Since i bought my truck its had issues going into 3rd(a few years ago). I just thought it was syncros so i was waiting for the right time to pull it an rebuild. Im able to shift smoothly if i time it right and the truck doesnt get driven often so i just let it go. Last week i pulled the tranny and transfer case and cracked them both open to check everything out. Previous owner told me the truck had a new motor and trans with about 50k on them. Anyways this is what i found. ps, ive only put 15-20k on this truck in 3 years.


you can see the shift fork is machined down pretty far. Nothing else is worn which is odd. All the bearings are in good shape, none of the seals are leaking, none of the gears show any wear. Any ideas why this would happen??? Obviously im going to replace the shift fork but i want to make sure this doesnt happen again.

Is the end of the shifter arm supposed to have a plastic wear bushing on it? this one didnt. everything seems to slide okay, obviously there are detents. I guess id just like to get some insight.

Thanks ahead of time.

 

wow thats alot of waer im kinda suprized you could still get it into 3rd yes there should be a wear ring made of some kind of plastic or composite make sure the slider doesnt have any burrs on it that would quickly wear away the new one

 

the slider was perfect. What i think happened was the previous owner told me the ford dealer put a new motor/trans in. i think they were rebuilt units and i think this shift forks was like that because there is no way from looking at the rest of the parts, this could have happened. I was thinking there should be some wear parts in there but i cant find any.

ps im not 100% on the terminology of these trannys as there seems to be alot of conflicting info out there. was the m50d used in explorers and rangers, then the m52d used in trucks. I have found info that points to both.

 

acually the "proper" names are

f150 bronco "and although rare tbird supercoupe" M5OD-R2

ranger explorer M5OD-R1

 

thanks subs, i found the m50d-r2 online but it was referenced to a supercoupe and someone building a maxda rx7 or something odd. Is there an M52D? I saw in more then one place

 

no m52d is a miss print

go to google and type in ford m52d and youll get 18 results

then try ford m5od or m5od-r2 or m5r2 and youll get 1000s

 

Would be interested in knowing how the tranny shifts into 3rd after you make the repair. I say that because I have an 03 with the 5 speed manual - 49k. Shifting into 3rd from the day the truck drove out of the dealership has always been iffy. Meaning that if one doesn't power shift and hesitates just a bit before shifting into 3rd, especially when downshifting with a lot of revs than all is fine. But if one tries to force the shift than nashing of teeth will be the result. Over the years and many readings on the site, most everyone with a M50D has the same story.

 

i can down shift okay but if i pop into N then try to pop it into third its hopeless. Ill be sure to update once ive fixed it. I havent even had time to order parts yet.

 

ford wants $90 for that shift fork. A local garage wants $67 for it, but the guy just rebuilt a 2wd m50d-r2 and said he would sell me the top plate with all the shift forks in it, new shifter pivot bushings etc for $129. Its tempting.