Ford Ranger / B-Series :: 1997 - Transmission Hesitates / Struggling To Shift Into Gears?
Apr 18, 2016
1997 2.3 5 Speed. My poor truck is having a hard time shifting into gears. I have bled the master off the truck with the correct method, bled it on the truck with the hose on the slave method while pushing the pedal and multiple times with no bubbles coming out at all, no leaks, etc.
Here's the breakdown -
- Clutch, slave cylinder and shifter bushings replaced about 3 years ago (everything has less than 7000 miles on it)
- While driving and pushing in the clutch, it clearly disengages, although quite a ways down.
- Only shifts hard while running. If I sit with it off with the clutch in, I can shift through all the gears with no effort whatsoever. At times while driving, it gets so hard to shift that it may become dangerous.
- Only things I haven't replaced are the master cylinder and the flywheel.
Should I just assume a bad master and just replace it? It's the original with 188,200 miles on it.
Forgot to mention there are times that when I am at a standstill trying to go into reverse, it grinds like the transmission is still engaged.
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I have a 2002 ford ranger edge. swb, 3.0L, 5spd. I have been noticing it is getting harder to shift gears, put in 1st at a stop light lately. There is no grinding just seems harder to engage. Checked fluid level and it is clean and full. Recently i have developed a vibration under power. Let off the gas and smooth as can be, apply throttle and starts vibrating. Not sure if flywheel is "hot spotted" or perhaps broke a spring on pressure disk. Just seems odd it's only under throttle. Yes already checked rear end and U-joints.
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I've been having problems with my column shifter ever since I installed a Pioneer shift cable probably about 3 years now. I was told and also thought that the cable would loosen up after awhile but it never has. I had some put it on and I watched him do it. He seemed to have some trouble because it took him a long time under the dash. It shifts so stiff that over a period of about 2 years it finally broke the end of the shift tube one night. Luckily I was able to fix it the next day by getting a spare without missing any down time. It was still just as stiff with the other shift tube. It finally broke the plastic on my shifter tonight, not necessarily whatever is causing it but because it takes so much effort to shift into Park, Reverse or Drive.
I think the plastic may have cracked over time. Luckily I had another one at home along with another shift tube. I didn't replace the shift tube this time but I did remove the caps and smear some grease on the bushings to see if it would make it turn. I looked further down at the end cap that broke last time and sure enough one of the bolts was backed almost all the way out. I retightened it tonight too. That's what happened when the bottom broke last time. One of those bolts backed out and it cracked the housing. It works now but if you go all the way to 1st to get back to anywhere it really takes a tremendous amount of effort to get it to shift. Something is not right and I cannot pinpoint it. I know they offer brand new shift tubes but I'm not sure if that's the problem.
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I have a '97 Ford Ranger with an automatic transmission that wouldn't shift out of park last night. A friend opened the hood and jiggled the steering column some, and finally it shifted. We checked the transmission fluid and it is full, a dark brown color. What the problem might be?
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The truck: 03 Ranger, 2wd, 2.3L, 5spd, 160k mi
I bought the truck two years ago and it's always been difficult to shift (especially into 1st, 2nd, 3rd). I don't drive it often and only put 5k mi on it since I bought it.
The problem: Someone more mechanically inclined than I once told me that the hard shifting is probably due to the clutch not fully releasing due to low hydraulic pressure brought about by a failing slave cylinder.
I just noticed today that there is a high-pitched squeaking coming from somewhere on the truck. At first, I thought it was the rear end, but now, after pulling it into the driveway, I noticed that the squeaking noise vanishes when I push in the clutch pedal and returns after I release the clutch pedal and drive in 1st gear.
The transmission oil level is good, but I've never changed it and I'm not sure if the previous owner ever did either. I'm hoping I haven't damaged the transmission.
After reading a few threads, it seems the problem might be the input shaft bearing. To replace it, I'd need to drop the transmission and borrow a couple of tools I don't have (feeler gauge and bearing puller). If the ISB is the problem, it seems like it would be a good idea to change it now before it seizes and leaves me stranded somewhere.
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My son has a 2008 Ranger 4.0 4wd 5 speed. Every month or so we need to bleed the clutch as the transmission becomes very difficult to shift. It does not lose fluid, but seems to be holding air. And it's not easy to bleed this setup. Slave going bad? I guess the transmission will need to come out then.
