First off, I wanted to say hi to everybody. I am brand new to the forums and have been digging through this awesome site for a couple of days now.

Here's my story: My ranger was flooded in the recent flood of 2008 in Cedar Rapids, IA (didnt expect it to get that high). The water went pretty much up to the Ranger symbols on the fenders and its a mess. Once I finally got the house taken care of, I started working on the truck and found out the motor/trans were completely full of water. After a bunch of work, I got the motor running (a lot of water shot out the exhaust lol) now and have replaced the fluid in the differential and the transmission.

The problem is that the flood caused the clutch to rust shut and it will not allow me to engage the clutch at all. I would like to install a new master/slave cylinder, hydraulic line, flywheel and a new clutch.

I have the transmission 95% removed, although I cannot access the top 4-5 transmission bolts for anything. Throughout my research I have found others saying it is very difficult and requires many extensions and a breaker bar.

Would anybody be able to guide me to access these top tranny bolts? If I can just get this off, I think the rest of the work will all fall in place.

Sorry for the very long post, I wanted to introduce myself and my situation to everyone. Also, I have tried multiple searches and apologize in advance if there is a how-to already on the site.

I should have the M50D-R1 tranmission.

Thanks in advance.

 

I'll be replacing one this weekend. How timely.

What worked well for me was: Take the crossmember loose from the frame. That'll let the tail of the tranny droop. Use the crossmember (still attached to the tranny) as your lever. If you are doing it alone, use a plank or something to hold tension down. If you have an assistant, have them step on it while you get the top bolts.

There are some gotchas to watch for: The engine will rotate UP, so open the hood and watch. The fan clears fine, but keep an eye on the exhaust flexing. I also find that a ratcheting 13mm boxend makes the job quicker. A ratchet and extensions help with the bolts facing aft.

You'll get it, just work smart and don't hurt yourself. Be sure to buy the Slave Disconnect coupling tool (visible on AutoZones placemat at the parts counter!) and the clutch spline alignment tool (dirt cheap).

Gravity bleed the new Master and slave together, with the Master upside down from how it's mounted in the truck. I've had great luck that way and never had to bleed after disconnecting and reconnecting.

I'll go out on a limb and bet that you could sand the surface rust off the flywheel and it'll be fine.

 

Wow, you could take out the transmission yourself? I have to keep dragging my friends over to give me a hand until I got to this point.

I appreciate the prompt advice, I would be super happy to get this transmission at least off this weekend to start on the flywheel/clutch (already purchased). I will also pick up a boxend 13mm (dont know what it is but I will figure it out) and a couple of extensions to assist.

 

The 5-speed trans is very easy to remove and yes you can do it by yourself just be thankful it is rather light compared to the auto btw this is a box end wrench see the end that wraps around the bolt.

 

I'll put a floor jack underneath it to lower the weight and then roll it off (you should use pads so it doesn't get damaged). It's NOT a one-man job going back in. Mines junk.

First time, a buddy lent me a motorcycle lift jack. Harder to maneuver, but stable. He moved.

Wear gloves. Once the bolts are broke loose, I like to run them out with my 1/4" drive fine ratchet. Threads are long.

 

Cedar Rapids got flood-raped BAD! up here W'Loo it was just the sewers backing up which caused down town to flood, can't wait for it all to get rebuilt.

anywho...
what i had to do for the top bolts (luckily most of them were just hand tight for some reason), i had to basically sit ontop of the intake manifold and reach back there with just an open end wrench and inch it back and forth. i ended up taking a ground off the block about four differant times thinking it was the trans bolt. It's a pain in the *** but it's do-able. Good luck with the truck and flood clean up.

 

Whenever I had to get the top trans bolts off I used over 3' of 1/2"extensions to run from the bolt to behind the trans where I had plenty of space to give the bolts hell. This method has always worked well for me.

 

Hey all, if you remember this thread its been a little while. Well I've been out on work travel and such and have finally been able to jump back on to this. The advice given has gotten me thankfully closer.

Today I took off the crossmember and the odd little hookup connecting the transmission to the exhaust? Put a motorcycle jack under the tranny, which seems like it will work well. Unfortunately I just cant seem to run all the extensions to the top bolts.

My question is that when pulling down the tranny to access the top bolts, would I actually need to pull down on the tranny? It lowers about an inch or two by itself right now (when the jack is lowered).

Thanks.