Sloppy shifter

[th31d10t]

I recently purchased a 94 ranger 2.3 5spd 2wd that I was told had a bad tranny. The problem with the tranny is that it doesn't go into first gear easily. Also, when moving the shifter from gear to gear it is really sloppy and had a good bit of play in it. I have owned a few 5spd rangers and when in neutral the shifter seemed to move in a straight line across and this one you can basically move in circles and there is not really any moving it in a straight line. Does anyone have any ideas as to what may be the problem?

 

[Ranger44]

Someone whipped up this nice little article a while ago:

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/winter2007/shifterbushings.htm

 

[th31d10t]

Thanks for the reply. I am going to try to do this after I get parts from the dealership and hopefully it will help because I would much rather do that than a tranny swap.

 

[bhawk]

That article is very good and will result in a totally different feel to your tranny. I bought the parts listed and installed them about a month ago. WOW what a positive difference. Tranny shifts so nice now. When I took the old shifter out to install the new parts, I discovered the prior owner had removed both plastic bushings, presumably because they wore out. I am amazed it shifted at all before the repair. You came to the right place to get the answer to your question.

 

[rboyer]

There is a guy on ebay who sells the whole "kit" for $13.64 plus shipping. By kit I mean both bushings, both pins, and inner shift boot. I honestly think this is a great deal and if you could wait a few days for your parts you'd save some money. On a side note please remember that if your shifter bushings are missing then they most likely deteriorated and made their way into your transmission. Although they won't do any immediate damage they can eventually work their way into the "oil pump" and cause the passage to clog.

 

[th31d10t]

Thanks for the tip about the guy that sales the kit on Ebay. I did not even think about checking on there for that parts. I priced the parts at the Ford dealership in town and was quoted around $80 for the parts including the inner shift boot.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

I bought those same parts. When I went to go do the job, I found the pinch bolt that holds the shifter handle on was loose. I just tightened it and it has been great ever since.
Check the obvious things first. You never know.

 

[rboyer]

Still for how cheap the stuff is, if you own a vehicle with a M5OD transmission it's worth buying the stuff just to have around for when it does need replaced. Then when it does need replaced you're not paying the Stealership $80 because you need the stuff right away.

 

[superdave1]

eBAY....I found this http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-Ranger-Explorer-5-Speed-Shifter-Rebuild-Kit_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286Q2em20Q2el1116QQitemZ220278589341 is this the best/cheapest?

 

[rboyer]

The cheapest I have found are here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford...39:1|66:4|65:10|240:1318&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14

I actually bought 3 sets off of them last week. They will ship up to 4 of them for a combined shipping rate.

 

[racsan]

i went to a ford dealership to get replacement bushings, they told me i needed to get some engineering # off a sticker on the side of the trans case, my trans was a rebuilt unit and had been repainted black, no stickers. they basically wanted me to get the whole top cover assy. i then left and ordered the hurst shifter assy from jegs. ive had it 2 years now and works great. yeah, its over 200. but i'll never have the plastic bushing issue to deal with again. you would think that a trans built with parts designed to fail would have kits ready at every stealership, guess not.

 

[rboyer]

Usually most dealerships stock those parts, it's the idiots behind the counter to blame for you not being able to get what you need.

 

[Kansasipi]

Got to make that monthly sales quota somehow......