Hi All,

Since I am new here, first let me introduce myself. My name is Aaron, and I live in Olympia WA. This looks like a great forum, and I hope that someone here might have some info for me...it seems like everyone here really knows their stuff!
I have a 1994 Mazda B-4000 4WD with a 5 speed manual trans (M5OD). The truck has about 170K, and I do not know if the trans has been changed or rebuilt. Recently, the clutch slave started leaking...badly. I learned to deal with this until I could fix it by pumping up the clutch prior to driving the truck and it never gave me much trouble. The clutch seemed to gravity-bleed itself? Last week, however, the truck started to refuse to go into first gear. Almost like it had a bad synchro. Second gear works, but is very "stiff" when shifting into it. It doesn't hang up completely like first gear, but rather just requires a lot more pressure on the shifter to get it engaged. The other gears are fine. I initally thought that the trans may just be low on oil, but it seemed to be topped up fine. Do I have a bad 1-2 synchro? Is a shift fork or syncho just stuck or something? It is strange that this condition came on so suddenly...I have had bad synchros before, and it is usually a gradual thing. I also thought it was strange that second gear seemed to have a problem too. Do you guys have any thoughts? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. I don't want to spring for a tranny rebuild if I don't have to! Regards, Aaron

 

It sould like to me that the Slave is not releasing the Clutch Completely. I had a Simular 1-2 problem when the FLywheel had heat cracks casueing the Cutch not to release completely

 

Welcome to FTE!!

I'm sure you'll get a lot of help for you problems.

 

Thanks for your reply!

Would this only affect first and second gears? The other gears (3,4,5,R) are all fine. The truck definitely has some clutch slave cylinder issues, but the pedal feels fine. It used to go into first just fine once you got the pedal pumped up. Thanks again! Regards, Aaron

 

Hello Aaron,
Well we had the same problem on our 97 5 speed....Did the slave....did the master.....it was a weak pressure plate. After installing a new clutch assembly, it shifted like new..
Hwydon

 

Thanks to everyone for their replies! I will change out the clutch and slave cylider and go from there. Again, many thanks! Regards, Aaron

 

This problem sounds strangely familiar to what I'm experiencing now. 1993 Ford Ranger XLT 2.3L 5-speed. Just about to pass 160,000, and at times, I STRUGGLE to get it to go into first gear. Second is slowly becoming stiff as well. I'm not exactly raking in the money right now, so how likely is it that this will get worse? I know it's subjective, but how long can I keep pretending this is all in my head without destroying my transmission? Would I have to replace the clutch, master/slave cylinder, etc., or is there one part that is responsible for this? The clutch seems fine otherwise...no grinding, no slipping, and once I'm out of second, you wouldn't know there's a problem. It does kind of suck having to hold the clutch down when I'm sitting in traffic, but otherwise I'd never get it back in gear. Any thoughts would be appreciated =).

 

That is exactly what my truck is doing. As I said, all of the other gears feel fine...and once it is out of second there is no problem at all. I have found that if I put the truck in third before I put it into first, first will usually engage with few or no problems. I plan to replace the clutch and slave (which I know is leaking badly) here within the next couple of weeks. I will let you know if that solves the problem. I don't want to replace my transmission either, but would rather replace the stupid thing while I have it out for the clutch and slave than have to do it all over again! All I can recommend right now is to NOT get angry and try to force the shifter into first...if you do enough this you WILL eventually have some tranny issues. For now, drive the truck on it's own terms. Good luck, brother! Regards, Aaron