Hi all,

I have an 03 Ranger 2.3L 5-spd that is hard to shift into gears, especially first. The problem goes away if I pump up the clutch pedal, and then it goes into gear smoothly for about a day, until it gets hard again. I've checked my fluid in the reservoir and it was full. I'm not very familiar with manual transmissions and would appreciate some suggestions on what the culprit may be.
Also, the truck likes to be ran at high rpms, like above 2k, if I shift into gear the engine shudders pretty hard even though it's at 17 or 1800 rpms. I'm not sure if Rangers just need to be driven at higher rpms or that's something else I should be looking into in my transmission.

Thanks,

Mark

 

Welcome to the forum.

When engine is off does transmission shift OK into all gears?
If so transmission is fine.
If transmission fluid hasn't been changed before then at 15years old I would change it just as general maintenance.
You have an M5OD-R1 transmission it uses Ford Mercon V fluid, YES, automatic transmission fluid in a manual transmission.

Rangers do often have clutch release issues, which is what your problem reads like.
They get Air in the Slave cylinder inside the bell housing and you have to bleed it out.
Several how-to videos on this just google it

Reason 1st is harder is because you are stopped or close to stopped
Transmission is connected directly to the rear wheels, so transmission RPM is same as rear wheels
When stopped transmission is at 0 RPMs, so 1st gear is at 0 RPMs
Engine is at 700-800RPMs at idle
So to shift into 1st gear you have to slow the 10" clutch disc down from 800rpm to 0 rpm using the 4" synchro gear for 1st
If slave doesn't FULLY release pressure on the clutch disc then it will rub on the 800RPM flywheel, making it very hard to slow down to 0 RPMs
Same for other gears when "matching" RPMs but a bit easier

 

Yes, the transmission shifts fine between the gears when the car is off.
My clutch pedal is pretty stiff, could there still be air in the system requiring it to be bled? If so, I will start by bleeding and changing the tranny fluid.

 

If pedal is stiff it could be pivot bushing at the top of the pedal arm is getting worn out, and pedal is shifting position so you don't get FULL travel and don't get FULL release at slave.

Could also be Master is wearing out, do you know when it was last changed?

Stiff pedal is not related to air in the system one way or the other

 

I don't know when the master was last changed, I just bought the car. I'll just start with bleeding the system. Thanks for the quick responses!

 

Turns out my master cylinder was bad, so after replacing that and bench bleeding the system it's shifting like new. Thanks for the help!

 

Good Work

Thanks for posting the fix