I was driving down he road in my 4 cylinder 5 speed standard Ranger with no problems, when I suddenly had some trouble shifting gears. After it progressively got worse, I pulled over in a parking lot, got it into reverse, and now it won't shift out of reverse at all. There were no unusual smells/sounds/feelings, the clutch fluid level is OK, but the clutch feels a little less firm than before. When I try and start the vehicle (stuck in reverse) with the clutch FULLY pressed to the floor, the rear wheels spin backwards, so I guess that means the clutch is not disengaging for some reason or maybe (God no) there's a problem with the transmission/differential? Hopefully maybe the linkage? Any help would be very much appreciated. I'm hoping to get some ideas before having to think about towing it in somewhere. I'm OK with basic mechanics, but clutches and transmissions are a little beyond me.

Thanks,
Sue

 

Wirelessly posted

Slave cyl

 

Thanks so much. Do you know off hand if the slave can be checked and accessed under the bell housing or could it possibly be a tranny drop situation? Thanks

 

The tranny has to be dropped to change it.
Very common problem on these trucks.