I took off yesterday from a light pretty fast the other day and when i went to go back to shift into first it was extreamly hard to push into 1st, and then when i went to go into 2nd it was hard too. all the other gears slide in just perfictly. Whats going on?? is this common? I hope to god its cheap to fix.

 

Sounds like you bent the shift fork or damaged the 1-2 syncro.

 

i dont think its the sycros becuase it will shift into gear smoothly but does need alot presusre to move into either gear. I didnt pull to hard on the shifter when this happened just went quickly. would that have bent the shift fork if so wow these trannies are junk sense i have been harder on my bronco II tranny and those are junk. also its hard to move into these gears when the motors stop.

 

Slave cylinder. Did this on my dads Ranger for yrs. Changed it and it drove like new. Then my dad sold it a week later.

 

but would it shift into all other gears just fine and be hard even when the truck isnt running?

 

3rd and 4th were easy, 5th no problem. Reverse was imposible too. I didn't realize it because it did it randomly and I guess it never really did it when I drove it. I only realized reverse and sometimes 1st was hard. I pumped the clutch 2-3 times and it'd go in. I double checked and everything pointed to the slave. replaced it and the truck really did shift like new. I thought maybe the clutch but it drove so good I left it as is. But like I said my dad sold it a few days later.

 

If the engine is off, it should be equal effort to get it into any gear.
If it is still isolated to the 1-2 gears, then it is an internal tranny problem.
Most likely one of the ears broke on the fork and you are shifting with half a fork now.
And you are not alone.
I have replaced my "bulletproof" ZF6 because the OD bearing went out and sent metal shavings all through the tranny and oil cooler.

 

Well that would suck. Does anyone know a place to get a rebuilt one for cheap. Ford sells them for 3400. The tranny shop wants 2500 with just bearings and syncros. I figure i will pull it apart and see whats wrong and rebuild it if its doable. I looked inside the shift cover and everything looks good but i can only see so much. Is there a rebuild thread on here?

 

also what code would my trans be on the ZF website?
S5-47
S6-650
S5-47M
S5-42
6S-750

http://www.zf.com/na/content/en/impo...t_Catalog.html

 

just went through this recently. Before you replace anything, pull your slave cylinder out of the tranny, then pull back the dust boot that covers the slave push rod looking for any fluid. My guess is you blew the seal on the slave. If this is the case, just replace the slave cylinder. Its a pain to bleed, but with 2 people, a couple qts of brake fluid and a few tries, you should be able to get it bled. Total fix cost ~$60.
Also, if this is the problem, stop driving it. It took me too long to figure the issue out and I sprayed my clutch with brake fluid. Slipping now, but hopefully this afternoon I will use Kwiks method to wash my clutch.

 

So it was hard to get into 1st and 2nd with the motor not running with your slave being bad?

 

Yes, it was almost impossible to get into 1st, and very difficult to get into 2nd.
After that, everything shifted smoothely.

 

sweet thanks for the info i will have to pull it out and check

 

ok i saw some clear fluid in there not to much but some. so im going change but how do i bleed the new one?

 

yeah still hard to get into 1st and 2nd. clutch feels better now though