99 ranger 3.0,,, 5 speed stick,,,was backing out of my driveway but there was a car coming so i pushed in the clutch and waited for the car to pass,,, when i let clutch pedal up off floor i heard a grinding noise,,,a little while latter did the same thing in first,,,, is this a first and reverse gear scyronizer or something else,,,anyone know what causes this and how to fix it ?????

 

Check the rubber shift rail plugs on the side of the manual tranny case for dry rot & leaking fluid. Or maybe if bad enough they may be missing & have drained all the fluid out. If damp signs of leaking fluid around them, check & add lube & replace the plugs without delay. Let us know what you find.

 

Thanks Pawpaw the rubber shift rail plugs were leaking and have been replaced. I need to refill the tranny with oil but not sure what kind,,,I have a old bottle of 90 weight gear oil I think it is for a rear end,,, will this work in trans and does this stuff have a shelf life ??? It is a old bottle !! Oh and wear is the refill place at on the trans,,,it was cold and I did not look very hard for it but I did not see it .. Thanks

 

Ok, good feedback on replacing the shift rail plugs. They are a common point of mischief in low manual tranny fluid woes.

Well lets see, all that info your asking for is in your owner manual. If you don't have one, go to the Tech Info page atop this forums thread index page, open it & scroll down to the Miscellaneous section to find the no cost Owners Manual download link.

If I remember right, Mercon was specified for the manual tranny & that was changed & up graded in about 02 over to Mercon V, as Ford stopped marketing & licensing Mercon fluids.

The 90 weight is Way to viscous to make the tranny work & shift right, so don't use it in your tranny.

I think the tranny fill plug is on the drivers side of the case, the owner manual will show where it is & how to check when it's full.

It it's been grinding for a while, you might want to get an extra qt of inexpensive fluid & kinda use it as a flush if the old fluid looks to have metal solids in it from being run low.

In round numbers, most lubricants are good for about 5 years, if stored capped in the original container & not exposed to strong light & temperature extremes.
If stored for a while, they would likely need to be warmed up then shaken to remix any additives that may have settled out, or dropped out of suspension.

More thoughts for consideration, let us know what you find.

 

Well it has been cold here and I do not have a shop,,,so I went to the local speed lube place and had my motor oil and filter changed,,and had them change and flush the tranny,,, haggled with the owner on the price told him I would pay cash and did not need a receipt and got it all done for $70 bucks cash off the books,,,think I got a good deal,,,they put in the syntech oil,,,i have never used it before,,,but I think it will be fine,,,anyone got any opinions about syntech being better or worse than regular 10/40 oil ??????

 

You talking about Castrol Syntech for the engine?
What did they put in the tranny & how does it sound now?

 

Oh sorry not sure what they put in trans but it sounds great ,,,it would only grind every once in a while,,,have not heard any grinding yet since changing,,and the trans seems to fall into gear while shifting,,,it shifted fine before i thought,,,but it is so easy now,,,it seems to jump into gear before i shift it is so smooth!!!!!!!!!! I think i caught it in time thanks to you Pawpaw,,,the old trans fluid was black and probally had never been changed,,,150, thousand miles or more,,,it was over due and probally low,, from the leaking shift rail bushings,,,you probally saved my trans with your good advice,,,thanks again Pawpaw

 

Oh and yes i was talking about Castrol Syntech ( motor oil )they put in instead of regular Castrol 10/40 i normally use,,,any opinion about which is better ,,,i never used the syntech stuff before !!!!!!

 

Good to hear the tranny sounds & feels better & you think you caught the leaking shift rail plugs in time.

Castrol Syntech is fine, what multi viscosity range did they use? The 3.0L was back specified back in 02 to be able to use 5W20, in 99 it was originally specified to use 5W30, so a 5W would make for easier cold weather cranking, quicker cold starts, so on cold starts is Way easier on the battery & starter motor & the alternator doesn't have to work as hard, or long putting the charge back in the battery & the engine would likely appreciate the faster 5W cold flow. Why were you using a 10W40, trying to slow a oil consumption problem?

 

Oh, I think I misunderstood your original use of "grind", so it was a shifting problem/going into gear grind/clash, not a grinding sound as it was being driven, like dry bearings or gears from low level tranny lube.

Thus with the described color of the fluid, the gear clash/grind, was likely from the worn out tranny fluid friction component, or viscosity not being friendly with the tranny synchronizers being able to spin the gears up to match speed, so they'd mesh without clash/grind. Anyway good idea to have the fluid changed & getting a positive feel/feedback.

 

yeah Pawpaw only heard the grind a couple of times because of low fluid i think,,,i do believe i caught the problem with your help,,and no my trunk does not use oil,,,i just put 10/40 castrol oil in everything cause it seemed to work well,,,i have tried many different oils over the years and i think castrol 10/40 is very good oil and on top of my to use list