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Sold my mazda and got a nice 2000 2wd Ranger XLT with a 3.0L. Today the wife I and took it to town, 10 miles on the highway there, a couple in town and 10 back, didn't notice anything unusual. However I haven't this truck long so I'm not sure what is usual.
Parked it for a few hours and when went out to change the front turn signals to LED I noticed the ABS light was on when I drove it into the garage...
I checked fluid, connections and fuses, no change.I go ahead and swapped the bulbs while letting things simmer, I've had so many of these Fords sometimes the easy fix comes to me.
I backed it out and took it down the road, right away I noticed my speedometer wasn't working, so I let off the gas, when I re-applied the pedal I got nothing, like it was in neutral.
I downshifted to second and got her down and turned around as the O/D started flashing... (so glad because I would have hated walking back), then pulled her back in the garage to check transmission fluid and recheck fuses, including the ones I forgot earlier under the hood. I added a 1/4 qt of fluid then tried a road test again, this time there was a real long pause before it upshifted hard and the CEL came on.
I pulled the codes with my scangauge and got:
P0500
P2120
P0028
And decided I better look some things up and consult the gurus here before I do anymore damage tonight. I'm guessing that I'm looking at a tranny replacement possibly, but with the ABS light and speedometer failure I'm not 100% sure what is going on here...
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I have a 2002 Ranger with a 2.3 lt engine and a 5R44E Transmission. Has 120,oookms (75,000 miles) I have an issue.
Here is what was happening: Would not shift into Drive...took a long time to do so.... and had a 2 to 3 gear flare.
Here is what I did: Replaced the valve body gaskets. Improved a lot. The 2 to 3 shift flare has gone. The delayed shift into D is mostly gone BUT still takes 15 to 20 seconds to shift into D. Once in gear no problems shifting. Does not slip and NO OD light flashing.
What do I need to do to fix the delayed shift issue.
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2000 Ranger 4R44e transmission.Hard shift from 2-3 gear and when i run about 35-40 mph and brake then acelerate it downshifts hard . Whats wrong with it?
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Ok I've got this 98 Ranger with the 2.5L and the 4r44e automatic. The engine is used and has about 100,000 miles now and is it a good state of tune - so I think. The transmission was a remanufactured I bought a few years ago that was built with the shift improver kit, Kevlar bands, extra planetaries, 4wd pan, and external cooler. It's now got 92,000 miles on it and it's been serviced every 30,000 with a fresh 4wd filter and Mercon V fluid. It's outlasted the last 3 transmission I've had in my Ranger. I've got 315,000 miles on the body. For awhile it was randomly losing power while driving like it wouldn't shift, almost like it dropped a couple cylinders, then as you kept your foot on the gas it would recover and rev up and shift.
Then sometimes randomly at stoplights it would shake at a stop and have no power at take off until it hits 30-40 mph. Sounds like a converter, is what I thought. But now it's doing it more often but not the shaking at stoplights as much as randomly losing power while driving normal speeds. Last night I drove it about 50 miles after doing a fresh filter and fluid change and this time it did it so much it threw a code up P1131. Even though that's a O2 sensor code, could it be hidden by a transmission valve body problem? One transmission shop said it could be a valve hanging up just by me describing it to him. Could this be ignition or fuel related or is it all tied in with the transmission problem, if it is even a transmission problem?
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Will a clutch/flywheel and 5 spd from a 1997 ranger bolt up to an older 1980ish engine that had a 4 spd? What about the starter?
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I just had a 97 Ford Ranger with a 3 speed overdrive transmission in my garage that we replaced the transmission because it was not shifting down into first gear, not even manually!. The new transmission is doing the exact same thing as the original.
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Having a slight issue with my ranger. So I bought this truck out of a junkyard about a month ago, its a 94 4x4 with a 4.0 and a five speed. When I bought the truck the motor was blown so a few weeks ago i replaced it with a 4.0 from an aerostar van I had laying around. Right after I changed it the truck was running good with no issues, until a few days ago going to work the truck started hesitating going up a hill. Now the truck does it all the time, sitting at idle the truck runs smooth as silk, at half throttle it does it the worst but when you mash the peddle to the floor it clears up and runs good.
