I recently took my 98 Explorer Sport, 5-speed, 4x2 with 35,000 miles to the Ford dealer to have a problem checked out.

When shifting from 1st to 2nd or 3rd to 4th the gear box will give me significant resistance putting the truck in gear. The resistance is only when UPSHIFTING. Occasionally it would pop out of gear immediately after I released the clutch for a gear change. And recently the slave cylinder for the clutch started leaking. I took it to the dealership and explained it to them. They replaced the clutch, the slave cylinder for the clutch, and the syncros for 1-2 and 3-4! (Thankfully, covered by the warranty).

According to the dealership this was supposed to fix the problem. Now, the clutch is much tighter and the slippage is not as significant as before. The bigger problem is now I have even more resistance when changing gears and now have to double clutch to get the truck to change gears into 2nd or 4th. It now regularly pops out of gear and grinds too!

I have three questions: what is causing this problem? And secondly: Has anyone else had this problem? And finally: Is it time for me to start shopping for a new truck?

Cheers,

Mike