M5R1 Rebuild Kit Identification

[crazyramen]

Hey all,

My new 2001 Edge 4.0 Manual is going to need the syncros replaced soon. I was hoping to be able to buy the kit before opening it up so I can rebuild it as quick as possible. My issue is that there's three kits I've found, and all the sellers I've called have said that there's no way to know which version I have without opening it up.
The options I've found for the M5R1 are:

1. 5TH & REV SLIDER HAVE 36 TEETH & 2ND SYNCHRO IS SINGLE PIECE DESIGN
2. 5TH & REV SLIDER HAVE 30 TEETH & 2ND SYNCHRO IS SINGLE PIECE DESIGN
3. 2ND SYNCHRO IS A MULTI PIECE DESIGN

The markings on my trans are
6L54
FA
E432230

My understanding is that the first two lines compile the part number and the last line is the serial, but I haven't found any resources that can identify the P/N.

Figured I'd ask here as a hail mary to see if anyone here has any insight into this before I decide to open it up and go a month (due to shipping time) without a vehicle.

 

[Shran]

It will not be kit #1, that is for early trucks...88, 89 and only applicable for a couple years.

My guess is that it'll be kit #3, I believe the 2nd gear synchro changed in 2000 or so... I have used kit #2 several times for early 90's transmissions.

 

[crazyramen]

It will not be kit #1, that is for early trucks...88, 89 and only applicable for a couple years.

My guess is that it'll be kit #3, I believe the 2nd gear synchro changed in 2000 or so... I have used kit #2 several times for early 90's transmissions.

Dang. That’s what I was afraid of. That kit is $1k rather than $300. Maybe I’ll have to just find one in a junkyard.

 

[Shran]

wut. Where are you sourcing your parts? eBay? I see there is one listing for part # ZMBK247BWS that is over $1000... do NOT buy that. I would contact one of these companies and see if they have that part number or just BK247BWS (it's the same thing.) The ZM just stands for Zumbrota Drivetrain.

Cobra Transmission
Allstate Gear
USA Standard Gear
AMP Distributing

I have purchased multiple M5OD rebuild kits in the past and never spent over $200. I can see option #3 costing a bit more since it's late(r) model parts but you can buy a reman trans from RockAuto for less than a grand.

 

[crazyramen]

wut. Where are you sourcing your parts? eBay? I see there is one listing for part # ZMBK247BWS that is over $1000... do NOT buy that. I would contact one of these companies and see if they have that part number or just BK247BWS (it's the same thing.) The ZM just stands for Zumbrota Drivetrain.

Cobra Transmission
Allstate Gear
USA Standard Gear
AMP Distributing

I have purchased multiple M5OD rebuild kits in the past and never spent over $200. I can see option #3 costing a bit more since it's late(r) model parts but you can buy a reman trans from RockAuto for less than a grand.

Cool thanks for that advice. I was looking at drivetrain.com - it was the only one in my basic google search for “M5R1 rebuild kit” that had the two part kit. But taking their DTS prefix off it yields better google results.

 

[Jim_Philly]

Cool thanks for that advice. I was looking at drivetrain.com - it was the only one in my basic google search for “M5R1 rebuild kit” that had the two part kit. But taking their DTS prefix off it yields better google results.

What did you end up going with? About to rebuild my 2003...

 

[crazyramen]

What did you end up going with? About to rebuild my 2003...

I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm planning on just taking a while longer and not ordering the parts until I have it apart. I'll update when I get it cracked open.

 

[Jim_Philly]

From what I'm seeing, the kits that fit the multi-piece 2nd gear synchro (BK247BWS) are $600 and up on any site that sells it. I wonder if you can just replace the 2nd gear synchro entirely with the older one-piece design to avoid the expense.

 

[crazyramen]

Yeah I thought about that, too. I think I'll probably try to go with whatever came on it to try and preserve the performance.

I imagine they would be. Maybe double check with the seller and make sure that there's only one size 2nd gear - that'd probably mean the syncros are the same size too

 

[Shran]

From what I'm seeing, the kits that fit the multi-piece 2nd gear synchro (BK247BWS) are $600 and up on any site that sells it. I wonder if you can just replace the 2nd gear synchro entirely with the older one-piece design to avoid the expense.

I have yet to dig into a late model M5OD but I would almost bet money that you cannot. I found a few pictures of the 2nd gear synchro (Ford part number 2L5Z-7124-BA, in case you're wondering) and it looks MUCH different than the older style (older M5OD synchros are all the same on 1, 2, 3 and 4th gears.) So that probably means the hub and slider is also different, possibly 2nd gear itself as well.

I suspect that the cost of the rebuild kit is possibly because there is no aftermarket supplier for that particular part yet and they are stuck with using a very expensive OEM part but I have no proof of that.

 

[Jim_Philly]

So I could cobble together my own synchro ring kit using 2L5Z-7124-BA as the part number for the second gear ring?

EDIT: Realized that's they synchro assembly not the blocking ring, nevermind!

 

[adsm08]

wut. Where are you sourcing your parts? eBay? I see there is one listing for part # ZMBK247BWS that is over $1000... do NOT buy that. I would contact one of these companies and see if they have that part number or just BK247BWS (it's the same thing.) The ZM just stands for Zumbrota Drivetrain.

Cobra Transmission
Allstate Gear
USA Standard Gear
AMP Distributing

I have purchased multiple M5OD rebuild kits in the past and never spent over $200. I can see option #3 costing a bit more since it's late(r) model parts but you can buy a reman trans from RockAuto for less than a grand.

I ran into this as well when I bought my kit. The one for the multi-piece 2nd gear slider was over $800 at Cobra.

 

[crazyramen]

I have yet to dig into a late model M5OD but I would almost bet money that you cannot. I found a few pictures of the 2nd gear synchro (Ford part number 2L5Z-7124-BA, in case you're wondering) and it looks MUCH different than the older style (older M5OD synchros are all the same on 1, 2, 3 and 4th gears.) So that probably means the hub and slider is also different, possibly 2nd gear itself as well.

I suspect that the cost of the rebuild kit is possibly because there is no aftermarket supplier for that particular part yet and they are stuck with using a very expensive OEM part but I have no proof of that.

So that 2nd gear syncro assembly looks to be $220ish. I assume is be able to buy a different rebuild kit + this ring assembly and still come out to ~$500 - less that the cheapest full assembly I could find. Am I missing something? It seemed like all the other parts were the same.

 

[Shran]

So that 2nd gear syncro assembly looks to be $220ish. I assume is be able to buy a different rebuild kit + this ring assembly and still come out to ~$500 - less that the cheapest full assembly I could find. Am I missing something? It seemed like all the other parts were the same.

I honestly don't know. RockAuto and Zumbrota both say that the bearing kit (ZMBK247) fits 88-11 M5R1s so I assume that you're safe there. I imagine that you could buy the BK247AWS kit with synchros for earlier trucks and the 2nd gear assembly like you said and be OK but since I have no experience inside the newer transmissions I won't promise that to be accurate.

If you do go ahead with this, please keep us posted with whether it works or not.

 

[crazyramen]

I certainly will! I'll probably have it apart next weekend and will update then.