I have a 97 F150 4wd with a 4.6 and a 5 speed manual tranny. I recently noticed some hard shifting but it's only been once or twice. Got in the truck today and I can only get the tranny into reverse and it grinds when I do that. Thing is though, is that the tranny shifts fine and into all gears when the engine is not running. The minute I crank up the engine, I can't get the tranny into any gear. I've verified my transfer case shifter is ok and in gear. I looked at the clutch reservoir on the firewall and it has fluid.

Anybody know if there is a dipstick on the tranny to check the fluid there? I'd hope this is a easy problem like the fluid or linkage, but I don't understand why it shifts so easy with the engine off, but not while running. Could it be the throwout bearing?

Thanks!

 

No dipstick on manual transmissions, just a filler hole in the case that determines the fluid height (fill it til fluid starts coming back out of the hole).

Sounds like your clutch and or clutch cylinder is going.

 

Ditto. Sounds like the clutch master cylinder or the slave cylinder has failed.
Not likely an internal problem with the transmission.

If you didn't feel the problem getting worse and worse over time, then it is likely not a worn out clutch.

Sound like something in the clutch hydraulics just pooped out.

It is easy to shift with the engine off because, well, the engine is off. Nothing is moving. No gears spinning.
The job of the clutch is to isolate the transmission from the spinning shaft coming out of the back of the engine so that you can shift the gears, then release the clutch and re-engage the transmission to the engine shaft.

If things aren't spinning, it is pretty easy to change gears.

The grinding is the gears rubbing across each other as you try to engage gears that are still spinning (because the clutch has not successfully disengaged the transmission from the engine).

 

I appreciate the help.