I have a 91 Ranger 4 x 4 with the 5 speed OD manual trans, 250k miles. After briefly locking in 4x4 and low, and disengaging, trans would not allow me to shift to second gear. A few miles down the road as I was going to enter a highway, I found it would now shift into second, it seemed a little rattly. Entered Highway and shifted normal. After sitting overnight in garage, would only allow a shift to first or reverse. I drove truck in neighborhood hoping would allow for shifting, but instead will now only shift into first gear. Shifter will come out of first into the neutral position, rattling sound and unable to move shifter in any other location, other than first or neutral. I have removed shifter, and am stuck at this point. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance, Dave

 

Welcome to the forum

4x4 low was not the issue

You have an M5OD-R1(M5R1) manual transmission in a 1991 Ranger(unless its a 2.9l), its is an engine specific transmission, 2.3l, 3.0l or 4.0l are not interchangeable

With shifter out you can see the 3 Shift rails inside, running front to back
There are 3 slots, one on each shift rail, thats what the shift arm moves to select a gear

This picture shows 2 of the 3 slots: https://www.therangerstation.com/Mag...rbushings7.jpg

The 3 slots must be aligned in the center for transmission to be in Neutral
Thats why the shifter arm can be moved sideways so far either way when in Neutral

It reads like one of your slots is out of alignment this prevents shifting gears
Try using a screw driver to align all 3 slots, even if this works it may just happen again
It may be a shift fork has been damaged so trans will need to come out

Hard to say

The M5R1 is a very reliable transmission, if thats what you have, so a used model is not a bad gamble

If you have a 1991 2.9l 4x4 Ranger then you have a Mitsubishi FM146 transmission, which was not such a great transmission, may want to swap in an M5R1 from a 4.0l Ranger 4x4

 

Thank you for your fast response. Unfortunately I have the 2.9... is it possible to free it up w/o r&r?

 

Probably not, you will most likely need to pull it out

But I have never rebuilt an Mitsubishi FM146, you can google it and look at exploded diagrams to see what might cause the issue
Like this one: https://www.therangerstation.com/tec...ishi5speed.pdf

Also ask over here: https://www.therangerstation.com/forums/index.php

Alot of people over there have older Ranger 4x4's with 2.9l engines, so more experience with FM146

 

Could it be the T/C didn't come out of gear..., even though the lights said it was, is the T/C a push button control ?