I have a 92 F150 5.0 5spd with the mazda M5od or whatever

I took off the top cover and gear shifter to replace those damn leaky plugs at the rear of the tranny. That went great.

when I went to install the cover, it went on, but I can't get the damn shifter back on correctly.

The bushing in there is pretty much FUBAR, but I think the problem is something besides the bushing. Is there a trick to lining things up or what?

When I put the shifter back in and bolt it up I can pretty much on find one gear... i think its first.

When I removed the cover I wiggled the shifter a bit to get it to pop off... that might have been a mistake or something. I'm not sure if the races are lining up properly or not.

any help is much appreciated because I am supposed to go pick up a really nice pool table tomorrow for FREE.

 

i'd post over in the trans forum. guarantee you'll get a response there.

 

already did, figured i'd post in both

 

When you put the top cover back on, make sure that the 2 shifter rails engage the 2 syncro outer races. Sometimes they will move and the forks will not line up. The shifter ball is keyed, so it will only go in 1 way. Also, make sure you put a little RTV on the back 2 cover bolt threads to seal them when reinstalling.

 

I was wondering if I should RTV that cover back on or not.

is it common for the shifter rails to just barely miss the outer races? It looks like it is lining up, but when the cover goes on the shifter it does'nt work. It just moves around really sloppy and can't find any gears.

are those bushings that fell out 100% necessary for operation or will I be able to drive without them?

 

The top cover should drop right in with no binding. Only RTV the 2 rear bolts on the threads not the cover. It sounds like the 2 shifter ball bushings are gone. If the ball drops too far into the housing it will not engage into the forks to move the syncro rings. Remove the 3 screws holding the shifter ball in and look to see if the rubber bushings are gone. Also, try lifting the shifter up a little and see if it engages the forks to shift gears. If this works, you will need to install new bushings. 1 on top and 1 on bottom of shifter ball.

 

VR666, I just did this a week ago. One question for ya. When you pulled the shifter off was there tension? maybe5 pounds of up pressure and then it popped out?

This is what happened to me. When I put it back together, the shifter looked like it was in nuetral, but I couldn't shift into any gears.

If this is what happend to you then your shifter is in the wrong place. If you put your vehicle into 1st when you were working on it then the bottom of the shifter should go in the bottom right side. There is a pressure botton that closed of that slot when you pulled the shifter out. Why they tell you to pull the shifter I have no idea, because after putting it back to gether it is clear to see that there is no reason to.

Anyway, what I had to do is push that button over with a screw driver, then fish a butter knife up threw the bottom between the rails and hold the button over from the bottom. Then you can put the shifer were it belongs, and when you "seat" the shifter back in the knife will pop out the bottom. Then you just put the cover back on the tranny and bolt up.

Here is a pick of the button I'm talking about.
http://img55.photobucket.com/albums/v169/BrokenHorn/Shifter_first_gear.jpg

 

thanks for all the help guys. I was just freaking out over nothing. I pushed it in to neutral with a screwdriver and it is fine now.

only thing is that the bushing is fubar. any recomendations on where to get a new one? dealer wants to sell me the whole shifter assembly

 

I have a "91 F150 and did the three leaky plugs yesterday. Left it in 1st while I did the job (as posted by Paul Grazier). I did pull the shifter. When I put it back (today), couldn't shift. Had to put the shifter rails in neutral position and then change the tranny syncro's position by hand to make them match the shifter rail postion. Worked like a charm. My shifter-ball bushings were gone also (no trace). Nowhere to buy any on Sunday. Went to a hardware store and bought a pack of sink drain washers (a-1/2" to 1-1/4" plastic slip joint reducers. Carved a taper onto the inside edge and shortened the height of one and it works like new. No slack or play. Don't know how long it will last, but it cost 98 cents.
Hoyt

 

I followed the same procedures as pctours did and ran into the same problem with the transmission being stuck in one gear. An ill feeling came over me when I couldn't get the trans shifted into other gears. Came back the next morning and did the plug replacement and put the top plate back on. Still no luck with the shifter--pondered the delema for a bit. Stuck the shifter in at a different angle and pushed the right side slots forward. Bolted everything up and luckily I was able to shift gears.

I have a factory service manual and should have read through it before removing the shifter. Top plate removal was under the tranny disassembly, just after tranny removal. Couldn't find anywhere that says to put the shifter in 1st gear before removing the top plate. As a matter of fact, I do believe it says to place the trans in nuetral before removing the shifter (prior to tranny removal).

Perhaps the author of the tech article will see this and expound on why the trans should be in 1st gear.

I tend to side with 94' Ford on not needing to remove the shifter from the top plate, seems like an unneeded step (or in Quality lingo; non-value added step)--but never tried it that way. Probably the risk of moving the forks while working on the plate and making it difficult to realign it to the gears would be the main concern.

Sorry for the long post, Ed

 

Me too, i changed a shift fork and did those rubber plugs about a month and a half ago. Everything was going smooth until i bolted the top cover on and couldnt shift at all. I pulled the top cover off about 5 times until i got it right. Theres a few pics in my gallery on those plugs if anyones interested.