To rebuild or not?

[pacstud]

M5OD-R1
From what I've read about as simple as they come. 360k miles. About to put in a new engine and the only problem with the transmission is a mildish noise that is almost certainly the input shaft bearings. It shifts fine and has no issues otherwise.

So, do I mess with a rebuild or not? I have read any number of horror story threads, where the rebuild makes things worse, but I also don't want the bearings to crap out and wreck my new(ish) engine. Input appreciated.

 

[sgtsandman]

I'm a big fan of taking care of issues when they are small. They tend to be cheaper that way. You may just need to replace those bearings and be good. So, you may not need to complete rebuild.

 

[pacstud]

I'm a big fan of taking care of issues when they are small. They tend to be cheaper that way. You may just need to replace those bearings and be good. So, you may not need to complete rebuild.

I know there is a lot of "well while you're there" but for me I am learning the hard way to let happy parts be happy.

 

[scotts90ranger]

If you're handy it's not a hard trans to rebuild other than needing a really deep puller to get the back bearing out... The iffiest part about rebuilding manual transmissions is aftermarket synchro's.. if you don't have any shifting issues just do a bearing kit without synchro's... your success rate should increase.

 

[pacstud]

If you're handy it's not a hard trans to rebuild other than needing a really deep puller to get the back bearing out... The iffiest part about rebuilding manual transmissions is aftermarket synchro's.. if you don't have any shifting issues just do a bearing kit without synchro's... your success rate should increase.

lol I was just thinking that this morning. My buddy is my "knows a lot and has tools" guy. He has the more professional level tools. And when I was driving this morning I though, "don't eff with the synchros. just change the bearings and get out". haha

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

+1

I enjoyed going thru mine, it is a fun fiddley kind of a puzzle to go thru.

I also skipped the syncros.

 

[pacstud]

So I know the guts are the same, and the housing is different depending on the engine.

Is the 2.5 housing different from the 2.3 housing?

 

[scotts90ranger]

No, technically you should be able to use a transmission from '88 when they started using the M5OD through mid '01 when the Lima engines went away... The only thing that matters is on 4x2's through '97 had a speedo gear in the transmission which went away in '98 to read from the rear axle sensor.

 

[pacstud]

Struggling to find any info on these rebuild kits. What bearings are they even using? I try to look up individual bearing makers, that's tough to find as well...thoughts?

 

[scotts90ranger]

Last time I did my M5OD I used a kit from Amazon or ebay, don't remember but most of the bearings were SKF, Nachi and other name brands so I wouldn't be too worried about it. I mean if you want to get good parts txchange.com which is transmission exchange in Portland Oregon have kits they put together and I don't think they use cheap parts... they don't sell from their website but they do answer the phone...

 

[pacstud]

Last time I did my M5OD I used a kit from Amazon or ebay, don't remember but most of the bearings were SKF, Nachi and other name brands so I wouldn't be too worried about it. I mean if you want to get good parts txchange.com which is transmission exchange in Portland Oregon have kits they put together and I don't think they use cheap parts... they don't sell from their website but they do answer the phone...

That's good info (as always). The kit on rockauto, when I zoom in, shows skf, but idk if that's a stock photo or what.

I did find a 150k mile unit in my town for only $300. I think I might get that and just have two. Then I can swap em out, and if all is well move forward, and then either repair/sell the other or keep it for spares. If the used one isn't much better, I at least have one in while I fix the other. This will be my first go around so I like the comfort of a safety net.

New engine is on its way to the machinist so I'd like a good transmission to go with it.

 

[scotts90ranger]

If you do get a different one and it happens to be older you will need something to plug the speedometer hole, easiest thing is just the speed sensor from pretty much anything Ford from the '90's, just unplug the speedo cable from it and the sensor on the end should do it... I mean you could find a cork and hold it in with a random piece of metal too, whatever is easy

 

[pacstud]

If you do get a different one and it happens to be older you will need something to plug the speedometer hole, easiest thing is just the speed sensor from pretty much anything Ford from the '90's, just unplug the speedo cable from it and the sensor on the end should do it... I mean you could find a cork and hold it in with a random piece of metal too, whatever is easy

It's a 2000! Crazy cause this local yard is usually a miss for my Ranger parts, but they have this.