91 M50D vs 92 M50D

[Brian1973]

Found a used 92 transmission for my 1991 3.0 Ranger.... looking at it, it looks like there is a difference in the speedometer input!?!? Looks like it possibly is all electronic and no mechanical gear attachment... Ford dealer says they should be the same.... this is going to create a problem... all junk yards I looked at searched 91-94 ranger 2wd transmissions for 3.0 as being compatible... either I'm the only one that ever runs into stoopid issues like this or maybe they mislabeled it and it's not really a 92.... grrrrrr

 

[4x4junkie]

AFAIK, all 2WD transmissions have speedo gear ports up until the '98 models. Sounds like someone got their year mixed up.

 

[Brian1973]

Yes, that's what I am thinking too.... everything else looks identical except the speedo port... is there a number on the case I can use to figure the year it REALLY belongs to?

 

[Brian1973]

Salvage yard says I can swap out the electronic for mechanical but I'm not seeing it... hole is right size but my 91 speedo cable has a helical gear on the end of the sensor and goes into the transmission at a 45 degree angle... this *supposed 92 tran has speedo sensor hole that goes in at 90 degrees with straight gear inside the hole....

 

[4x4junkie]

That almost sounds like it could be a '10 or '11 tranny (has an electronic hall-effect sensor), except that the 3.0L didn't exist those years.

Edit:
pic of sensor on a 2010 truck:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/sfr4x4/gif/PICT00361.jpg

 

[Brian1973]

checked the tranny vin number that came on receipt... it does line up with a 92. The only difference I could see is when I ran it on jasper engine site to find a reman, my 91 VIN came back with 3 different versions, the 92 VIN came back with one, which did match up to one of my 91... Also my 91 is an XLT trim package (which I thought was the more upscale), it seems the 92 possibly came back to an S? trim? I'm leaning towards a trim disparity... although nowhere along the lines of looking for a replacement tranny has anyone inquired about it... other than Jasper site... hmmmm Salvage yard says bring in and they will find the right one for me so that's good... just means will take longer I suppose :-(

 

[AllanD]

if the hole in the tailshaft is "Blanked off" (un-drilled)

You can swap over the parts from your old trans, the tailshaft housing, the helical gear
the retaining ring (circlip) and locating ball.

Even though those parts were deleted starting in 1995 (1995 is the first year of electronic speedometers) the provisions remain on the output shaft through '04 (the newest Ranger manual transmission I've personally had apart)

AD

 

[Brian1973]

Yes, I took to salvage yard and they said the tailshaft housing could be taken apart and the straight gear replaced with my helical gear... (unsure what you mean by hole in tailshaft blanked off?)....

I removed tailshaft housing, removed snap ring, slid unwanted gear up and slid wanted gear (helical) into it's place... attached snap ring and put housing together.... they said it was easy and it was... still not sure and maybe I missed the explanation somewhere in there on how a 92 Ranger had an electronic speedometer?

Problem seems to be solved though and hoping the used tranny does what it's suppose to do once I get er back in there.... Thanks for those who gave input... your input is priceless

Brian

 

[Brian1973]

Ok, could use a little more help identifying a transmission that the salvage yard says came from a 1992 Ford Ranger ("It's virtually impossible for us to mislabel something because....").

I've got the transmission in the truck and ready to go.... and wouldn't ya know it, the shift lever I have from my 1991 will not work... it seems the shift lever "hook up?" is about 1/8 - 1/4" lower... therefore the shift lever is a sloppy mess/not engaging properly!

1st, Salvage yard says truck it came from is scrapped... so no recovering the shifter it should have....

2nd, no labels or stamped id on transmission.... why?!?!

3rd, Ford Dealer says all the 91-94 use the same shift lever... I am missing a plastic bushing that goes onto the ball of the shifter (in the middle of the lower portion) but that does not appear to be the issue because below that is the shaft that appears to be short as mentioned....

sooooo, seeing as it had a electronic speedometer and now this issue I'm pretty sure someone somewhere screwed something up and now I've paid by putting the time into this.... If I could identify the transmission I could probably figure a way to get the RIGHT shifter for it... any ideas?!?

The transmission does appear to work when I was able to sorta engage into some gears with engine running... I didn't drive it anywhere as it's very unreliable (sloppy!!!) but it looks like a M50D and after my tailstock swap it's basically the same... looking at the upper plate I wonder if I should have swapped that? but at this point, pulling the transmission AGAIN is really infuriating! Rather find a correct stick!

 

[adsm08]

Pics. At this point of FUBAR we need pics. Right now we are just guessing.

 

[scotts90ranger]

The shifter stub from your original transmission (and bushings as you say it's loose...) should fit in the new tranny assuming they are both M5OD (the only manual transmission put behind 3.0's in Rangers)

 

[Brian1973]

adsm08, LOL

Pics, 1st - the (supposed) '92 Transmission mounted

2nd - the '92 tailstock on old '91 - showing speedometer port - 90 degrees

3rd - the '91 tailstock swapped onto '92 that is mounted now - geared speedometer input shown

 

[Brian1973]

Pics -

1st - gear shifter out of '91

2nd - using a screwdriver showing the depth to seated position of shifter on '91

3rd - seated position of shifter of '92 (seems about 0.25 inches deeper!)

 

[Brian1973]

Only assumptions I can make at this point is that either someone brought the 1992 truck to the salvage yard with a later model tranny in it? Someone mentioned a 1998 tranny started to have electronic speedo... anybody confirm? Ford dealer said possibly 1993....

 

[Brian1973]

Alright, Salvage yard says it's possible 92 had electronic speedo... their system says it was an option?!?! Looking around for some discrepancy in shifters, I found this:

http://allstategear.com/M50D Shifter Repair Kit.htm

towards the bottom, it shows "related parts" and two different shifter stubs... the 1995-1997 stub looks longer!!!! aha moment?!?

now if I can talk sense into the salvage yard that wanted to get me a 1992 shifter which I told them is the same thing I already HAVE!!!