Help Needed with 2001 4x4 Ranger Manual Transmission

[Napots]

Truck is a 2001 Range 4x4 with the 4.0 and manual trans.

I have been having problems with the transmission in my ranger since I bought it in 09. It has pretty consistently been difficult to change gears. I had the clutch replaced shortly after I bought it and that seemed to help for a short while (maybe wishful thinking). Then it got to where I couldn't shift it into first gear if the engine was running and 4th in particular was very hard to shift into. Last year I had the tranny gone through by a local shop and it seemed to be quite a bit better. I replaced the slave cylinder again when I had the tranny out. A few weeks ago I was driving it and it felt like it crapped out suddenly. It has become extremely difficult to change gears, even with the engine off (undriveable to tell you the truth). I bled the clutch pretty thoroughly thinking that that might be a part of the problem but I checked out the slave cylinder movement thought the port in the side of the bellhousing and it was moving pretty far. Bleeding the clutch did not make any difference. I am a bit at a loss as to what to do other than find a tranmission in a junk yard and swap it in. Before I do that I wanted to solicit the advice of the members here. The shop I took it to went out of business so taking it back to them for warranty work is a no go.

I have had the tranny out twice since I have owned this truck and since it is my second vehicle it does not see very many miles at all; in 5 years I have only put maybe 10,000 miles on it. What is really frustrating is I have only put 2 or 3 thousand on it since the tranmission was gone through. I am a bit at the end of my rope with this truck, this has been a problem since I have owned it. I am hoping for an easy fix but doubt that there is one.

Thanks in advance.

 

[gw33gp]

Have you considered the clutch master cylinder may be bad? Mine went bad, with similar symptoms to yours, about a year after I bought the truck new. It was replaced under warranty and the replacement was bad also. The dealer ordered another one and it has been working very well since then, now at 163,000 miles.

The master cylinder can go bad internally and not leak. That is what happened to mine. One thing that temporarily worked for me was to push the clutch all the way to the floor and side slip the pedal to let it slam out. This was done with the engine off. I don't know why it helped but it did for a while anyway. I also don't know how hard it is on the clutch and would not recommend doing it very many times.

I have also heard of a bracket or bulkhead cracking near the master cylinder that result in similar symptoms. Inspect the area around the master cylinder, inside the cab and engine compartment to see if you can find anything broken.

 

[Napots]

I don't think it is related to the hydraulic system, I can see the throwout bearing push the pressure plate in through the window in the bellhousing and it is moving quite far. I think there is a spec on it floating around somewhere (3/8" comes to mind for some reason) It is moving at least that far.

 

[4x4junkie]

Try this little test (this will rule out the hydraulics):

With the engine & trans up to operating temperature, and the vehicle stopped, Push the clutch in and (try to) put it in first gear. If it balks, hold a little pressure on the stick for 5 seconds... Does it eventually just 'fall' right into gear? If not, release pressure on the stick (but don't let up the clutch), and then try to put it in 1st again... Goes right in? (same thing all other gears too?)


If so, it could be the type of fluid you have in it (too slippery for the synchros). Seems this may be the case with Mercon-V fluids as opposed to straight Mercon (this despite Ford changing their mind and now wants consumers to believe the "V" fluid is fully backward-compatible, and is what quick-lube places will put in it by default now). Switching back to Mercon (a.k.a. "Dex/Merc") may help a little, but from what I have seen, once a pre-'08 M5OD sees Mercon-V, they never seem to shift quite the same again.
I've also seen some successfully using 0W-30 synthetic motor oil in the M5OD, which is something I have yet to try.


If the trans still refuses to go into gear doing the above test, then it's not the fluid or synchros... If you've positively ruled out the clutch hydraulics, then something in the shift forks, collars, or rail assembly is likely amiss.

 

[gw33gp]

One thing that has not been mentioned yet is the pilot bearing. If it is dragging, it can mimic the clutch not releasing all the way.

 

[4x4junkie]

^^

Very true, didn't think of that, though usually these are changed with the clutch (at least they're supposed to be anyway)

 

[pjtoledo]

One thing that has not been mentioned yet is the pilot bearing. If it is dragging, it can mimic the clutch not releasing all the way.

I'll agree with that too.
My pilot was grabbing and chirping, shifting was difficult and seemed to change symptoms every few weeks.

One way to see if the clutch is releasing properly is put the rear on jack stands, leave it in gear, have assistant step on clutch, rotate driveshaft with hand. Should see the disk turn freely, as pedal is slowly released the driveshaft will gradually lock up.

Oh yeah, this is an "engine-off" test


Perry

 

[pjtoledo]

What city are you in?

I may need another truck soon and I'm a sucker for buying problems.


Perry

 

[adsm08]

Hey Junkie, just throwing this in the mix.

