Bad clutch or bad synchros?

Question for you jb206wrc4, when you were in your shifter replacing the nylon bushing, did you also replace the shifter seat? It's the green rubbery piece that the ball of the shifter sits on (just under the shift lever retainer cap). I replaced mine and in general my shifting is much improved. Mine was very hard to get into first or second in the cold weather. Since I didn't replace my seat and bushing until the summer, I'm not sure if this will help with the cold weather shifting or not.

 

Just cuz a clutch pedal is pressed all the way to the floor doesn't prove the clutch is disengaging completely.

If it were me I'd crawl under a Tacoma that shifts normally while someone in the truch pushes on the clutch pedal and check out the travel of the release arm, maybe measure the distance traveled and compare that to the problem truck.

 

Sounds like syncros to me. I had the issue in me 90' pickup.

If its hard to go into gear when its moving but goes in easy with its stopped its probably the syncros. Change the fluid in the tranny, when you do watch the fluid as it runs into your catch pan to see if there is a yellow metal. The only yellow metal in the tranny are the syncros. I would also use normal GL4 fluid not GL5 or synthetic

The shifter ball would only help if it was hard to get into gear all the time, not just when the truck is moving or shifting between specific gears. When you take the shifter out its pretty obvious if the ball and seat are bad.

***This is why you use the clutch when you shift***

 

I'd start with switching the fluid.
Redline MT90 and amsoil syncromesh are two that I've seen highly recommended.

 

True, some transmissions (standard or auto) require specific blends /grades of fluid....

Also , in manuals there's not many synchros (some not at all) between 1st & 2nd or reverse either, theres a chance that the shift rails/forks are worn or bent or even broken under the shift tower...

 

If anyone is curious: At this point I have replaced the transmission fluid with mobil 1 synthetic 75W90, checked the shifter bushing and seat, and placed both the clutch master and slave cylinders. With all of this done my shifting has greatly improved. However, I still think that it should slide into gear with a little less resistance, but I guess I can't really expect anything more from a transmission with 156,000 miles on it.

The mobil 1 fluid has been in there for at least six months now, but does anybody know if there is a better alternative?

 

Better drain and replace that stuff ASAP.
The Mobile 1 specifically states on the front of it "LS1." Meaning its got additives for a limited slip diff.
Said additives will eat away at the brass syncros inside the transmission, thus causing early failure.

If you want a good synthetic oil, try redline MT 90 or Amsoil syncromesh.

 

Thats why you are supposed to use fluid that is GL-4, not GL-5. If you hunt around you can find it though.

 

Replaced the transmission fluid with redline mt90. It already feels a little better. Will have to see how it feels in the long run.

 

Redline MT90 is a good one, I have had the best overall experience with Ford Motorcraft

$33 XT-M5-QS Full Synthetic Manual Transmission Fluid - 1 Quart , black

XT-M5-QS. It was designed for the manual transmissions in the Mustang but provides pretty awesome performance in all conditions. I can not speak from personal experience just yet, but I recently found a product called XADO, they make additives for everything from the engine oil, to tranny oil, transmission case, and diff fluids. For what its worth, there are glowing testimonials from professionals and customers alike for all of their products, it might be worth a shot. I am trying them as a preventative measure on my 2016

 

Chris,

It is too bad you don't live closer to me. This way I could let you drive mine so you would have something to compare with your rig. Mine has about 167,xxx miles on it. Unfortunately, I don't have any input to help you other than what has already been said.

Good Luck,
Paul

 

Dam you dug up an old thread. Should be someone in his area he could compare to.

 

had the 5 speed in my Ranger do the same thing... tuff N to 1 and 1 to 2. Dis-assembeled it and did not find any "real" problems. I was expecting the see the synchro teeth that actually ride on the cone portion of the gears smoothed but they were still sharp. Made a few shim adjustements thinking gear shaft end play might be the culprit but when I put her back in, same damn problem. Took the trans out a second time and replaced the 1-2 gear assembly complete and problem solved. Took the old gear set to my tranny guy and he said it "looks" good and when I told him what it was doing he said yeah, I would have replaced that gear set immediatly knowing the shifting issues and seeing that, sometimes that is just how it is.