HELP! 2009 Ranger shutter in rear end when shifting to 1st

[Alby1]

I have an '09 ranger 2.3 4cy 2x4 w 5 speed manual trans. It just now has about 17,440mi. It had 10,600mi on it when i bought it in March. It had sat alot. How long at one time im not sure. My prob is after it has been driven 10-20mi of city/town stop and go it has a shutter(not a jerk) when shifted into 1st and on occasion into 2nd that i feel in the rear end. It happens as clutch is engaging and stops when the clutch is fully engaged.I do not feel it in the clutch pedal. Untill it has been driven for this long it shifts smooth as butter. If i baby it and shift into 1st VERY slowly it does not do it at all or rarely. It has to be shifted so slowly it is not viable to do in trafic. My ASE mechanic drove it today. At 1st he said he thought it might be the drive shaft/rear diff. since he had seen similar issues in older rangers(2001). After investigation he found that it has a different drive shaft/rear diff so now believes its clutch chatter. It goes into his shop thurs, said he will try to rule out any prob like drive shaft,rear diff, springs or u joints. If other probs are rulled out then it must be clutch chatter. There is no loss of clutch fluid or engine oil, which i believe would rule out main seal or slave cyl leaking on clutch disk. There is an examination window on the trans covered by a rubber boot of sorts. I pulled the boot back to chk for any fluid in bell housing and there is none. I find it hard to believe clutch could be glazzed w so few miles. Or any prob w clutch at all w only 17,440 miles on it. Maybe rust spot on fly wheel? My question is has any one else had this same or similar prob w an '09 ranger? Or maybe a different model yr close to '09? Am i missing something simple like chg rear diff. fluid? Any insight or imput is greatly aprieciated.

 

[pjtoledo]

the pilot bearing can get kind of grabby on those. your super low mileage is a double edged sword, very little wear but plenty of chances for corrosion.

the pilot bearing is attached to and spins with the crank. the tranny pilot shaft goes into the pilot bearing and is supposed to spin freely. if the pilot bearing is bad it can grab the tranny input shaft and turn it, even while stopped and you have your foot on the clutch. mine made popping noise and some crunching as it grabbed. but that was at 180,000miles.


I would bleed the clutch first just to get some fresh fluid in there.

try double clutching with rev-matching when shifting.
when slowing to a stop, down shift into 1st at 12-15 mph.
that should help isolate the issue.

 

[Alby1]

Thanks for the input man. I never would have thought about the pilot bearing. I had clutch fluid chg and system bled shortly after a bought it. It had some air in it & didnt wanna go into 1st or 2nd at all when cold. I very rarely down shift unless ive got a bit of weight in the back but i certainly will now and rev match also. What am i feeling/listening for when i do exactly? I guess a pop, crunch, or whine? I double clutch at a complete stop to get going into 1st and it rarely shudders when done that way. The way i do it is not completely safe in traffic though, im gonna get rear ended. Also, why do u think it doesnt do it till its been driven 10-20 miles? Would temp be an issue w a pilot bearing thats going out? Also, why is this prob usually only happening between Neutral and 1st? It sometimes happens between 1st and 2nd but no nearly as much.