Rebuilding a M50D-HD

[MADMODDER]

I have a 2010 Sport XLT, 4L, manual, 4X4. US model. I Was told a while ago on here that I have a M50D-HD, if thats not right, please correct me.

Long story short, lost 4th gear. Like the teeth got stripped. All other gears are fine. Dropped it last weekend and found that while turning the input shaft, while in 4th, I can stop the output from turning and turn it the opposite way. I still need to pull it apart and see exactly what went wrong and what needs replacing.

I've only seen this in high HP, racing or hauling too much and trying to accel too fast. None of which I am or was doing. Its my daily. I haul some stuff around from time to time. I wasnt hauling when 4th gear went.

Also found out this isnt the original trans. It has "PAP" in green paint marker on it. I bought it at around 70k. Im not at 157k. So they only last about 70k-80k miles? That doesn't sound right. Insight on this would be greatly appreciated.

I can't find a rebuilt trans so I'm going to rebuild it.
I am a career eurotech but not very familiar with domestic. My only real experience with domestic is my Ranger. My Tcase also has a slow leak so I will be resealing it too.

This was recommended from a YouTube video I found. Whats yalls thoughts on this?

Any recommendations on where to source replacement parts?
Any longevity mods/upgrades I should do?
Are there any special tools I will need? Alldata shows a bunch of jigs for pressing bearings and such but idk if their really needed.

This site was recommended but they dont specified M50D-HD which what I believe I have.

MANUAL / STANDARD TRANSMISSION - M5R2 M5OD-R2 RKE 5-SPEED - Transmission Parts Distributors

MR52, RKE TRANSMISSION PARTS & REBUILD KITS FORD

www.transmissionpartsdistributors.com

This was recommended from a YouTube video I found. Whats yalls thoughts on this?

Pardon Our Interruption...

Thanks in advance.

 

[pjtoledo]

4th isn't a gear. the input & output are coupled together for a straight thru 1-1. it does not involve the counter shaft.
the 3rd/4th syncro hub locks the shafts for 4th gear.

 

[MADMODDER]

I was wondering why the counter shaft looked like it has less gears that the input/output shaft.
So then 4th isnt locking. What needs to fail for that not to happen?

 

[4x4junkie]

I have a 2010 Sport XLT, 4L, manual, 4X4. US model. I Was told a while ago on here that I have a M50D-HD, if thats not right, please correct me.

Yeah it's M5OD-R1HD (That's "Emm-Five-Oh-Dee" as in Manual 5 (speed) Over Drive, not "Emm-Fifty-Dee"). Occasionally I see it as M5R1-HD, but originally it's M5OD-R1HD.

For your problem, my first suspicion would be the shifter... Does it feel like the shift handle itself clicks into position normally when you shift it to 4th? Is the handle excessively floppy at all?

 

[scotts90ranger]

For parts I would highly recommend transmission exchange out of portland https://www.txchange.com/ give them a call, they'll know the parts and can get them to you... I have no dog in the fight it's just where I've bought the hard parts for my M5OD and ZF5 in the past and my buddy that has worked at transmission shops near me has used for years... For me I can just pick stuff up in person but they ship everywhere, very knowledgeable and nice...

For losing 4th there's only a couple options, shift rail related, shift dog related, slider broke or teeth on input or output shaft going to the slider broke...

 

[MADMODDER]

Yeah it's M5OD-R1HD (That's "Emm-Five-Oh-Dee" as in Manual 5 (speed) Over Drive, not "Emm-Fifty-Dee"). Occasionally I see it as M5R1-HD, but originally it's M5OD-R1HD.

For your problem, my first suspicion would be the shifter... Does it feel like the shift handle itself clicks into position normally when you shift it to 4th? Is the handle excessively floppy at all?

Thanks for the clarification on the trans. This whole time I've been searching for "emm fifty" and having a hard time finding parts. Lol.

It engages/disengages just fine. Seems like you're thinking the syncros or shifter is bad. Both of which I've dealt (in euros) so I'm pretty confident neither are the culprit here. However for the past 2 or 3 months, the shifter would vibrate/rattle in 4th when I let it sit where it wahted to. If I put a lottle pressure towards the passenger side, it would go away.

Not sure if this is relevent or not but I've done 2 or 3 drive train services since I've owned it. I do them in 50k intervals. I have a long thread on here about fluids that I believe you were part of. Thanks again for that.

As far as the sloppiness, im unsure if its excessive. My other 2 cars are highly molded VW GTI and a slightly modded 911, both manual and their shifters are MUCH tighter than my Ranger. So I dont really have a good reference on what sloppy is for a Ranger.

 

[MADMODDER]

For parts I would highly recommend transmission exchange out of portland https://www.txchange.com/ give them a call, they'll know the parts and can get them to you... I have no dog in the fight it's just where I've bought the hard parts for my M5OD and ZF5 in the past and my buddy that has worked at transmission shops near me has used for years... For me I can just pick stuff up in person but they ship everywhere, very knowledgeable and nice...

