1992 Ford 5-Speed Transmission Issues

[AaronK]

I was going to school today and i put it in third and it made a hellish noise so i pulled it out of third and rolled into a drive way to turn around and head home. I managed to pop it into first with difficulty and limp it into the turn lane right outside my neighborhood. And there in the turn lane it would "go" into first but it would't move. I had to have the cops push me into my street and the whole time the truck would lurch as they were pushing me. My dad showed up and he pushed me with his truck and i also discovered that if i push in the clutch it didn't lurch anymore. We got it home and i put it in neutral pushed in the clutch and turned the key. It seemed to be going good so far so i let out the clutch and it died. It is in neutral as far as i can tell but it still dies when i let out the clutch. I am able to shift it into the gears with difficulty but i can only rev and it wont go anywhere. Please help any suggestions are welcome. Sorry for the long post.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Is it 4x4 or 2wd? Perthaps it's not the trans that has went bad but maybe the rear end, or transfer case, or front end. Difficulty shifting points to the transmission but not being able to go once in gear points to something other than transmission. It may be the shift forks are so worn that the transmission is in two gears at once so is locked up. If 2wd, chock a front wheel and jack the rear wheels off the ground and set on jack stands. See if it will shift through gears. Fire it up and see if the rear wheels turn while shifting through gears. Be careful to not rev the engine and use the brake while in nuetral or on the clutch to stop the driveline from turning before shutting down the engine. You can do the same if 4x4 IF you put the front on jackstands too.
PLEASE BE CAREFUL!

 

[RonD]

1992 Ranger will have the very reliable, most of the time, M5OD-R1 transmission.

Try this, put shifter in 4th gear, see if truck will move, if so then, you have a blown input gear, which means the transmission was run low on oil/ATF.
While there are no common problems with this transmission running low on oil will cause input gear failure.
4th gear doesn't use input gear, the other 4 gears do.

If 4th gear doesn't work either then it could be a shifting fork issue which would still require you to pull out the transmission to fix the problem.
The stalling in Neutral points more towards shifting forks.

You will need to either rebuild it or get another M5OD-R1.
If a shifting fork problem then only partial rebuild needed but close inspection of the rest of the trans would decide that.

Good news is that a used M5OD-R1 is a fairly good gamble, they last.

Bad news is that the bell housing is not detachable, so you need an M5OD-R1 for your specific engine, 2.3l, 3.0l or 4.0l(2.9l and 4.0l are the same).

And 2wd or 4x4 needs to be the same as well

If 2WD you will also want a 1994 or earlier model as it will have speedometer cable hook up.
4x4 had that on transfer case, so any year 4x4 M5OD-R1 is OK

M5OD-R1 is also called M5R1 or just M5
rebuilt they go from $800-$1,000

Used about 1/2 that

 

[AaronK]

Replys

Oh i forgot to mention that its a 2 wheel drive. And thank you for the quick reply's. Ill try what you guys said to do and keep you posted. And it wouldn't surprise me if it had little to no fluid in it due to that fact that the certified mechanic who replaced the clutch left two spark plugs hand tight.....

 

[AaronK]

Shifting Forks?

I tried to put it in fourth and it didn't want to go into that so i tried first and the truck would move in spot. Its hard to explain but when i gave it some gas it would go forward a bit "in place" then rock back to the spot it was in when i let off the gas. And its now stuck in first gear.

 

[RonD]

Reads more like shift fork problem with that description.
The shifting forks select the different gears but also prevent 2 gears from being engaged at the same time, that would be a bad thing, lol, and stalling in Neutral reads like 2 gears are engaged at the same time, also the just described "rocking" effect.

I would look around(internet), call around(wrecking yards), for used M5R1 transmissions.
Remember it HAS TO match your engine size and be 2WD 1994 or earlier.
You may be able to use up to '97 but would have to remove tail shaft housing to install the speedo gear

See what the going rate is in your area.
That will give you an idea of best way to go, just spend a day swapping out with another trans or spend a few days finding out what is wrong inside and fixing that, then reinstall.

 

[AaronK]

Transmission Fluid

Will do Ron. Oh and i also pulled the drain plug on the transmission and a little trickle of black fluid that looked like oil came out. And also on the end of the plug on that magnet were flakes of metal and also a pea sized chunk of metal. And that fluid is like sludge. Ill keep you posted on what i do next. Thanks for the advice!

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Sounds like your transmision is on it's last legs. You may be able to temporarily fix it by removing the shifter and using a long screwdriver, moving the gears so they are in a neutral position. The best description I can give is; It should look like one side is a mirror image of the other and the top is a mirror image of the bottom. This will allow the trans to shift normally again,..... until it f*%ks up again.

 

[AaronK]

It Moves In Neutral

The gears that i am able to shift into don't move the truck. But when i put it into the so called "neutral" spot it's able to move forward. What would this be shift forks?

 

[AaronK]

Align It With A screwdriver

And how would i align it? Would i look through the shift hole or would i have to drop the transmission?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Look through the shifter hole. I believe its the shift forks that are supposed to be aligned. I don't know the proper terms.....sorry.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

 

[RonD]

Look here: http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/winter2007/shifterbushings.htm

Last picture shows 2 of the 3 shift slots lined up, all 3 need to be lined up to be in Neutral.

But I think one of the shift forks has broken or is no longer attached to it's rail.

And trans will need to be removed, but if the trans fluid is what you described the I think you will need to do a complete rebuild or get a used transmission.

The M5OD-R1 use ATF(automatic transmission fluid), yes ATF, some people, even mechanics will put gear oil in, 90w, this will work but trans will slowly get destroyed, gear oil is to thick.

ATF is a nice Red color not black and a little trickle is not good either, should be full up to the top "fill" plug

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I'll defer to Ron's knowledge, he has a lot more experience than I do.

 

[RonD]

I'll defer to Ron's knowledge, he has a lot more experience than I do.

I don't think that is true.

Although........I do drain my oil by removing the drain plug, vs using the oil filler tube as shown in your picture

 

[jeremysdad]

I don't think that is true.

Although........I do drain my oil by removing the drain plug, vs using the oil filler tube as shown in your picture

Hahahahaha! Good Sunday morning chuckle!

Back to the topic...definitely sounds like your transmission gave up the ghost op.