Hey guys,

I have an 88 F150 5.0 M5OD 4WD.

Just tried putting my top cover back on after some very interesting problems I was having. Let my father borrow the truck while his van was in the shop. He tells me he was downshifting to third, pulled the stick out of fourth and it stayed in gear. He subsequently couldn't get the stick to go into any gear. So I checked the fluid first. It was a little low (probably those plugs people are always having problems with), but not nearly low enough to cause any damage (I think). I added about a quarter of a quart. I then pulled the top cover and found nothing out of order. Forks look great, nothing shocking. Finally put the top cover on the bench to look at the shift bushings and noticed that 1. the top bushing was completely missing and the pins were totally chewed up, and 2. the 1/2 and 3/4 forks were in the neutral position and the 5/R fork was in the 5 position. He says there is NO WAY he was ever in 5th. Bought a shifter rebuild kit and installed the spring, bottom bushing, and pins. I then moved all the forks to neutral, put the shaft and top bushing in, and reinstalled the cover. Finally, I put the thing in 5th on the bench and reinstalled the cover onto the transmission. Now I'm having trouble shifting into and out of 5th and reverse, and with it running and parked, I can't shift into 5th and possibly reverse without grinding. No issues in 1/2 and 3/4.

If anyone has any ideas, I would be forever grateful!

Thanks

 

Little update, I took the cover back off and was playing around with the shift action. This little pin just fell out onto the bench. It isn't hollow. Any idea where it come from?

 

I am not sure about the 4wd set up with our transmission. My 2wd only has two shift forks and if your sliders in the tranny are in neutral, the forks should be in neutral also. Is there any reason you had the trans in neutral and the cover in 5th ? Not saying you are wrong I just don't understand.

 

That pin goes between the shift rails. Your Father pulled the shifter so hard trying to get it in gear that the shift rail in the center or the one on the far side of the electrical connection moved forward so much it allowed it to pop out.

I recently helped a member with this very issue. If you click my name on the post you can search my post and find it and it will walk you through it. THis needs to be resolved before you do what I suggested above. Sandy

 

That pin goes between the shift rails. Your Father pulled the shifter so hard trying to get it in gear that the shift rail in the center or the one on the other side of the electrical connection moved forward so much it allowed it to pop out.

I recently helped a member with this very issue. If you click my name on the post you can search my post and find it and it will walk you through it. THis needs to be resolved before you do what I suggested above.
The THREAD on this starts on page 5 post 10.

 

Thanks for your reply Sandy. because when I pulled the top cover, the actual transmission was in 5th gear, I had to make sure the rails in the cover were in the right position. So I set the 1,2 and 3,4 rails to neutral and the 5,R rail to the 5 position.

As as for the pin, I spent a while searching through that thread earlier but have not gotten to the part about replacing that pin yet. I had to abandon while I was at work. Will I need to take out either of the rails to replace it?

 

yep it is a lengthy thread because the folks I was helping were new to the truck. You will need to remove the metal plugs and tap the rails from the end with the rubber plugs past the first part that the rails go through. You don't have to completely remove the rails. Of course the forks have to come off so you can move the rails. A little patience with the thread and you will quickly see how easy it is. There are pictures also. It will save you some grief. I am happy to answer any questions as you go along if needed. Sandy

 

So I read through that thread basically start to finish and it sounds like she never got that small pin back in to her cover. Any idea what function this pin serves? Also after looking at the rails, it looks like there are holes in both the two rails furthest from the electrical connection. Both holes are empty and I have only one pin. Are they both supposed to have these pins in them?

Thanks again for your help!

 

She put it in but didn't mention it because her husband started helping her. The pins go in sideways and apply pressure to the rails. The side rails use one each. There is a long one inside the electrical connection for that side rail. The bottom rail has one also and both apply pressure to the center rail. I would think you lost the bottom one. The pressure on the center rail is why I recommend removing the long one from the electrical connection FIRST. It starts the relief needed to easily move the center rail. The ladys husband skipped this and caused them more problems. I never said anything to them or she may have railed him if she knew. I don't think you will have to move that rail to do this next part.
Move the bottom rail next and under the rail where the hole is there is a spring and a ball bearing so hold your hand over the hole when you move the rail past it. Now pressure is off the center rail and it will now move easily. I remove the rubber plugs to tap through that side. You can let the rail push the metal plugs out on the opposite side. After you do that rail you should see the parts you have and will see how the pin goes sideways to the rails. You will not need to remove the rails just get them past the holes. After that any issues and we can go from there. Sandy

 

This picture shows the long pin from the electrical connection which applies pressure to what I will call the top rail. The small pin goes in sideways and puts pressure on the other side of the top rail. The other small pin goes in sideways and the bottom rail pushes it to the center rail. There is no pin on the bottom side of the bottom rail.

