I found a truck on craigslist for a really cheap price, but the trans is out of it. Just wondering if there are any common problems with these transmissions? Its a 5 spd and it only has 4th gear.

1990 f150, 5.0 5 spd, 4x4
I'll post some pics of the truck when I get it home.

Thanks.

 

It'll have a M50D (mazda 5spd). They definitely aren't the best transmissions to hold up against abuse. Could you get it into reverse or was 4th the only gear it would go into???

You could have anything from busted up shift forks to an imploded tranny. It's any ones guess until you get into to. I would price out a good 5spd from a local junk yard and plan on the cost of replacing the whole tranny. That being said the ZF-542 5spd is the heavy duty 3/4-1ton tranny that you might want to upgrade to... I would think you could find a M50D for $300-$400 in working condition pretty easily... Don't forget to add $100ish for a new clutch too.

 

I was just looking for any common fixes because I'm buying it no matter what. He has a spare tranny already that goes with the truck.
The short run dowwn on the truck is as follows.
90 f150 4x4
6 inch lift
35 mud terrains on mickey thompson wheels
shortbed
No rust
shorty headers with dual exhaust(he threw in new long tubes too)
4:10's front and rear
The truck is very clean
All for the ungodly sum of $1550.00 dollars
I'm meeting the tow truck at his house at noon

 

I saw it on CL... Nice find... Would only be better if he had a 351w to go with it too!

What brand LT's is he throwing in??? Some of the LT headers have to be adapted to fit into a 4x4. Just a heads up...

My advice on the M50D would be NOT to put a M5OD back in that lifted truck! with the 35's, a 302 w/ hotter cam, and 4.10's you'll end up breaking that M50D again in no time. Especially if you are going to use it in mud and off road! Go find a ZF542 4x4 tranny out of a small block 300 or 351w f250-f350 and you'll have a better tranny that will take the abuse of the bigger tires.

 

Since 4th is the 1:1 one gear, I think the countershaft is gone. All the other gears run off that shaft. Had a bronco II that had the same thing happen. The drive gear on the end of the countershaft stripped all the teeth off.

 

Can't find it GRIND IT! LOL... that trucks tranny was way overworked with tires that size and an engine that doesn't produce very good low end torque... Tranny had to work hard and ended up blowing it's brains out b/c the owner spend all his money on the tires and engine mods and didn't think about the poor little 1/2 ton tranny that wasn't made for that kind of abuse...

 

There seems to be a lot of that going on.....

 

I got out there to pick the truck up and after looking at it in the day light I decided to pass on it. He said it had a cam in it, but it was a miss lol. The spare tranny he had was only a partial tranny and the truck wasn't as clean in the light as it was in the dark. It sucks, but I just couldn't justify it. Oh, well....looks like its back to fixing up the beatertruck