slow down to 0 RPMs so you can't shift it into any gear
If you shut off the engine, then its now at 0 RPMs and you can shift into any gear, RPMs at matched

If you restart engine in gear, clutch pedal down, and it jumps forward(1st gear) or backwards(Reverse gear) than means the clutch disc is still rubbing on flywheel or pressure plate
So a clutch issue, disc is not being fully disengaged/released from flywheel or pressure plate

In Rangers this often means air in the hydraulic clutch system, so it needs to be bled, getting the air out
Could also be a failing Slave(inside bell housing), or failing Master(on clutch pedal)

 

[scotts90ranger]

also when checking fluid level, be sure to remove the diaphragm in the reservoir and not fill the diaphragm...