changing tranny fluid

[rangerman01]

vital info: 2001 2wd ranger with 4.0L V6, 5spd manual trans. with about 140k miles. according to the sticky the trans is a M5OD-R1HD.

I have been notincg a whining or roaring sound at a certain rpm (2000). I have isolated the sound to something in the drivetrain. It only makes the noise when the truck is in gear going down the road. The noise seems consistent in all 5 gears (haven't thought about it in reverse). Anyway, to try to solve this problem I want to change the tranny fluid. I know I can just top it off, but I would rather just start fresh. My question is how do I go about doing this? From what I have read the spec amount of fluid is 2.75 quarts. But I am not sure what fluid I need to put in the tranny, is it the mercon ATF fluid instead of gear oil? Also from what I have read here most of you guys poor the fluid in from the shifter instead of the fill hole on the side of the trans. How do you do that? I mean is it as simple as removing the shifter boot and pooring the oil in? I just don't understand where the poor the fluid into on the trans. Thanks for the help.

 

[ati190]

The newer M50's use Mercon V, because they are equipped with plastic like syncros instead of brass rings. To drain fluid, simply remove the drain plug. To fill, you could put the drain plug back in, and use a pump to pump 2.75 quarts in. Another way is to remove the shift boot/inner shift boot, to where you can see inside the trans from the top. You can leave the fill plug out while filling the trans until it starts coming out the fill hole, or you can put both plugs in and just use 3 full quarts (extra 8 ounces won't cause problems). To remove the shift boot, it's one bolt, that holds the lever in place, and 3 allen head screws to remove the shift boot. While your there inspect the bushings for wear..

 

[wizkid00104]

I use a funnel with a long hose and a buddy. have your friend stand in the bed and feed the hose down to you between the bed and cab. I found a funnel at walmart that has a twist off valve on the funnel which makes the task very easy.

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

what happens if i use MERCON ATF in a 03 5speed instead of the MERCON V??

 

[rangerman01]

Thanks for the help guys. I didn't have time to actually pull everything apart to do the fluid change, but I did top off the tranny fluid. However, that didn't take care of the noise. Anyone have any ideas of what it could be?

 

[Ozwynn]

ring and pinion
axle bearings
u-joints
pinion bearing

 

[rangerman01]

ring and pinion
axle bearings
u-joints
pinion bearing

Intersting. I will have to check these items out. I wouldn't of suspected them because it is not a constant noise, only at a certain rpm while in motion.

 

[AllanD]

what happens if i use MERCON ATF in a 03 5speed instead of the MERCON V??

You can run the later MerconV spec manuals transmissions on early Mercon/Dexron without issues.
It's doing it the other way around that can cause shift quality issues.

Personally I recommend the earlier mercon in all the manual transmission
UNLESS you have a hurst shifter (the issue is the factory plastic rubber shift bushings that you REMOVE to install the hurst shifter) and then I'd recommend a "thin" gear oil.

Ideally 65w-70 (if you can find it) or RedLine's "MTL".

You could also try something like B&M's "Trick-Shift" ATF
(which is somewhat thicker than normal "Dexron" rated fluid)

I have a hurst shifter and recently switched to gear oil in my own trans
(the Hurst tends to transmit a lot of noise into the cockpit)
and the thicker oil really damps the noise... however some
noises didn't go away...

I associate that fact with the fact that my T-case is "making metal"

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[Ranger Sport Honduras]

nah its just stock tranny nad stock shifter, i feel the shifting smoother now

 

[rangerman01]

well I think I have narrowed my problem down to the input shaft/input bearing. I am leaning more toward the shaft, because I think the input bearing was just replaced as a part of the clutch kit I just had put in. I talked to a guy at the ford dealer and he recommended I try putting 10w-30 synthetic motor oil in the tranny to see if that helps. He logic was that is what is used in thier race cars and may help prolong the inevitable tranny replacement. also said that the regular mercon atf fluid is just a 10 weight oil anyway. Any thoughts on this?

 

[AllanD]

Relacing the input bearing requires complete disassembly of the trans

The two bearingc commonly replaced during a clutch replacement are
the "pilot bearing" mounted in the flywheel and the clutch release bearing.

The input bearings in the Mazda trans rarely fail.
the little bearing inside the input gear that acts as a pilot for the
output shaft in the input gear usually goes away first.

Old age, oil starvation or obstrructed oil flow to that bearing
have identical end results.

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