I have seen many here complain about the manual transmission in our trucks. I know it's not the best but mine is pretty good, most of the time. I see a lot of people saying they get a grind on the 2-3 upshift. I get a grind on the 1-2 upshift. It doesn't happed all that often. Never at slow speeds. Probably 1 out of 10 "harder" take offs will produce a very brief grind. I tend to believe that it may be me letting out the clutch a second too soon. It does go into gear, just not smooth.
I guess what I'm wondering is, if anyone has had to deal with the 1-2 syncros going bad, on thier own truck, or someone elses. I guess, from what I have seen here it's th 3-4 syncros that usually go bad.
I think I will change the fluid to see if that helps any. I only have 31k. I will be into the dealer soon for an oil change and I would like to run this by them. They are good but they don't seem to want to get into details with me. If any of you can share some insight so I have something to work with, I would be greatful. I have a few mods so I know that the dealer will have that in thier mind if repairs are needed.
If any techs out there see this I would especially like to hear what you know, have seen, and your opinions.
I know that I may not have chosen the best config. for the mods I have but I have it now. If worse comes to worse I would get a better transmission. I don't think that's all that easy right now either. I would like to keep this one going for a while.
Sorry, I'm long winded.
Thanks!
Tom

 

Well, my truck is currently in the shop again because of manual tranny problems. My tranny started grinding the 1-2 shift. After a while, it would start to occasionally not shift into 1st gear or reverse from neutral. I took it into ford, and they said my input shaft bearing was bad. They replaced my pressure plate and bearing and the truck ran great. It shifted smoother then it ever had before and I never had the problem again. Only problem was that there was a noticable shimmy at idle after I got it back from the dealership. 6 months later i take it in for the shimmy. They dissasemble the tranny and most of the drivetrain. They replaced my pressure plate again and something else I can't remember. As soon as I get it back, I notice the tranny is stiff as hell and has the first - second gear shifting problems again. So I take it in today (out of warranty by 1k) and they say that my clutch has too much play in it. Hopefully after they work on the clutch my problem will be solved. I think a lot of the problems that people blame on the syncros are probably clutch related. On the other hand, there are a lot of posts of people blaming the syncros. Besides replacing em, I say get a synthetic ATF and just wish for the best. These trannys aren't the best in the world.

 

The Ford 5-speeds aren't built in the USA. That's why I bought my truck with the AOD. No ricer parts for me thanks!

But if you're stuck with it, synchros can always be a problem. Some companies do something about it. For instance, back when VW came out with the VR6 powered Corrado they modified the tranny with a double synchronizer for second gear (1-2 shift). When you hit close to redline those synchros have a hard time spinning up the next gear to mesh properly.

The 90's Ford Ranger 5 speeds had trouble too. On mine the synchros went, especially lower gears (1-2) and the input shaft splines worn out enough so the clutch didn't disengage properly (crept forward with pedal to the floor in 1st gear).

Even though a manual transmission is less complex in overall design I've always seen repair bills equal to or more than AOD's.

If a service shop says they can rebuild it for less, tell them BS! you want a replacement unit. Most in-house mechanics are incompetent when it comes to setting up trannies.

Good luck.

 

you can find out if it is a synchro problem by double clutching when you shift. if the problem goes away its probably a synchro problem, otherwise probably a clutch problem.

find the speed at which idle rpm = engine rpm in 2nd gear. (on my truck around 15 mph - 3.55 gears w/255 70r16)

accelerate from a stop to this speed in 1st.
shift to neutral, let clutch out, throttle to idle, push clutch back in,
shift to 2nd. it should go into gear with very little effort and no grind, since the input and output shaft should be speed-matched.

if it dosent go into gear easily you probably have a clutch problem, since they synchros are NOT being used at all if this is done perfectly.

some old porsche's didnt even have synchros if i'm remembering correctly, so you had to rpm match every shift

now, you need to check your clutch too...
a good way to do this is (while stopped with e-brake engaged):

push clutch in, shift to 1st. rev motor to ~2000 rpm. shift back to neutral and then into reverse (keeping the rpms up and the clutch pressed). after the first couple of shifts the dogs should line up nicely and it should easily go back and forth between 1st and Rev.... if it dosent go in easily your clutch is not fully disengaging.

hope this helps