Hard to Shift at the Lights

[Ranger1776]

ok, when i stop a the lights in town from neutral to first is usually a pain in the arse. what does this mean? bad syncros? slave cylinder? really getting annoying and im worried that its maybe a problem that will hurt my truck in the long run... thanks guys

 

[adsm08]

I would like to point out that a search should produce roughly one thread per week for the past year with this exact symptom.

Most likely the slave. At the age of your truck, I would just get a set. The hydraulics are easier to bleed out of the truck.

 

[Ranger1776]

ok, and just wondering do you know why the tranny whines so much? i kinda like the sound and ive heard alot of rangers do it...

 

[wildbill23c]

^^^Hmm, my 84 B2's tranny whines as well mostly in 5th gear though. Kind of wonder that myself.

 

[PanamaExpat]

Tranny whines are usually caused by sloppy bearings or wrong lube in trans or both. You should have an m5od in that 94. Make sure it has ATF instead of SAE 90 in it. I just rebuilt mine and I now completely understand how the transmission lubricates itself and SAE 90 is just too heavy to get through the oil passage and adequately lubricate the bearing that couples the input shaft to the output shaft. Some guys have been known to put SAE 90 in an old sloppy trans in order for them to quiet it down until they can sell it.

Most likely your whine in coming from a combination of two or three evils. If the pilot bearing goes dry it starts the process that allows the input shaft to wobble slightly on shifts and idling with clutch depressed. Then that wobble stresses the bearing that couples the input to the output shaft bearing and more stuff starts wobbling and vibrating eventually causing the input shaft main bearing to get sloppy and noisy.

Transmission bearing kits are bout $200 and take a good day to install correctly. Since you are having hydraulic issues you should will probably replace the clutch while you have it out to fix that so don't forget a new pilot bearing and possibly trans bearing kit when you do it.

Sorry if this seems a bit of a ramble. Haven't had enough coffee yet.

 

[Explorin94]

Transmission whine in the M5OD-R1 and R2's are usually associated with a worn out pocket bearing. Like Pat said others put gear oil in these transmissions cause they don't do the research first to see that the manual transmission they have takes automatic transmission fluid. The input shaft and output shaft share the same plain in the transmission but are 2 different shafts. The only time these shafts are connected (1 to 1) is in 4th gear which is the gear that you shouldn't hear any whine at all. If the pocket bearing has worn enough it will make it hard to get into first gear at the light as you described. But also your hydraulics could be worn and on the verge of going out. Your best bet is to either rebuild what you have or find a rebuilt transmission on replace it. I see that you are from Wisconsin. I am in Illinois. I have rebuilt M5OD-R1's in my shop and will do an exchange with you. PM me and we can go from there if you are interested.

 

[PanamaExpat]

I am presuming that the POCKET BEARING is the one I was referring to that sits in the joint of the input and output shafts. Wasn't really sure of it's proper name.

 

[Andy D]

I suggest checking the lube levels in everything underneath. This is the first thing I check when I have shifting troubles.

 

[Explorin94]

I am presuming that the POCKET BEARING is the one I was referring to that sits in the joint of the input and output shafts. Wasn't really sure of it's proper name.

You are correct the pocket bearing is in the well of the input shaft and keeps the input and output shafts true.

 

[jamjoe45]

There is a bracket underneath the dash that holds both your clutch and brake pedal assembly if the pivot point for the clutch side has worn any that is your problem. i had this problem in my 96 and went through replacing my whole clutch assembly from the master cylinder down to the clutch itself before finding this. The bracket in yours is different than mine so if you get it from a junkyard make sure to grab it from another vehicle with the same dash assembly that is when the bracket changed