I have a tranny in my truck that intermittently can't find 3 and 4th gears. I have another tranny with a tight shifter and what looks like good forks as well. I am going to switch over the shifting mechanism.. Are there any tips? What gear should it be in before I take the top plate off the tranny? I am doing this right now so any replies asap would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

You can be in any gear taking the shift tower off, it doesnt make a difference. To see the wear on the forks look at the ends there should be a step up that allows only the tips of the fork to engage the sychro. This is a true way of finding out how bad the forks are, if there is no step and the wear has included the whole fork face, it should be replaced but you could have that worn out if the truck was brand new in 20000km, the forks themselves, I found have about a 160000km lifespan, and that is when the face has worn completely out and will not shift into 1st/2nd or 3rd/4th or so thin the shifter has major play.

 

thanks for the reply I took it off in neutral and the forks are ****ed Awesome!!! I have a donor and the forks look brand new and the shifter has less play I'll keep you updated on how it goes but I figure it should be good to go. The gears inside look mint so we'll see.

Cheers

 

try and post some pictures of the whole procedure if you can. im thinking about doing this in the recent months

 

ME TOO what a coincidence!
I kid of course, Welcome to FTE by the way.

 

hahaha thanks for the welcome joke


I have the trans put back together.... It was full of metal pieces from the worn out forks and there was maybe a quart of tranny fluid left in the trans!!!! It was black and thick so that's not cool. I have only had the truck for a few months and only drove it for a couple of weeks before the trans went out on me. I'll be taking better care of this beast than the previous owner. He was a moron. I'd like to post pics of my truck but I don't think I am able to.

I'll try to post pics of the forks and how things have come together. If I can't maybe someone can host them for me?

Anyways , the forks from the donor tranny has a little corrosion on them from sitting in a trans with no fluid for a year. I sprayed the forks and shifter mechanism down with liquid wrench and let it sit for a bit. I then wiped it all down to take the surface rust off and took a little wetsand sand paper (2000 grit) to the forks to take any roughness down from the rust. I then covered the forks etc with assembly grease so everything is nicely lubed up for the initial fire up. I still have to put the floor pan in and put the floor mat back in as well as the shifters. Hopefully it's all good and the trans is not shot from being low on fluid.

I'll post this afternoon to let y'all know how it went.

 

runs like a top now Shifts nice and tight I am glad I didn't drop the tranny.how do I post pics?

 

Go to a site such as Imageshack.us upload the pics.. take the address from the bar at the top and post links.. or 'go advanced' at the reply window and look for a little button with a picture on it (to post the pics directly). Voila.

 

Hey man good to hear you got it back together and it seems good!

Unfortunately I have to rein in on your parade. Did you find out whey the tranny fluid was low in the first place? There is a common problem with the m50d in that the rear shifterrail plugs dry and shrink/crack and let fluid out. Unfortunately this only happens while driving so won't leave a puddle on the ground, you can feel it by the dirt and wetness up there. I did mine awhile back and have the pics in my gallery, get the plugs from ford, $20 the copper RTV sealant $6 and let it sit for 24hrs. After that you won't have to do them ever again, or "shouldn't" if after that you need to remove the rails you can

Good luck, keep her full of fluid and she will give you a long life. That is why the m50d don't have a good rep, because people don't know how to check the fluid in them and didn't know about the problem.

 

hey thanks for the advice but I already did my research and did the plugs as well. Should be good to go.