1995 2.3 Ranger supercab 5 speed 2WD guy from Eastern Washington state

[kwatson72]

Hello everyone. I am a new owner of a 1995 2.3 2WD 5 speed Ranger Super cab. bought from a dealer fairly cheap, but needs more work than I thought. I plan on making this my daily driver. My 2011 RAM has 164k miles and is killing me in gas. Really like this little Ranger, but I have to pull the tranny this weekend. Has a bad rattle as I release the clutch and is a little hard to shift. By the time I end up replacing everything that needs it, I'll probably have a new truck that I can drive for 20 years! That's the plan. Someday I'll put 5.0 in it and have a nice sleeper! I live in a Deer Park, WA, a very small town in northeast Washington state with my wife and two daughters.

 

[RonD]

Welcome to TRS

You have a 2.3l Lima engine, first used in Ford Pinto so often called Pinto engine.
It was made from 1974 to 2001, in 2.0l, 2.3l, and 2.5l versions, very reliable engine
A lot of 2.3l Limas were used in Foxbody Mustangs
1995 was first year 2.3l used VR Crank Sensor, 1994 and older used Hall effect, I mention this only because it limits replacement engines you could use, 1995-1997 2.3l, or 1998-2001 2.5l

You have an M5OD-R1 transmission also called M5R1
It has integrated bellhousing so yours will only fit on another Lima engine, and you could only replace yours with an M5R1 from a Lima engine

M5R1 uses ATF, yes automatic transmission fluid in a manual trans, Mercon V is spec, 2.8quarts bone dry.

Could just be clutch thats making the noise
To shift gears in any manual trans the clutch disc must be fully released so input shaft can match rear wheel/driveshaft RPMs, this is required to mesh the two gears
If clutch is not fully released then you are fighting engine RPMs to match rear wheel RPMs
Hard to get into 1st gear when stopped is always a clutch issue

 

[1qaz]

Welcome! No way to go wrong with input from folks like RonD. Good luck with the clutch and all the other projects and fun ahead.