Hey guys, I usually hang out at the 48 to 60 board, but I have another truck now. I have just bought a 1989 F150 with an I6 and a M5OD trans. I bought it cheap so I might have to put a trans in it. I took the top of the trans off in the truck so I could see what's goin on. When you start it up and let out on the clutch it dies. When I took the top off the trans, I found a small pin in the shifter top. The pin is about 1/8" in dia, and 1/4" long I'm wondering if this has to do with the shift rails and when you change gears it's not taking it out of one gear before putting it into another gear, thus it's stuck in 2 gears at once??


Also another bad sign is that was only about 2ounces of fluid in the bottom of the trans when I took the top off the trans. I've never been into a manual trans before (or an automatic for that matter) but I'm very mechanical and have done about everything else. I know and have heard that these aint the best trans's ever made, but if I could fix it without a major ordeal, I'd like to. A used trans is $650 and a guy said for $800 he'd rebuild it?? That sounds high to me, but again, I've never worked on one either. Does anyone have any advice or a GOOD exploded parts view? I have a Chilton's book, but it don't have a good pic or is it very descriptive?

I'd like to know which gears are which? The front most one is kind of "sharp" I mean the gear dont have square shoulders anymore, you can tell it's been run low on fluid. Please help and GOD bless

 

if it's been run low on fluid, be best off swapping it out.

 

Thanks man, but I'm trying to be optimistic for now, till I find something REALLY bad?

 

If it is a good shop I would rebuild it, cause if they find a problem they will tell you and ask if you want it done. Or you could just replace it but you don't know what kind of condition a used tranny is in untill you have it installed and are driving it. I will also agree with Truxx1956 if it had that little fluid, and you can see that at least one of your gears is very worn out, you would be very luck to find a cheap/easy fix.

 

OK guys, one more question: What is the gear you can see with the top cover off of the trans and looking at the front of the trans, right behind the clutch and bearing the first gear in sequence? The one on this trans is "sharp" pointy not flat like all the others are. I know how gears are supposed to look and this one looks bad. I wanted to know which one it is? All the other gears look good, but I dont know how much and which way I'm supposed to be able to move them?? My buddy is commin over tonight to look at it and tell me good bad or UGLY??


Also if I do rebuild it, what am I supposed to do with the rubber plugs in the back? I've been told to put small freeze plugs in them to keep them from leaking. Is this true? Should I run something different as far as fluid when I get it going? If I dont' rebuild it and I just fix what's wrong with it, should I run something heavier as far as fluid?

Thanks and GOD bless

 

to start off i had the same thing happen to me mine leaked from the rear seal and went very low on fluid and finally locked up i just replaced it with another junkyard trans and didnt really care since i only paid 75$ for the trans in the 1st place and it lasted over a year without ever checking the fluid

im pretty sure the straight cut gear is rev all forward gears ar helicut or look to have a complex angle cut

you can get the metal plugs at the dealer or on the net to replace the rubber plugs

if i were you i would watch ebay for a used trans you can get them cheap like 200-300 shipped that would be your cheapest solution i would not pay 650 for a used trans if i could get mine rebiult for 800 but i agree with the other guy if its been run low (none) on fluid i would just replace it because everthing inside has been severly overheated and may not be rebiuldable or if it is may not last long when put back in even after the rebuild