Hello, I have been having a slight problem for about a month with my 1993 Ford Ranger with the stock manual Mazda M5OD transmission. I can start the truck and it stays running, but when i disengage the clutch and try to put the truck in gear, i cannot push any farther than halfway into the gear, so the truck doesn't move. But when I engage the clutch and try to put it in gear, i get a grinding sound like normal, but still no matter what I do I can only get the truck halfway into gear. This is the same with all 5 gears, and reverse. Does anybody know what this is before I drop the transmission and start tinkering?

 

Does it shift into any gear OK with engine off?

And if you start truck in 1st gear, clutch pedal in, can you shift it once you are moving?

If so then clutch slave or master is the issue, not transmission.
And because the slave is the hardest to replace that is the usual problem, lol.

But check clutch reservoir to make sure it isn't dry, if it is low you may have some air in the system and have to bleed it.
Air compresses more than hydraulic fluid so if there is air in the system the clutch disc can not be fully disengaged with pedal to the floor, so input shaft never stops spinning and transmission can not be pushed into gear while stopped.
Once you are moving the output shaft(driveline) is moving as well so trans can often be shifted, although it would feel harder to shift

 

I don't have the truck on hand, but as far as I remember we could not get it into gear when the truck was off.

 

Assuming you weren't parked on a steep hill, then if it won't shift easily with engine off one or two shift forks are probably loose or bent, which means trans needs to be pulled and serviced or swapped.