So if you remove the electrical long pin. you have relieved pressure from the top rail and some from the center rail. Then if you move the bottom rail you have relieved pressure from it and more from the center rail. Next you can easily move the center rail since most pressure is off of it. This is the part that the thread folks missed and it causes rails to not move easily. He moved the center rail first. I cracked my case doing it that way because the center rail was so stuck I had to use a press and it cracked. So you should have one long pin and two short ones. Plus the springs and ball bearings that go under the rails to apply even more pressure...........The bottom pin is probably the one that came out when the rail was moved with force.

 

Sandy, this is excellent. I really appreciate the time you're spending helping me out with this.

Unfortunately, none of the pins in your picture are the same as the one I have out. If you look at post #213 on this page: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...d-gear-15.html , the pin she has in her hand is the one I have out. I don't believe the thread ever discusses where to put this pin. It is longer and thinner than those pins that go in between the rails. If you read on in the thread, you asked her if the pin in her hand was the pin she put in sideways before and she said no, it was a totally different pin that she found on the floor the day before.

 

BUT, after doing a little more research and using this very helpful diagram and parts list at http://www.partesymas.com/catalogos/estandar/m5r2.pdf , I think I have figured out that that pin that I have goes inside the hole in the center rail, directly in between the two fatter pins. This way, when one of the outer rails is engaged, it pushes the pin in the center of the middle rail to the lock pin in between the two remaining rails to lock both of them in place, if that makes sense. Without the pin in the middle shaft, the lock pin would have no way of locking both the remaining rails.

It seems it goes right into the rail where i have drawn the red box below. There is a perfect sized hole for it in that middle rail.

 

A spring and a ball bearing go in the hole you marked. In the picture she is holding a roll pin, ball bearing and a pin like the above picture. The pin is only slightly larger than the hole where the ball bearing goes. They both look like the ones above. Do you have two short identical pins and the long one as shown above? Is the one you found the same size as above. Maybe post some pics. Look at post 221 in the link you posted. She said she installed it sideways.

 

In the marking on the picture I sent, I was trying to draw in exactly how the pin is mounted. It is exactly aligned directly in between the two other fatter pins, not down in the hole vertically where the ball bearing and spring go. I will try to post some pics tomorrow.

I'm going to have to disagree with you on the pin she is holding in her hand. The pins that go in between the rails are noticeably fatter. I can show you listings of the parts on eBay.

The pin that I have that fell out of my top cover is part number E8TZ7235A, number 24 in the diagram that I linked to in my previous post. It can be seen here: *New Genuine Ford E8TZ-7235-A Pin | eBay

The fatter pins that go in between the rails are part number E8BZ7C316B, number 21 in the diagram. These can be seen here: Ford OEM Shift Rod Lock Pin NOS E8BZ-7C316-B 5 Spd MTX 1988 - 1993 Festiva | eBay

If you take a look at that diagram, there are three pins that should be exactly in a row, in the order 21 24 21.

 

It appears that our transmissions are different.
The diagram in the link is different than my trans. That diagram shows the shift column close to the end of the cover. Mine is in the center.

If you look at ALLSTATE GEAR web site, select Ford transmissions. Then select M5R2 / RKE 5 Speed Transmission Parts. Then select shift forks. The first ones shown are the 1-2 shift forks for the different transmissions. The one on the right is what I use and it has a 23 at the end of the number. The fatter fork on the left uses a different ending number. The second row left one shows the new style 1-2 fork for my transmission and the right picture is the other style 3-4 shift fork. In the top row, if yours looks like the left one, ours are different. Sandy

This picture shows the two different covers. Other than the forks and the shift column, the other real difference I notice is the electrical connection on the fat fork cover is on the other end of my cover. So the set up is really different.