Rough shifting m5od

[Shoddy Cologne]

I have a 2000 Ford Ranger 2wd With 103k on it. I recently changed the atf with Wolfshead It was pretty Brownish red and the drain plug had a fair bit of metal on it. Now it shifts better but it is still hard to shift when cold. And even when it is warm its rough shifting through 1-2-3. 4-5 are fine. I dont doubt theres a fair bit of ware on the trans seeing as ford decided not to put a tac in a truck with a manual trans with silent exhaust but. DID put a tac in an auto.... I have thought of putting some mobil1. Syn. Atf in there but not sure if thats gonna help much . has anyone had this issue?


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[Kealel]

I have a 2000 Ford Ranger 2wd With 103k on it. I recently changed the atf with Wolfshead It was pretty Brownish red and the drain plug had a fair bit of metal on it. Now it shifts better but it is still hard to shift when cold. And even when it is warm its rough shifting through 1-2-3. 4-5 are fine. I dont doubt theres a fair bit of ware on the trans seeing as ford decided not to put a tac in a truck with a manual trans with silent exhaust but. DID put a tac in an auto.... I have thought of putting some mobil1. Syn. Atf in there but not sure if thats gonna help much . has anyone had this issue?


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The recommended fluid (and only fluid you should use) for your manual trans is Mercon V ATF so think about putting all of that in...

A little bit of metal shavings at that mileage is normal.

If you still have shifting issues after changing the trans oil fill us in on it.

And the tach was an extra option Ford had, so some autos don't have tachs either... A mod many people do to add a tach and add spice to their interior is to swap in the white gauges from an Explorer Sport.

 

[RangerFabWorks]

you sure its not a clutch related issue?

 

[Shoddy Cologne]

It was starting to have shifting issues shortly after i bought it. I changed the fluid 3k miles ago. It got a skosh better. Today i tried shifting it different. I now slam the clutch to the floor and it goes into gear a little smoother. None of the shifts are still quite as smooth as 4 and 5. 2Nd has to be the worst. It doesnt make any sounds but i can tell through the shifter its grinding a bit into the first 3 gears.

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[Shoddy Cologne]

The fluid i used was Wolfshead dex/merc. its good stuff we use at the shop and it was free. I put it in my ZF5 and that shifts like a dream with 160k on it. I also put it in the transfercase in my B2 and it made it stop leaking.

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[RangerFabWorks]

You may not want to hear this. But it sounds like you have the symptoms of a slave cylinder that's starting to leak. Damn things are notorious for this. Esp since changing the fluid did zilch for you. I would check you clutch master fluid and see if the level drops. And also check how dark it is.

 

[Kealel]

^^^ might be a pilot bearing... that's what mine was, and it gave all the symptoms of a slave. Best to replace it all tho

 

[Shoddy Cologne]

Thanks for the reply.. It could be a number of things.. Which doesnt matter to me cause if i pull the trans its getting all new parts anyway. Unfortunately its winter so ive got no where to work on it and my '57 is in storage till spring and the bronco still needs a core support put in. Soo the million dollar question is how long will it last till it wont go into gear at all..

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[RangerFabWorks]

keep it topped off with fluid in the cold it will last a hair longer do to the fluid being thicker

 

[Shran]

Several possiblities here:

Most likely is your clutch hydraulic system. You could actually try to bleed the slave to see if it improves... just crack the bleeder open and let fluid run out. Watch the reservoir level up top so that you don't run it dry. Sometimes this will help a little bit.

Another cheap, easy thing to try is to run 5w-30 engine oil in your transmission. I had a '96 with 190k on it and it would grind and clunk from 1-2 and 2-3. I replaced the slave and master and the issue was still there - I put cheapo synthetic 5w-30 in it and it was like night & day difference immediately. Every shift was smooth. Ran that until I sold the truck at 250k, I have been running engine oil in M5OD's ever since. Do NOT put gear lube (80w90, etc) in it EVER.

Worst case scenario would be worn shift forks. The 1-2 and 3-4 forks are aluminum and do not wear quickly but the 5th/reverse fork is steel and will wear faster. The 1-2, 3-4 forks are easy to replace once the trans is out of the truck and can be worn if someone drove around with their hand resting on the shifter all the time. 5th/reverse fork is not easy to replace and requires disassembly of the back half of the transmission.

I think you are looking at a hydraulic system issue, though.

 

[Shoddy Cologne]

Thanks. Ill consider the 5w30 syn treatment. The weather has been up and down. Over the weekend it was in the 30s and it shifted like complete garbage. I had to let the truck run to warm up before i went anywhere or else i didnt have 2nd gear at all. Today i hopped in
my truck and took off with not much issue since it was around 60 degrees out. So this makes me think its more of a fluid issue. Though it could be both.

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[Shran]

That sounds like a characteristic of a manual transmission in general to me... I have never had one that shifted really nice when it was cold out, and before the engine warmed up. I have had many, many manual transmissions over the years... it is just the nature of the beast, parts shrink when they're cold, oil doesn't flow as well, etc.

The NP435 in my trail rig is really finicky - I dare a thief to try and drive it... I often have to shift into neutral, let the clutch out, then clutch in before shifting into 1st or reverse, and sometimes multiple times. It grinds going into every gear. I will rebuild it eventually and am expecting to find bent and worn shift forks, a common occurrence in these.

 

[Shoddy Cologne]

Ive had a few manuals but this is the first one ive driven in lower temps. I drove my donor B2 with the fm146 for a month in the summer. That truck was great. Everytime you. You shifted. Youd be lookin at the sky then quickly. See the road again.You could feel the body seperate from the frame when you went over railroad tracks. It smelled like wet dog and had grass growing on the passenger side carpet. If i kept driving it longer i would of had to mow it. Lol

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