96 for ranger shifter removal HELL.

[the pirate]

96

4 cylinder FI

4 gear with overdrive and a reverse.

2 wd

I am currently trying to remove the shifter from my wife’s 96 ford ranger so I can drop the transmission and replace the clutch system. Easy right? NOT! The freaking shifter is held on by the oddest bolt ever. It is a threaded rod that screws in on one side and seems to be cammed in on the other and has a nut on it. I have tried everything I can think of to try and get this POS off. All the repair manuals I can find say “simply remove the bolt and pull shifter up and off”. Nothing specific about the bolt. More than one manual has said see figure x.x only to have figure x.x be missing! The other manuals don’t have a picture just a non fitting description. I really need to get this truck back on the road ASAP. Please help if you can. I need some ideas here.

Thanks.

 

[pimtool]

Look down further, there is 3 or 4 little torx bit bolts holding a little plate onto the transmission. Remember to fill the hole with a rag or something to keep crap out of the tranny.

 

[racsan]

the nut comes off that "bolt", threads on to the other end and pulls the stud out of the cast shifter partway, its like a tapered cam. yes you also can remove those 3 torx bolts and pull the stub assy with the shift lever together.
________
honey oil

 

[AllanD]

The problem is that once the THREE little bolts are pulled and the stub lever out it is all too easy to INCORRECTLY re-install it.

AD

 

[the pirate]

thanks for the help. The main threaded shaft was STUCK. So I removed the 3 torx bolts. I was sure to mark the alignment of the plate for proper reinstalation. All this is to get the tranny out for a clutch replacement. The question now is this.

What is the easiest way to get the last 2 bolts off of the top of the tranny? I can get to one with a wrench however the other is rather well hidden under and behinde the intake manifold.

 

[Hardwareman]

Yep, I use a wrench or what ever i can fit in there. The two top bolts are definitely the hardest but after that the tranny comes out relatively easy.





Allen

 

[the pirate]

Well I found this thread-

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3192

Going to try the tilt the engine down and attack them at an oblique angle. These puppies are on factory style so I have had no luck with a wrench from the top. They are in to hard. No room for a breaker bar and not in the mood to bust my knuckles if I try to apply the R strength.

I am so used to working on Air-cooled VWs. It has been a very long time since I did ant work on a newer car. I forgot what a pain newer cars can be.

 

[Rocky Ranger]

try a 24" extension on you ratchet and a swivel socket. Pulling the crossmember out and like you said let the engine tilt down will help.
When you go to reinstall the tranny, you might have the same problem I did, that the trany doesnt want to go in the last 3/4" and you might need to draw it in with the bolts. I had every thing installed right, but it seems to be a force fit. I ended up getting a tranny jack cause my son and myself couldn't get in by hand.
"The pain newer cars can be" You can say that again

 

[rboyer]

24" extention works great, just don't apply too much torque against it unless you make sure the extention stays straight on the bolt the whole time! With the crossmember removed and the tranny tilted down, it is prettymuch a straight shot with a long extention. I've found that an impact gun works great if they're not too stuck, but the only problem is that you lose some torque throughout the length of the socket extention which makes an otherwise easily removable bolt feel like it's not going to budge.

 

[racsan]

thats the route i had to take, remove crossmember, lower back of engine/trans, and use a long extention and long-handled 3/8" ratchet. worst part for me was getting the transfer case to seperate from the trans, the steel dowl was rusted in the aluminum case at both ends.
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ipad guides

 

[rboyer]

It's alot easier to seperate the transfer case if you have an air chisel and enough patience to not hammer at it hard enough to crack the aluminum. Other than that it sucks getting them apart.

 

[racsan]

i used a putty knife, didnt want to put a chisel there, lots of WD-40 and it eventually started to move. went back togther a whole lot easier than it came apart.
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Honda CL200 history

 

[NJ 03Mach1]

See what the search feature can do! About to murder someone trying to get this damn thing off and then thought, RangerStation to the rescue and sure enough here it is..

Thanks folks!

 

[adsm08]

um, getting the main shifter off is pretty easy if you know how.

Take the nut off, put it on the other side, and tighten. Then hit it with a hammer.

 

[themadores]

easier than I thought

I took the advice, move the nut on the shifter bolt from the front of the shifter(closest to engine) and put it on the rear of the shifter bolt.
Tighten it as much as possible (did mine with a 17mm box end wrench).

once it's tight, remove the nut and put in on the other side again (just enough to cover the threads.) A couple of quick taps with a hammer and out she came !

thanks