replacing dead transmissin

[BRlippincott]

replacing dead transmission

Hi, I am new to this forum. Mostly I'm looking for the best data to get my truck back on the road.
I have a 1994 Ranger XLT, regular cab, long bed, 4wd. It has a 4.0 under the hood, 80K miles, and .373 final drive with limited slip. I believe the tranny is an M5OD-R1, as per the tranny info page at this link:

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/ManualTransmission.html

The truck broke down on a highway trip from Austin to San Antonio, and turned out to be a seized-up (really fried) transmission input shaft bearing due to low tranny fluid. The heat from said failure melted the plastic clutch slave cylinder housing. The tranny leak was worse than I thought, it would seem, as the tranny fluid I check regularly was a bit below half before I removed it from the truck.
Looking for a replacement let me to Wrench-A-Part where I was able to locate and extract a healthy tranny from a 1999 Ranger 4x2 with a 3.0 V6. Not ideal exactly, but the online reading and other research I did said it could work. I am willing to cope with the lower three gears being softer. It appears the tail cone can be replaced with my 4x4-to-transfer case section and some seals replaced. My questions are:

1. Can I swap the fork & shift assembly cover from my old trans over to the replacement?
2. The 4x2 shift cover does not have the switch opposite the back up switch, the boss is undrilled. Can I bypass the other switch, which I believe is a neutral safety switch relating to the 4WH to 4WL shift function?
3. are there any other major concerns with using this tranny in my truck?

I plan to get some pics of what I have posted in the next day or so.

I am on a timeline for a trip to west Texas in May, and I will be pulling a small trailer less than 1000 lbs. This truck has made the trip twice before and is capable. Thank you in advance for any help anyone can offer to getting this done so it will last.

 

[Transman304]

4x4 and 4x2 main shafts are different lengths. Not going to work. Sorry.

 

[RonD]

Why are you not rebuilding your trans???

M5OD-R1 has integrated bell housing, can't be detached.
The 3.0l trans will not bolt to the 4.0l engine.

You can swap shifters and 4WD tailshaft and housing, but 3.0l trans still won't bolt to 4.0l engine.

So not sure what you are trying to do??

And Ranger manual transmission never had Neutral switch, a few Explorers did, the 4WD hi and low used the Clutch Switch and Brake pedal switch, the Clutch switch is the Neutral switch on manuals
So not sure what the other plug is for.

 

[4x4junkie]

I believe all pre-OBD-II EFI trucks have a neutral sense switch (my '94 has one).

But yeah you'd be a lot easier off swapping in an entire 4.0L 4x4 trans. One from any year 4.0L truck will work, even those from the SOHC 4.0 engines ignoring one upper bolt hole, though there remains the issue of having the NSS... I don't think it's crucial to have it, the truck should drive fine without it. As said, the 4x4 shift module looks at the clutch being in to make it's shift (and I think the brake applied too, but not sure).

 

[adsm08]

Also the 99 2wd trans won't have provisions for your cable driven speedometer.

 

[RonD]

Also the 99 2wd trans won't have provisions for your cable driven speedometer.

Won't that be on the 1994 transfer case he intends to swap over?

But I think the 3.0l bell housing issue is the main stumbling block for him.

 

[4x4junkie]

Yeah 4x4s have the speedo gear on the T-case.

 

[BRlippincott]

Thanks for the input.

The bell housing would be the big problem then. There were no 4.0 stick trucks in this salvage yard, I thought it would work. I bought the 30 day return so back it goes. I'll just keep searching.
I have not considered a rebuild seriously because of the possible damage to the housing casting where the input bearing seized and the race appears to have spun in the housing. If that can be fixed easily enough then I'l just rebuild the trans, replace any damaged parts like the slave cylinder, and put it all back together.
Any further suggestions would be appreciated. Be safe.