Unable to shift after warmed up!1

[Deckman2]

I have a 94 Ranger XLT and after my truck is warmed upI can hardly shift gears. I had to shut it off and put it in gear and start it up again just to get through an intersection today. Once Im driving it shifts ok but as soon as I am stopped I can't shift. It's a 5 speed. Any suggestions would be appriciated.
Thanks

[slammed93xlt]

check the clutch fluid level it should be in the corner right by the master cylander.. i have a 93 5 speed and when i would downshift into 3 or 2 it would grind a little i checked the fluid and i doesnt do it anymore..
hope this is of help.......

[trippsta]

If It Is Not The Fluid Level Then It Is Your Slave Cylinder That Is Failing

[freeclimber]

Slave cylinders go out a lot on these trucks, but they usually leak when they fail. IF you have no fluid loss then I would suspect a binding pilot bearing.

[tunedteg]

i have the exact same problem with my 95 dodge ram. i had the vehicle test driven by a mechanic and he suggested it might be teh rails, and probably the pilot bearing, throwout or clutch fork

[freeclimber]

It's real common for the pilot bearings to go out on Ranger 2.3L and 2.5L well before the clutch disc is worn out for the first time. ALWAYS change your slave cylinder and pilot bearing when doing a clutch job to save a headache in the future. Also, the longer you let a bad pilot bearing go, the more DAMAGE it does to the trans input shaft. The damage caused is EXPENSIVE to fix and if it isn't, then your new bearing will only last half to a quarter as long as it's supposed to before the binding problem comes back.

[XIntegraX]

Is this shifting back to first gear after being stopped because I have a 96 ranger and this happens to me very often

[broland]

I'm having this problem now too with a slight variation. 99 Ranger XLT, 2.5 5-speed. I drive it all day long for work. When it's been sitting, it's fine. I can drive it for a few hours and it shifts normally. Then it slowly gets harder and harder to shift until finally I have to cut the truck off and shift into first, then restart. Just put a new clutch in 2 weeks ago and a new slave cylinder. The previous clutch was slipping bad, but it was going into gear just fine. Clutch fluid is good. I have no idea what could be the issue. It takes it all day to get to the point I can't shift at all, so it's a very slow-to-manifest issue whatever it is. But I almost got hit today because it wouldn't go into gear so I need to figure this out quick...

[freeclimber]

I used to manage a fleet of 2.3L and 2.5L 5 speed Rangers. They drove a lot of miles and spent a lot of time on the highway. Your pilot bearing is spinning whenever the engine is running. It is press fit into the end of the crankshaft and supports the end of the transmission input shaft. When the bearing starts to bind, it forces the input shaft to rotate with the crankshaft, even when the clutch is disengaged. This will simulate trying to shift w/o pushing in the clutch pedal. ie--makes it really hard to shift!
ALWAYS replace the pilot bearing and slave cylinder when you've got the tranny pulled out. Even if the bearing is new, throw a dab of high temp grease in there for good measure.
You need a puller/slide hammer setup to get it out. To install, just tap it into place using a hammer and a correctly sized socket. Make sure the end of the bearing with the seal is facing you.

[broland]

I'm a novice to transmissions, so help me out here. How does the pilot bearing go bad? It looks like a needle bearing pack which is pressed into the end of the crankshaft. What causes it to bind on the input shaft?

I really want to make sure that's the problem. It's not fun pulling that trans out. Someone suggested the clutch cylinder might be on the way out. I know we replaced the slave cylinder because the clutch kit comes with a new one. Thoughts?

[freeclimber]

The bearings go bad because they suck. I'm not an engineer, but I'd guess that the design or materials aren't up to the task intended.
What happens is that the needle bearings fatigue, the grease dries out, the metal starts pitting and transfering material. Soon, the crankshaft is imparting torque directly to the end of the input shaft via the binding pilot bearing, instead of the torque transfering via the clutch disc.
I've pulled the trans out of a few trucks and saw little more than dust and bits of metal left where the bearing used to be. Unfortunately, the failing bearing can cause damage to the input shaft of the trans. Bits of metal will be welded to the surface and there will be pitting too. A new input shaft is EXPENSIVE and a lot of work. If there is damage, try to clean it up gently with a file and sandpaper. Otherwise, your new pilot bearing will die prematurely.
By "clutch cylinder" I assume you mean the clutch master cylinder, which connects via pushrod to the clutch pedal. I'm inclined to say your problem is the bearing because the shifting gets worse after the truck is driven for a while.
Have you heard any high pitched grinding, screeching, scraping noises?

[broland]

No noises at all. Just going by feel. I can feel something scrape lightly going into gear. And it gets worse as the day wears on, but by the next morning it's working fine again - smooth as silk. And yesterday it didn't even do it really. It got to the point that I could feel slight resistance going into first and second, but otherwise it went all day shifting fine. I mean, I'm sure it could be the pilot bearing. I can't tell if it's even been replaced and I know for sure I didn't do it. 191K miles, it's no doubt due. The input shaft looked fine when I had it apart. I did check that. No metal flakes or anything. If I take care of it now, hopefully it will be okay. I just figured a bad bearing would act up all the time, not gradually over an 8+ hour day. But as I said, I'm not well versed in transmissions beyond the theoretical.

Thanks for the input by the way. Nobody I know does much with transmissions. It's hard work sometimes, but it doesn't seem that complicated. At least not manuals. I don't know why so many people stay clear of them.