I just bought a really nice 2011 ranger 2.3 auto 2wd. I go to put it in reverse it goes forward. So does neutral and every gear besides park. No neutral or reverse at all fluid is full and pretty clean. Where do I start??

 

Should start your own thread
2011 2.3l Ranger has a 5R44E trans

R and D are mechanical so no solenoids or anything electrical involved, just the shifting of the lever sends the pressure to engage transmission in R or D
See if it moves forward in 1 or 2, if so then one-way clutch(sprag) is bad, needs to be rebuilt

Check fluid level engine off
Then check fluid level engine on
should be much lower with engine on if Pump is working, no pump = no gears

 

so it goes forward but I don’t have neutral at all it’ll go 55 in drive and shift fine how would I check the lever

 

If you have PARK, i.e. vehicle will not roll forward or back, driveshaft locked
Then not a shifter issue

Can you "feel" the detents when you move the shifter out of P and then to R and N and then D, and can you also shift down to 2 and 1?

It doesn't read like an external issue, i.e. shifter
Reads like internal transmission issue

 

Yea I can feel the clicks and it has all the gears

 

Then its rebuild time if there is no Reverse

 

Been there, done that. Trans is cooked. It's probably full of sludge from the transmission fluid getting hot and I'm sure the filter is almost clogged with debris. Make double sure they flush out the lines to the cooler and the cooler itself or else you will cook the next transmission in short order.

 

Is the transmission year specific? If not what years would fit a 2011 auto 2.3? Google isn’t giving me a solid answer and I cannot find a 2011 trans writhing 5 hrs of me

 

The Duratec 2.3 has a unique bellhousing pattern, so it needs to be from a 2001-2011 2.3 Duratec Ranger (or Mazda B2300 of similar year). I don't think anything changed internally, but the electrical connectors on the outside of the transmission may be different.