I have a 91 M5OD in my truck and I have Merc-V in it with almost no shifting issues. The ones I do have I attribute to the shift plate being shot, since even with new bushing my shifter moves more in gear than my old S-10 did in N. The only issue I really have is that sometimes I have to knock the stick back and forth a hair after the gears start to grab to complete the shift.

 

[4x4junkie]

Hey Junkie, just throwing this in the mix.

I have a 91 M5OD in my truck and I have Merc-V in it with almost no shifting issues. The ones I do have I attribute to the shift plate being shot, since even with new bushing my shifter moves more in gear than my old S-10 did in N. The only issue I really have is that sometimes I have to knock the stick back and forth a hair after the gears start to grab to complete the shift.

I'd be willing to make the bet that it's shift quality was better before the Merc-V... shift plate or whatever issue aside (how long have you owned it?)

My '94's OE M5OD still has straight Mercon in it (this from when the bottles actually said "Mercon" too, not this new "Dex/Merc" thing) and compared to my BII's M5OD (which I have strong suspicion the fluid that was in it before I got it in 2010 was Merc-V) the difference is akin to shifting a sports-car transmission to an economy-car trans. My BII's M5OD shifts well enough, but it's not 1/4 as smooth and quick-to-shift as my Ranger's M5OD (mileage on both transmissions is within about 30K). I also pulled the top and checked the clearances on the synchros before I put it under my BII too, and they were very well within specs, so they should be good (doesn't grind while shifting, etc.).

My theory materialized when a buddy of mine had a Jiffy Lube change the fluid on his truck around '08 or '09 (right after Ford changed their game with the fluids) and within 1K miles he suddenly started having difficulty putting it into any gear with the truck stopped, which made it more than a little frustrating to get under way again when the traffic light turned green. He was about to have it rebuilt when I stumbled onto something about this thing with the fluids and suggested we change the fluid again. Over the next 2-3K miles it slowly got better, but to this day still isn't as smooth as mine that has never seen Merc-V.
Since that time I've seen a number of posts pop up about difficult-to-shift transmissions where the clutch wasn't the cause (passes the test I outlined earlier), and upon suggesting a switch to "Dex/Merc" fluids, some level of improvement was seen in about half the cases.

So take it for whatever it's worth.... I'm not about to purposely put Mercon-V into my '94 trans simply to test this theory.

 

[adsm08]

I'd be willing to make the bet that it's shift quality was better before the Merc-V... shift plate or whatever issue aside (how long have you owned it?)

Trans went in Thanksgiving week 2009. I bought it dry, so I can't even guess what was in it before.

I bought it with no shift bushings, then lost the master cylinder, speedometer, and starter on the first run which was a 100 mile trip. There was a lot of speed-shifting on that trip, which was not something I had done before, nor since. I imagine I did some damage there too.

 

[Napots]

4x4 junkie, I tried your test today and it didn't seem to help. Holding it towards the gear didn't seem to matter, sometimes switching into another gear first helped but I ended up driving home using 2-4. I couldn't get it into first.

I replace the pilot bearing when I put the tranny back in last year but I had some trouble installing it (no one told me to release the pressure in the slave cyllinder so I ended up wrestling it under the truck for 45 minutes before I figured it out. I could have screwed something up but it felt great after I installed it. It has seemed to have crapped out almost all of the sudden.

pjtoledo. sorry but I have too much invested in this POS to sell it now. I lifted it and put 33's on her after I "fixed" the tranny last time.

Sounds like I need a new tranny, I wouldn't mind getting one from a wrecker if I could find one with relatively low miles. Anyone have any ideas for a source, It has to be 01 or newer for my truck right?

 

[4x4junkie]

4x4 junkie, I tried your test today and it didn't seem to help. Holding it towards the gear didn't seem to matter, sometimes switching into another gear first helped but I ended up driving home using 2-4. I couldn't get it into first.

Ok, it sounds like we can rule the fluid out as causing it then.

I would suggest pulling the trans and see if there's any damage to the pilot bearing. Maybe you'll get lucky and just have to replace the bearing (though if it has damaged the input shaft, you'd have to change that also, in which case might just be cheaper/easier to get another trans).

'01-'11 4.0L would be the preferred trans, though I think the OHV 4.0L transmissions can work also (one bellhousing bolt is in a different spot, but it isn't critical if that bolt isn't in place). I do know several here have done the inverse (used the SOHC transmissions on the OHV motors).

 

[Napots]

forgive my ignorance but how does the pilot bearing affect shifting I thought all it did was help support the end of the input shaft.

 

[Napots]

Hey stupid question, I located a tyranny, only 68,000 miles. My clutch only has a few thousand miles on it but I'm going to replace the pilot bearing. Do I need to reset the pressure plate sliders before I reinstall it?