Well shoot, not even 120k on the odo and I've had my first major problem with the truck, and the one thing I hoped wouldn't be an issue, especially since I don't work my truck hard and 95% is driving unloaded highway as a daily driver.

Last time I drove it coming home from grocery store there was a big racket from down under (transmission area). It instantly didnt feel right - there was a slight drag even when the clutch was in, but rolled fine when I pulled it out of gear entirely. Was VERY difficult to go into first gear. Other gears shifted ok but some of them felt hard too. Would not go into reverse at all!. Slight bit of clinking noises every time I started from a stop, but made it home ok and things seemed to ease up as I went. Today, seems to be shifting fine, reverse works and everything.

Now for several years I've had a noise that I couldn't figure out. I am guessing it's related because it sounded like was coming from tranny area. Often, when starting out from a stop, there was a bit of clinking noise like a couple tin pie pans rattling together just as the clutch started to go. I kept thinking it was loose heat shield or something clanking just under the initial vibration of getting going. Never did find anything loose. I'm guessing it's internal.

Any ideas? I've called a couple local shops and so far no one wants to mess with it. Dam this sucks i hoped the MT would be more reliable, not the first thing to go. I myself have never messed with any aspect of a transmission, though I not opposed to learn however I was hoping to take this on an out of state trip end of May, and I'm not going to have much any free time between now and then.

 

Throw Out Bearing would be my first guess

 

Drop the little dust shield on the bottom of the bell housing.
If there's a bunch of ground up plastic and ball bearings in there, it's the throwout bearing.
Sounds like when mine came apart in the ZF-5 in my 92 F-Superduty.

 

I don't see any dust shield on the bottom of bell housing. There is the circular piece on the front, but looks like I'd need to pull the whole thing to remove that, or another inspection plate of some sort on the side (shown below with the ?) but I don't imagine that is what your talking about?




If I understand a throw out bearing though, it would effect the clutch regardless of gear wouldn't it? Not just reverse or first?

I've called up a couple local shops neither wanted to do anything with it, they both reffered me to the only one around they thought might, and I left a message yesterday and they never got back to me so not sure if that is a good sign.

 

My apologies.
I just crawled under both trucks. The 5 does have an inspection plate but the 6 does not.
That's stupid !

 

You did not mention if you checked ;
1-Fluid level in tranny,
2-Clutch fluid level
3-when was the last time tranny fluid changed

 

Fluid levels are full for both, but they have never been changed. I'm slightly behind on my maintanence, just did antifreeze for first time got plugs ready to go in, and I guess I need to do the transmission - except maybe not on this one, not sure what ails it yet.

 

My sons car did this last year, some rattling, some tinging, hard to shift and dragging, then it was ok, for awhile. We pulled his trans and 1 of the springs had come out of the pressure clutch plate and 2 others were ready to fall out, the tabs holding the had broken. It could just be the TOB as said before but either way the trans is going to have to come down. I would suggest just doing the full set fly wheel and all, and if you don't have time to do it, I'd just take it to Ford and let them deal with it, expensive but you'll have it time to go out of town.

 

Sounds kind of like it, and out of curiosity I tempted fate and drove it into town today and other than a couple brief odd noises the first mile then everything seemed to be fine.

I'd like to clarify the clutch seems fine, nice and smooth, feels no different then it ever had. It's the shifter that I can feel the problems. I'm no tranny guy but with my limited knowledge it would seem like a throwout bearing (and clutch plate that you mentioned?) would effect the clutch, not the actual shifting? Yeah I might call up ford on this one, no one else seems to want to work on it anyhow.

 

Just an update. No local place around wants to touch it, and Ford hasn't been very helpful (not returned 3 calls in a row).

I did find a place fairly close that actually specializes in rebuilding ZF6's! However even though it seems to still be usable right now with some difficult R & L shifts, despite a very easy life of 115k mile of mostly unloaded highway cruising (most I've ever hauled around 8,000lbs), they said it'd probably be a full rebuild to the tune of 2200-2500 for the trans, and with fluids and labor if they pull and reinstall everything themselves looking at 3500 total. Wowza. I don't have anything to help me take a transmission out nor skill in the matter so going to have to have them do it all.

Turns out my neighbor is having same issues with his much older 7.3 F350. He's got about 300k on it, and its shifting hard for R and L. I think mine might have had a defect from the get go with the little bit of metal clatter I'd hear every time I started to take off over the years. Never could figure out what that was but it was straight underneath I'm sure from the trans now I am having problems with it.