Howdy Pards, I usually hang out in the Expedition forum but I have some Qs about my old Ranger. It's an 87 extended cab w/ 2.9 and manual four speed w/ overdrive. I don't know anymore than that about what tranny it is. The truck has 136k miles on the it. No major problems since I've had it ( about eight yrs. now) I recently started driving the Ranger to work ( about 190 miles one way). I only go home on weekends. The engines seems strong. We've been pretty good about maintenance. However, the tranny makes noises that I'm not used to after living mainly in the Expy. Noises include a rattling sound that I can hear driving in the city. My son's auto shop teacher tells him that sound is the synchro gears "worn" and "not to worry." There is also what I would describe as a sort of humming sound when at highway speed. Several year ago, a guy that owns a tranny shop in town told me that the tranny was shot and that he wouldn't drive it 'long distances'. That was about twenty thousand miles ago. I live in South Dakota and work in Minnesota. I've driven this truck all over, but it is getting older. Since I don't like to be stranded in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night ( who does?), here's the Q: What should I watch out for and listen for? We've done no work to the tranny. It works fine except for the noise. But better safe than sorry. Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

If the fluid is proper and in proper quanitity, I'm thinking some bearings are shot and starting to become obvious.

This is assuming this isn't wheel or road noise you're catching....let me chase down my transmission manual real quick....

Ah, basically, the list given for noisy tranny in neutral and in drive means that the innards are going...going...gone.

You have an FM146, a Mitsu tranny, but it is swappable with the Mazda version..maybe even a straight swap-in, if memory serves correct.