M5od

[deerman2701]

I think my truck has the M5OD in it, at least thats what the guy at advance said and thats what the tag says on the Tranny!

My question is he told me to put in ATF in it, i stuck my finger in the fill hole and pulled out what seemed to look and smell like gear oil... wtf.


I bought the truck used a couple months ago. im afraid to add or replace the tranny fluid cause im getting different opionins from people...

what should i do!

Is there any other fluid that the previous owner could hav eused that looks like gear oil??

 

[Explorin94]

The guy told you right. Put ATF in it, that is what it requires. Gearoil is too thick and doesn't get to the areas it needs to and can lead to failure. Change it out sooner than later.

 

[adsm08]

89 was a funny year for transmissions. Ford was switching them around a lot, but any 2.3 2wd Ranger should have had an M5OD from 88 up.

If the trans tag says it's an M5, I'll bet it's an M5. Mercon or Mercon V is the proper fluid for your transmission, and if you are unsure that the correct fluid is in it then the best course of action is to do a spill and fill with the proper fluid as soon as possible. If you don't feel like using Motorcraft for whatever reason (it really is good stuff) then any bottle that says "Dex/Merc" should be good.

 

[deerman2701]

yea i mean its not really low and its not slipping or grinding or anything i just wanted to know for future reference.

But isnt ATF suppose to be red?

The stuff i pulledd out of the tranny was yellow.

Thats why im so confused.

 

[adsm08]

ATF is supposed to be..... you guessed it.....red.

It sounds like the PO put engine or gear oil in it. Go get about 5 qts of Mercon V and then drain and refill the transmission as soon as you can.

 

[deerman2701]

ehhh im not gonna worry about it since the tranny isnt acting up i dont want to put new fluid in and it mess it up.

 

[Explorin94]

ehhh im not gonna worry about it since the tranny isnt acting up i dont want to put new fluid in and it mess it up.

How much more clear can Adam and I be about you changing out this fluid. I said that if it is gear oil (80w90) inside that transmission is not good. It does not get to the areas of the transmission that needs to be oiled.....it is too thick. ATF gets where it needs to be......it is thin enough. Ok here let's do some simple math. A quart of Mercon/Dextron is about $3.00 a quart and you need 5 quarts, so roughly $15.00 and some change with tax. Now if you leave the current oil in it and it takes out the pocket bearing, which will then ruin the input and mainshaft of the transmission. I rebuilt an M5OD about 4 years ago. The main bearing kit, input shaft, mainshft and seal kit cost almost $400 dollars. I have no clue if you are mechanically inclined or not so let's throw some shop labor on that for about $70 bucks and hour. You figure roughly a 7 seven hour job at 70 is $420. That is if the shop you ntake it too will even rebuild the transmission you currently have. So they go to the local junkyard and get one that will work. That trans cost them $300 and they mark it up to $425 your cost. They get done and that trans is in worse shape than the one you took out.
Just throwing it out there........$15.00 and some cheap labor provided by you or $850 from a shop. But it is your truck and you can do what you want with it.

 

[99RangerKrazy]

Yeah, you definitely want ATF instead of gear oil. Some of the passageways inside the M5OD are smaller than the size of the lead on the tip of a pencil, gear oil just clogs it up due to its viscosity.

 

[adsm08]

ehhh im not gonna worry about it since the tranny isnt acting up i dont want to put new fluid in and it mess it up.

ehhh, that's one of the dumbest things I've read on this board.

NOT putting new fluid it in WILL mess it up. Also, now that you know you have the wrong fluid in there you have to start asking "why?".

People only out thicker oil in something for 2 reasons. Stupidity, or to hide worn bearings. So either the previous owner was a moron, or he knew there was a problem and was trying to hide it. Better to find out now and be able to be proactive about it than to find out later when it finished breaking.

 

[deerman2701]

Im not trying to be a stubborn asshole but i mean right now the transmission has been for the long time i have had it so far, and the previous owner told me he did tranny work to it, i just didnt know if he did something to it that would cause him to use gear oil, im not 100% positive its gear oil just saying it looks like it. I dont want to drain that oil and put in ATF and it start to slip.

Also it doesnt directly say its that M5OD,
THere is a tag on my transmission that says E87A-EF someone just told me that that is a M5OD?

 

[ElleShooTiger]

If you have gear oil in there, buy extra fluid and drain and refill it again after 200 hundred miles or so, that should clean out most of the gear oil. A third change after 500 miles or so wouldnt hurt either, fluid is only a few bucks a quart.

Surprisingly, the Wal-Mart SuperTech Mercon is the cheapest fluid but made a big difference in shifting (I used Castrol at first to clean out the trans after sitting for a few years, shifted hard but now its almost like new!).

 

[ElleShooTiger]

I dont want to drain that oil and put in ATF and it start to slip.

Also it doesnt directly say its that M5OD,
THere is a tag on my transmission that says E87A-EF someone just told me that that is a M5OD?

Its a manual transmission, there is NOTHING that will "slip" in there! Its not an automatic where every gear is completely controlled by controlled slippage.

Now you do want your syncros to slip into place easily, and ATF helps with that. Its only $10 to change, I replace all fluids on the used cars we've bought just for the piece of mind of knowing what is in there is correct. Some previous owners are complete morons, but their idiocy will cost you money.

 

[strvger]

some people only learn by experience. so i say drive it til it leaves you stranded late some night on a back road or a bad part of town. lesson learned. just my $.02.

 

[jokerl90]

Deerman, go here http://therangerstation.com/tech_library/ManualTransmission.html, Then go take a look under your truck and make sure of the type of transmission you have. Hint; the Mazda M50D-R1 Had a big bolt about halfway up on the drivers side of the trans that is the fill plug and another smaller one below and slightly to the rear of the first bolt that is the drain plug.
If you do have a M50D-R1 GET THE FLUID CHANGED!!!!! unless you have about a thousand dollars you don't really need.
If you don't want to do it your self, take it to a shop and get it done.

 

[ElleShooTiger]

Deerman, go here http://therangerstation.com/tech_library/ManualTransmission.html, Then go take a look under your truck and make sure of the type of transmission you have. Hint; the Mazda M50D-R1 Had a big bolt about halfway up on the drivers side of the trans that is the fill plug and another smaller one below and slightly to the rear of the first bolt that is the drain plug.
If you do have a M50D-R1 GET THE FLUID CHANGED!!!!! unless you have about a thousand dollars you don't really need.
If you don't want to do it your self, take it to a shop and get it done.

Quiet you! Its winter, and owners of salvage yards and shops need new snowmobiles!