1990 F-150 tranny problem

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May 10, 2004 | 05:40 PM

ingramo

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1990 F-150 tranny problem

Ok heres the deal. My brother has a 1990 F150 2wd with the m50d and a 302. Last week at the lake he got stuck in some rocks and gave it some gas in reverse to get out and the stick was shaking pretty bad. Then all of the sudden he lost reverse. He tried taking it out of reverse and putting it back in and still nothing. So no reverse but all other gears work fine except for a clickin or grumbling noise coming from the tranny while the truck is moving, even in neutral. What do you guys think the problem could be? And how easy is it to fix or how much to get it fixed? Thanks in advance

May 10, 2004 | 06:19 PM

n578md

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From: Allen, Tx

The reverse gear slipped off of it's position on the counter-shaft. He broke whatever retainer keeps the gear in place. If you know how to take the gear box apart, that's not too bad but other wise, it will probably be cheaper to get a new or remanufactured unit. (Or replace it with a ZF S542 out of an F250 or F350 around that year model, they are much much tougher. You'll need the transmission mount and a new driveshaft of the correct length, I'm not sure.)

May 10, 2004 | 08:50 PM

ingramo

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Would I have to drop the tranny to get to all that or could I just take the top off through the shifter hole? And where could I get that gear and all the parts I need if indeed that is the problem?

May 10, 2004 | 09:33 PM

n578md

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From: Allen, Tx

You'd have to take the whole thing apart. It's quite involved. I think that particular transmission uses a lock ring to keep the gears in place and you'd have to take the countershaft out to replace it. You can get parts from Ford or from a transmission rebuilder. There's quite a few on the web.

May 10, 2004 | 09:59 PM

n578md

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From: Allen, Tx

I just looked up the M5OD and the reverse gear is on the main shaft, which you can see if you take off the shifter cover. You've got a locking nut, a snap ring and a selective spacer that holds the gear in place. If the locknut is undone, you may be able to fix it without a tear down, if it's broken, then you obviously need to tear it down and take out the input shaft and main shaft.

Check out a rebuilt:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/dpstore/noname13.html
http://www.phoenixhardparts.com/Merc...egory_Code=FMT

Last edited by n578md; May 10, 2004 at 10:05 PM.

May 10, 2004 | 10:13 PM

ingramo

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Thanks I'll take a look tomorrow.

May 12, 2004 | 05:47 PM

ingramo

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Well I got the tranny out and looked at it. The reverse gear is totally gone and the reverse idler gear is missing teeth as well as the gear on the main shaft in the back of the tranny, luckily all the forward gears are fine. Where's a good place to find/buy these gears online and can I buy just THOSE gears and not the whole rebuil kit? Thanks again