For losing 4th there's only a couple options, shift rail related, shift dog related, slider broke or teeth on input or output shaft going to the slider broke...

I look into them.
Thanks.
The shift rail is whats on the top cover, right? If so, its fine.

What is a "shift dog"?
If what you're calling the slider, is what i know as the collar, its fine. It engages into 3rd without a problem.
Im leaning toward the teeth on the shaft but I've only ever seen those go with high hp applications. Not saying its impossible just have a hard time believing that may be the problem here.
Im going to try to take it apart today.

 

[sgtsandman]

The transmission is a pretty reliable one and yes, the HD version is standard equipment on the 4.0 SOHC version of the Ranger after a certain year. I still have the original transmission in my 2011, though I'm not certain on the current miles count on it.

 

[MADMODDER]

The transmission is a pretty reliable one and yes, the HD version is standard equipment on the 4.0 SOHC version of the Ranger after a certain year. I still have the original transmission in my 2011, though I'm not certain on the current miles count on it.

That's all I've heard, yet, this is the 2nd trans thats been put in here.
I get 1 bad fluke, but 2?

 

[sgtsandman]

That's all I've heard, yet, this is the 2nd trans thats been put in here.
I get 1 bad fluke, but 2?

My impression is that the truck was bought second hand and the previous owner had the transmission replaced. So, that raises the question of what the heck the previous owner was doing to trash a transmission? And were they doing the same thing with the replacement and you are just paying for the aftermath of those actions?

If all that is true, it isn't a transmission problem but a operator problem. Them, not you.

 

[MADMODDER]

Got the trans somewhat apart. Im at work so I cant dedicate too much time to it as I'm flatrate.
But here is what I found.
Inout shaft popped out and found damage. Not 100% what I'm seing though.

And this is where im at.
I cant get the back end out. Seems I need to take the top bearing off. But want to be sure before i out in the effort.

Any other details we should know when reviewing this damage tips? Am I missing something?
Also, proper nomenclature would be greatly appreciated. As it will make easier for me to ID what needs replacing and such.

Thanks in advance.

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

That's rad. I would also have voted "dog teeth stripped" rather than "bluetoooth dog teeth".

If you got super lucky, that could be the only damage, right? It's not like either of the pieces can move that much. I feel like I've even seen people say they can get the input shaft in and out without dropping the countershaft, although I never felt like there was nearly enough room.

The main output bearing does need pulled/pried off. There are a couple of writeups floating around.

 

[MADMODDER]

"This term "dog teeth" is new to me.
But a quick search showed me this is what they're suppose to look like.

Mine are FUBAR'd.

Safe to say this is my issue.

So, should I just replace those and reseal it?
Whats the groups thoughts on the steel bearing housings?

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[lowspeedpursuit]

I guess the technical term is "engagement teeth"? They don't go all the way around the input shaft like they do the rest of the gears. Yours looks fine per se (vs being stripped), just obviously the whole ring isn't attached to the rest of the input shaft anymore.

There was somebody else who talked about replacing the rear retainer plate because the output shaft pocket had worn too deep. All 3 of the ones I've taken apart were fine, in the sense that I could still shim the input shaft bearing to spec with the shims available.


Basically what you need is an input shaft, its bearing, and a shim kit. I would also do the slinger (white plastic thing on the input shaft) and the pocket bearing (between input and output shafts).

The thing is that like I said, I've never been able to get an input shaft in and out without dropping the counter shaft, and at that point everything is taken apart anyway. So then it's like, why not do synchros? Bearings? "Rebuild kit"?

You'll find the unique HD synchros are anywhere from unavailable to stupid expensive, which has come up a lot lately.

At the very least, I've always considered the main output bearing one-time-use after prying it off.

 

[MADMODDER]

I guess the technical term is "engagement teeth"? They don't go all the way around the input shaft like they do the rest of the gears. Yours looks fine per se (vs being stripped), just obviously the whole ring isn't attached to the rest of the input shaft anymore.

There was somebody else who talked about replacing the rear retainer plate because the output shaft pocket had worn too deep. All 3 of the ones I've taken apart were fine, in the sense that I could still shim the input shaft bearing to spec with the shims available.


Basically what you need is an input shaft, its bearing, and a shim kit. I would also do the slinger (white plastic thing on the input shaft) and the pocket bearing (between input and output shafts).

The thing is that like I said, I've never been able to get an input shaft in and out without dropping the counter shaft, and at that point everything is taken apart anyway. So then it's like, why not do synchros? Bearings? "Rebuild kit"?

You'll find the unique HD synchros are anywhere from unavailable to stupid expensive, which has come up a lot lately.

At the very least, I've always considered the main output bearing one-time-use after prying it off.

Ya, I didn't find any chewed up teeth.
I've seen videos of people removing and installing the inputshaft by itself but only on 2X4 versions. I cant find any 4X4 videos, granted I only spent about 5mins doing so. Lol.

I'm assuming I need to pull the output shaft to replace the dogteeth, ya? Seems its a press fit piece.