I've been having some intermittant problems with the manual trans in my truck being difficult to shift. The problem comes and goes, but is getting more frequent. Went I went to leave the house on Friday it was almost impossible to get it to go into reverse. As I tried to shift it into reverse, it wouldn't go into gear, but the truck would roll backwards just slightly. First gear was almost impossible, with 2nd being marginally better. Usually if I push the clutch as hard as I can to the floor, it'll go into gear, but Friday it was being a real PITA. It feels almost like the clutch isn't fully disengaging.

I had it the truck in the shop over the summer and they replaced the clutch pedal bushing. It improved the shifting some, although the clutch pedal made a loud clicking sound every time I shifted. The clicking noise is now gone, but the difficult shifting is back.

I've done some searches on the forum, and it sounds like a common problem with our trucks and the manual trans. I've seen a couple people mention the heim joint mod to fix it, but I haven't been able to find a website to buy it. Does anyone have a website to go to, and does this sound like the fix to my problem? Also, how much time am I looking at to do the mod?

I'm heading out for a 1,000+ mile trip on Wednesday for Christmas, so hopefully it'll hold out until I get back. I may take it back to the trans shop and see if they can throw another bushing in there just to make the trip more enjoyable.

Thanks!

 

do a search on ebay that is where this item is sold it takes about 15-20 min to install if this does not fix your problem your most likely looking at a rebuild

 

Thanks spazinweasel! I finally found the mod on ebay; I must not have been using the right search words to find it earlier.

For those that are trying to find this mod on eBay in the future, insert the following into the search field, and it should pop right up:
I'm pretty sure this mod will fix the difficult shifting in my truck, as it shifts great sometimes, and the clutch holds plenty well towing my 23' travel trailer or 1.5 cords of wet oak firewood.

At least I hope this $40 mod is the fix, because I certainly don't want to fork out the dough right now to replace the clutch and flywheel and/or do a tranny rebuild!

 

no prob ive done this mod too and it helped but i also have a 2nd gear syncro out so i need the rebuild too the part should help though good luck!!

 

where in the pedal travel does your clutch disengage?

if you pump the pedal a few times then push down will it go?

when was the last time the trans fluid changed"? what did they use?

 

Still using the origonal DMF and clutch? Previous owner of my 96 dump truck had the same issues. They ended up taking the synchro's out of 1st, 2nd, and starting on 3rd thinking it was slave cyl issues....turned out the DMF was shot. I put in a Luk SMF kit when I got it, now other than the synchros it works like a charm

 

i have the e-bay mod on my truck and it works real well, i was having issues like you are discribing, i still have dificult shifting when its sub 0 temps outside unless i let it idle in neutral for a while to warm up the trans fluid

 

its either the clutch rod assembly, the dual mass flywheel, or the slave/master cylinder wore out.

 

I'm sure it's the original clutch and dual-mass flywheel with 137K on the truck. The shifting doesn't improve if I pump the clutch, so I don't think it's the slave cylinder, and the clutch starts disengaging right off the floor - maybe 1/2" or so. The tranny fluid is new in the last 10K, and I'm sure it's the right stuff, as I had a trans shop that works on a lot of Powerstrokes change it for me. I don't think I've damaged the syncros (yet), as when the clutch does cooperate, it shifts like a dream.

I checked under the dash last night, and I noticed there's a lot of play in the clutch rod assembly where the plastic bushing is, so I'm going to try to locate a new bushing and throw it in there today as a temporary fix until the eBay mod shows up. Can you get these bushings from parts stores, or do you have to go to the dealer?

My only problem will be trying to find a place that's open, as we're pretty much snowed in here in the Portland Metro area, and almost nothing is open. I'm sure a lot of you guys would laugh, seeing less than a foot of snow paralyzing an entire city, but no one around here knows how to function if there's a dusting of snow on the ground, let alone almost a foot. I love it, as there's no one on the road, so I can fly through the stuff without a problem!

I'm sure with 137K on the original clutch and flywheel, I'm due for a clutch job soon, but I don't think this truck has ever been overly abused or towed real heavy loads, so I'm hoping the flywheel will hold in there until the clutch needs replacing. Once it goes, I'm definitely converting to a single-mass one!

Thanks for all the info!

 

i found some nylon bushings at the auto store in the help section. at leat thats what it says on the package. they last almost a month. i ordered the perm. fix from e bay also. thanks for reminding me i wanted that.

 

i was having similar issues last summer and all it took was a tranny fluid change. i found that the previous owner had WAY overfilled the box and it looked like the wrong fluid too. new fluid made it shift/downshift very smoothly.

try the easy stuff first. bushing mod, fluid, bleed clutch hydraulics, etc...

 

yeah if there is play the ebay mod will help

 

I picked up a replacement bushing from the dealer yesterday to get me by until the eBay mod shows up. I can't believe they wanted $11+ for that flimsy little piece of plastic, but what can you do?

When I installed it, I followed the directions of an earlier post about modifying these bushings to make them last longer. I trimmed off the crown portion off the bushing, aligned the rod to the pivot, and installed a couple of washers and an E-clip to keep everything where it belongs. The truck shifts great once again!

I just had that bushing replaced a couple of months ago, and when I pulled it out, it started falling apart and was cracked in half! Ford really should have designed this better; I can't believe they have no way of keeping the rod secured to the pivot! Even if Ford had used a couple of washers and an E-clip to secure the rod (total cost less than $0.25) like I did, we'd probably never have a problem with it!

I'll let you all know what I think about the eBay mod once I get it and install it.

Merry Christmas!

 

SHopar,

Get a new pivot pin from Ford ,master cly (comes with bushing, and slave cyl,,,,,,,,,,,, about 150 in parts Ford and NAPA and happy shifting,,,,,, and if that don't solve the trouble (I am sure it will) swap out the DMF , its a time bomb any way.......

 

with 137k on it its the clutch