I have a 1989 F150, 4.9L engine, 5 speed M5OD xmission, 4x4. Just replaced clutch and slave cylinder (concentric). Reassembly went fine. Now, the trans will not shift out of reverse. The clutch appears to engage fine, you can start the engine with the clutch engaged and when you release the clutch, the truck moves in reverse. I am certain that during disassembly, the shifting was fine, as the shifter had to be moved into all different positions in order to remove the 3 screws to remove the shifter. Oh, that and the fact that it was diving fine when the slave cylinder went south...

There does seem to be a small spring-loaded part down in the top of the trans - does this need to be in a particular position when the shifter is reinserted? Is there something else I need to know? The instructions in the Haynes book don't sound like there's anything special to it.

Cannot shift even with the engine off. The shifter also feels like it is in neutral, that is, there's a ton of side-to-side play, which makes it seem like the shifter is not installed correctly.

I'd appreciate any info anyone has. I did not expect there to be any problem, since the disassembly was uneventful.

Thanks,
Carson

 

OK. After fooling with the shifter for an hour or so, putting it in, removing, trying to figure, repeat...on one repetition, of that cycle, it seemed to be that the shifter was in place correctly and it was suddenly possible to shift! Didn't do anything different that I know of, apparently the f150 gods had decided I'd suffered enough frustration.
Anyhow, there was still a ton of free play, side-to-side. A quick google turned up a couple of shifter repair kit installation videos on youtube, so I ordered one from allstategear in Texas. Took fifteen minutes to install and the shifter is tight as new, and everything is good.
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Carson