94 ranger trans. problems? 5 spd.

I was driving my ranger one day down the highway, when I heard a strange noise. The noise was not unlike the howl you get when you get a flat. I pulled over to check my tires, they were fine. However, when I started to take off, the transmission felt like it was laboring and then I heard a clunk and I rolled forward. I tried again with the same results and had it towed home. Prior to this, I had the infamous Ranger whine that all rangers seem to have around here. All standard trans rangers, that is. Last I remember, there was a louder noise even at idle. Should I just look for a transmission or do you think it may be the rear differential, or even something else?

Thanks in advance.

I have an 86 that use to have that Ranger whine. Mine is a 2 wheel drive with a 2.9L V6 and the Mazda 5 sp manual. The whine is caused by insufficient oiling of the top front bearing. They changed the bottom bearing to a nylon caged bearing and this shut off the return path for the oil through the top bearing to return to the sump. Its disgusting to hear that FORD has let this problem continue all of these years. The 4 wheeler manual had a rear bearing problem but that is all I know about it. You can drill a hole to fix the Mazda manual problem, it is a Ford procedure. About the rest of your post, I would guess that is serious. The other fact I know is that Ford doesn't call for enough oil in these transmissions. Forget the old "you will blow the seals idea", because there is a vent on top of the transmission. Good luck witht he rest of it.