Alrighty Folks.

I have a 1988 Eddie Bauer edition Bronco 2, V6 2.9L Manual 4wd

I was driving down the road today, i'd been going for about an hour and a half, and all of a sudden it gets really hard to shift the transmission into any gears. I then had to stop at a stoplight, and fearing something was really crapped up, I pulled into the turn lane. I then couldn't get it to go into any gear at all, so i ended up pushing the car out of the turn lane and into a gas station that was luckily on the opposite corner. Sitting in the lot, I couldn't get the transmission to shift at all. I turned off the car, and immediately the transmission would shift easily into any gear I wanted. Turn the car back on with the tranny in neutral, and it wouldn't go into gear again. So finally, I let it sit for about 10 minutes while I recovered from the car-pushing, and put it in gear, started the car, and drove 30 minutes to where I was headed, including up a mountain (on the roads, not off). Now, my clutch engages pretty close to the top of the pedal, and although I've been told that the clutch is fine, I have been thinking for a while that it may need a new one. It occasionally will just spin and not engage when I try to accelerate really quickly, (really really quickly), but under normal driving conditions it never slips. Does anyone have any ideas as to what would cause this? Have I destroyed my transmission? It doesn't drive as well now, and it feels kind of rough when it's going, but the transmission shifts with little resistance at all.

Also, I have 4wd (with the blasted crappy electric module) and when it is engaged and I turn more than 1/10th the turn of a wheel it feels as though the wheels are rubbing on something, and it bucks and jumps. Is this normal?

Finally, does anyone have experience with Camber Bolts installed by Ford to fix the alignment? They did mine, and the castle nut on the passenger side keeps backing itself off. I was told they have to replace the whole thing again, and that I get to pay for it, so I nicely told them to screw themselves. I am about out of ideas.

I really love this truck, but it has to get me and a load of my stuff home from college in about a week and a half. I really need some help if you guys can help me with any of this stuff it would be great. The second two are minor annoyances, but the thing with the tranny scares the **** out of me.
Please Help!!!!

 

Sorcerer,

First, I believe your original problem was clutch related. What you describe is typically what happens when a clutch is not disengaging. The synchromeshes for the gears in the transmission work to keep you from hearing grinding and allowing you to shift if the input power is not disengaged. The clutch not disengaging can be due to various things. I believe this model year had a hydraulic clutch, so the first place I would check is that the fluid level is to the full mark in the clutch master cylinder reservoir. If not top it up with the proper fluid (usually brake fluid). If it is low, the fluid may be leaking out either through the slave cylinder or the master cylinder. The seals could be gone or going. Also the fact that either one is leaking can cause all kinds of weird things to occur when you disengage or engage the clutch. Not repairing the problem can lead to clutch failure as well. You can replace or rebuild either cylinder, but my advice is that if you find is one bad do the other too as it will also fail before long. If the fluid level is okay you still could have hydraulic cylinder problems but it is less likely, so check carefully.

If it isn't one of the hydraulic cylinders then it could be a bad clutch plate or even a bad throw out bearing. How do you know the clutch is ok? How hard did you try to get it into gear? If you really forced it you could have damaged some parts in the transmission and that could be causing strange noises or roughness, although it could be caused solely by the clutch.

Your 4x4 problem is normal and is often referred to as "climbing". The problem occurs when the wheels all have good traction when in 4x4. The front and rear wheels drive at slightly different speeds so when you turn when on material that has a firm footing such as cement or asphalt, you will notice this effect like rubbing. Take it out of 4x4 in these conditions.

I know nothing about the camber bolts, but a castle nut should have a cotter pin through it to keep it from backing out. If the cotter pin is in place it can't back off. Is it shearing the cotter pin? If so
something serious is wrong.

Hope this helps.

Rob