After persistent searching for many weeks for a ZF transmission, I finally got one. I found it at a wrecking yard about 120 miles from me. It came from an 89 F250 with a 5.8L that was a cash for clunkers truck. It only had 52K miles on it. The truck was long gone but they still had the transmission and TC. I think this was an amazing find and at a price I could have only dreamed of, especially from a wrecking yard. I'm kind of tempted to turn around and sell it and make double what I paid for it but then I'd still need to find another one.
I'll see now how easy or difficult the swap will be. The transmission is HUGE compared to the M5R2 it will be replacing. Wish me luck!

 

so what did u pay? should be a strait up swap

 

My ZF has been a POS since day 1-it's never shifted very well, and now at 90K miles it's almost undriveable. I wish I could find something better...

 

Hell mine has been good. Just doesn't like reverse sometimes.

 

Paid $300 for mine...

 

too much. lol

 

Why does a ZF need a torque converter?

 

transfer case

 

I paid just a little more than 42% more than fairlane68 did for his.
I figure for the miles that are on this transmission, I think I got a good deal.

 

Congratulations!!! I know just how you feel. I found mine last spring and i didnt have cash on me to pay for it. But at the same time i didnt wanna leave the yard for fear that it might be gone before it get back, haha.

The ZF is an awesome transmission. Mine came out of a used and abused 89 f250 with unknown miles, and its is still shifting smoothly and running great, and has been for over 10,000 miles now.

Get ready for the grumble at idle. They are noisy, or at least mine is, its pretty common. But its an awesome 1st gear. So much better for a truck then the Mazda. Lower reverse is great. And just the heavy duty feel of it. And yeah, its defiantly bigger and heavier the the tiny Mazda.

The SWAP
Replace the clutch, and all in bell housing components, and have the flywheel resurfaced while your there.

Its pretty straight forward. it uses the same flywheel, clutch, slave, cross member, depending on the year you may wanna swap TC linkage to match the newer model pattern. (the 89 pattern gets real close to the dash and is the pull, over, pull pattern vs the pull, push down, pull that is from the newer trucks) The only thing that i am unsure about, because of the large variety in engine, trans, and wheelbase is the drive shaft. The ZF is slightly shorter in 2wd version, but i am not really sure about 4x4. I swapped from 2wd to 4x4 ZF so i had a shaft made. But i also had a 2wd ZF in reserve and it was about 4in shorter then the 2wd Mazda.

Good Luck with the swap!

 

Thanks for the tips Fordman. The clutch according to the PO, was redone not long before I bought the truck but I will verify it. I was also planning on replacing the main seal since it looks like it has a slight drip back there.

 

Mine wasn't too bad, BUT, here is something to think about, I put almost a 50/50 mix of Lucas oil additive/Dex II in mine... It calls for strait Dex II/Mercon, but It made more noise than I wanted to listen to.


Mine had a 80W90/ATF mix in it and the Tcase when I got it. (got to love farm trucks!) Could you run 80W90 in these trannys? I know some 4 speeds could run one or the other.. But my repair manual says ATF only.. Any ideas?

 

There is a tag on the filler plug on my ZF that requires ATF to be used. I think it even specifies the exact type. I'd have to look at it more closely to see what it exactly says.

 

The Tag on the side of mine says,ESP-M42C 166-H, Witch is Mercon from what I can find. But would it hurt it to put something a bit thicker in there?

 

Oh, duh, my bad.