Like the title says , I have some transmission noise. It may be the input shaft bearing. Has anyone ever put anything other than mercon v in their manual trans, and what was the result? I'm thinking along the lines of some synthetic 30w to cushion things and extend the life of a failing trans. I'm going to do it if no one can give me a reason why it will detonate the trans. Thanks bob.

 

actually the manual transmissions call for regular mercon atf, not mercon V... to have an '02 with a failing M5OD it had to have been run low on fluid or abused in some other way... after i blew apart my original M5OD from 94 (blew it apart about a year and a half ago with 260K miles on it) i threw in one from a '90 that i got free and have been beating on it for the past 40K miles. normally the only reason these suckers melt down is from being driven low on fluid or really thrashed when shifting grinding things apart...

so when you change the fluid, are you getting chunks of metal on the drian plug? some noise can be acceptable, but it depends on the noise and if its changing and when exactly it happens. i have a slight gear rollover noise from mine on the coast side of the gears, its not a bad noise, its just the way manual transmissions can be. does the noise change with rpm or speed? does it change with the clutch in or out? is it different or gone in different gears? how about reverse? is it ever hard to get it in gear?

 

In the morning I don't hear it , when the fluid is thickest. Once I hit the highway, it gets a little loud. It's loudest at highway speed, accelerating or just maintaining speed.It does get quiet with the clutch in or in neutral. I haven't noticed any chunks. and it's full now, but I bought it with 52k miles on it, so I can't say if it has ever been low. It shows 64k miles now.The rear end had some slack in it before I installed the new gears, but it is tight and silent now. I don't expect the trans to fall out tomorrow , but I would like it to quiet down and maybe hit the 120k mark before I have to yank it and shell out cash.

 

I just looked at a bottle of mercon v and it says it supercedes , and can be used in any trans that uses mercon or dextron 3. just fyi.

 

A direct quote from the 2002 Ranger Owners Manual:

 

from what ive heard though, the mercon V is actually a little thinner than the mercon... im planning on trying the royal purple syncromax once i get my new tranny in and broken in after about 500 miles with the regular mercon in it. might be somethign to look into, its a little more pricy, but its designed for manual transmissions requireing ATF. you can try somethign like that or possibly red line or other things. if the tranny is still shifting fine then a fluid change with a good fluid may be all it needs for a while, hell i ran mine destroyed for about 50K miles before it finally totally blew apart internally... and then i still drove it an excrusiating 120 miles home. but i wouldnt recommend somethign like that.

 

My mistake, I guess you can't trust what you read on a bottle of pennzoil.

 

Guys...I jsut did my slave cyl and clutch. I also replaced my trans fluid. I replaced it with Royal Purple Max ATF....says "Recomended for Transmissions requiring Dextron III or Mercon fluids"

Did I throw in the wrong stuff??? Oh crap, at $6 buck a quart, oops??????

 

nope, the M5OD requires mercon ATF, so you should be good if it said for trannies requireing mercon. the thing you DO NOT want to do is put gear oil in an M5OD. they require ATF for a reason. but you should be good with anything for mercon. elt us know how the royal purple shifts in there.

 

Oh yea....I smelled the atf as soon as I started draining it. Plus i know better than to F* up and put 90W in there.

The tranny shifts SOOOO Much better. Well, having a new slave cyl, clutch disc, pressure plate, and trans fluid, along with new transfer case fluid and rear end fluid....it's drives like a dream, minus the 4.0L SOHC timing ching.

I plan on doing a huge post w/ all my swap pics and the products I used and all that jazz sometime this week.