Hey guys, so i just got done swapping motors in my 2000 ranger with the 2.5 and 5 speed trans. my old motor decided to let go so i sourced a used engine and swapped everything over from my old engine including the clutch which only had a few thousand miles on it. So anyways i was putting it all back together today and went to reattach the driveshaft and noticed i couldn't spin the driveshaft when i stuck the yoke into the rear of the trans. So next i went into the cab and put the shifter back on and it appears to be in neutral. I then tried moving the shifter to get it into a gear and it will not go. I figured it might be the clutch needing bled so after bleeding i tried it again and same thing, it will not go into any gear. The shift moves side to side but that's it. Next i put a socket on the balancer of the crank and spun it over a few times and everything turned smoothly but i just cannot figure out this transmission issue. Has anyone encountered this or have any advice? When i installed the trans it slipped right through the clutch disk and bolted up fine.

 

So I went out and messed with it some more and bled the clutch again and nothing still can't get it in or out of gear. I had my wife step on the clutch and at that point I was able to turn the driveshaft by hand. So I guess it's not fully dis engaging. The transmission is stuck in reverse as of now. I spun the crank bolt clockwise and the truck started rolling backwards. So in this case what do you do with a clutch that isn't fully dis engaging? The flywheel, pressure plate and friction disk were working fine on the old motor so I hope I'm missing something simple. I'm not used to working with these hydraulic clutch systems I liked the old cable style way better.

 

Well I figured it out, one of the shift forks or shift rails was out of alignment and when I went to reinstall the shifter it wasn't allowing the rail or fork to come out of gear. Apparently when pulling the shifter base it HAS to be in neutral. I remember when pulling it I had it in pulled back to get better access to the bolt holding it in. So in the future If anyone has this problem look at this picture and this is how your rails/forks should look when the transmission is in neutral.

 

Hi I am glad you figured it out, I and others here normally offer up advice pretty quick.

My excuse is with Hurricane Irma between my internet being down I have been back logged with subscribed threads so i never even got a chance to read your post.

Many of our helpful members I am sure also may have had issues from Irma and Harvey keeping them from responding, so please do not let the lack of activity on your thread sour your outlook on this forum.

Again I am glad you figured it , making sure the truck was indeed in neutral would have been my first response.

Good luck with an future repairs it sounds like with your mechanical ability and troubleshooting skills you will be a valuable asset here.

 

How do you get the shift forks back into neutral? I know that's what happened to me. The forks don't look like that. How do I get them back in neutral? Please help.

 

It's been awhile but I think I was able to get the forks/rails lined back up with the persuasion of a flat head screw driver. Might take a bit of fiddling with but eventually it'll pop into alignment.

 

Thanks

 

You saved me so much time and grief. Thanks