So far I've replaced the plugs, wires, coil pack, mass air sensor, throttle position sensor, and the fuel pressure regulator to try and fix it but nothing has worked. I've checked the fuel pressure it has 30 at idle and 40 with the vacuum hose pulled off of the regulator, I even taped the gauge to the windshield and went for a ride and there was no drop in pressure when it started acting up. a few other things i have done were plugged all the vacuum ports to rule out a leak, reset the computer and checked for codes. the only code that came up was 522. So I think my next step is going to be buy new oxygen sensors ? But my question is wouldn't the check engine light come on if it was an oxygen sensor ?
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Problem: engine surging/hesitation, from idle to highway speeds. It will start and run fine, just hesitates/surges when gas is applied.
Before I pulled the codes, I tried seafoam in the gas tank, cleaned MAF sensor, cleaned throttle body, checked air filter, changed fuel filter, pulled/cleaned plugs, nothing worked.
Then today I finally used a scanner and pulled codes (my CEL doesn't work) and I got 157 and 158 MAF sensor fault, high and low voltage. I am reading about 6v on the C and D terminals of the MAF, I know that is much higher than normal, but what does that tell me? Why both high and low voltage readings? Just a bad sensor, or wherever that voltage comes from, ECM?
I also pulled 189 HEGO H02S sensor fault, unable to switch/lean during part throttle. What does that mean, just a bad O2 sensor?
Last I pulled a 542, fuel pump secondary circuit fault. Does that mean the fuel pump is bad or going bad?
More importantly, what should I troubleshoot first, would any of these codes cause my problem?
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I have a 1999 Ford Ranger and every morning when I go out to start it, it really hesitates and doesn't want to run for a few minutes. once it's going it's fine I can shut it right off and it starts fine, and I can leave it all day from 9am to 6pm and start it again at 6pm and it doesn't hesitate, it fires right up.. it seems like it only happens over night..
When I hooked the code reader up, I get codes P0171 (too lean bank one) & P0174 (too lean bank two)
I also get for the I/M readiness status, that the
EVAP - NOT RDY,
O2S - NOT RDY,
HO2S - NOT RDY
Just want to say also that the shop I had put 2 oxygen sensors in not long ago.=
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02 ranger 4.0 v6 auto has 110000 miles on it. at highway speeds 65-70mph feels like it strugles to shift, truck will shake and bounce some. when this happens rpm's jump from about 2200 to 3000-3200 after a little bouncing rpms drop to normal. issue seems to be the worst going up hill but will happen every time i hit 65-70. Also the truck will not bounce or shake with the OD turned off and seems to run fine this way.
tranny fluid/ filter just replaced with no change. new plugs and wires
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Mine has a strange issue. 1990 xlt 2.9L manual 4x4. When first start of the day, after start I push accelerator and it has a hesitation like not getting fuel. Where start?
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I gotta 93 f150 XL it has a 4.9L and a T18 borg Werner trans. I replaced the clutch,throw out bearing, pressure plate and pilot bearing and after reinstalling trans I am unable to go through my gears.
If truck is off I can shift into some gears sometimes but not without a lot of resistance. Also some gears will let me in easy, then fight me as I try to back into neutral.
Truck starts right up but if I start in neutral I can't shift into any gears and get a lot of grinding when I try to put it in gear.
If I start in gear it drives in the gear but I have to force back into neutral. And then I'm stuck in neutral again.
It is a hydraulic clutch and fluid is full and there are no visible leaks. I am 100% sure clutch disc is facing correct way as I triple checked it while installing.
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I have a 2003 Ford Ranger, 5 speed, with 180k miles. Sometimes, not all the time, when I press the clutch and shift gears, the engine will rev.I dont drive the truck a whole lot, its a 2nd vehicle.
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1996 Ranger 2.3. I bought it from a friend 2 months ago. 228,866 miles. The motor seems to stumble as I'm going through the gears. I've cleaned the mass air flow sensor and installed new air filter. Check engine light has always been on, O'Reillys hooked up their computer to it and said Emission Valve Malfunction. I see the charcoal canister, then I have 2 electrical sensors on same line. First one from canister looks like what Rockauto.com shows as a Vapor Canister Purge Valve. The photo has it with a yellow orangeish top. I don't know what this 2nd sensor is. It has a blue top.
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I notice on cold days my transmission hesitates to shift and holds 2nd - 3rd for a long time before finally shifting. Once the car warms , all is fine. Will and what could the dealer do for this? I would like it looked after before my warranty runs out.
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