Just picked up a beaut, have some questions.

[Brem95]

Hey guys this is my first post on here. I picked up a mint 1997 2door awd sport with the 5 speed manual. I’m having a few issues and wondering if someone here has had the same and solved them.

Shifting from 1st (at a complete stop) is sometimes stiff and I need to use some force or shift into second then first. This is the same with reverse.

Sometimes this happens sometimes it shifts perfectly.

ABS vibration type feel/sound all the time when I brake and come to stop

Appreciate the help and can’t wait to drive this old girl for years to come.

 

[Hacra]

Welcome to the forums.

Are your front rotors straight? if you lightly press the brake pedal do you feel brake engagement every half or less rotations? (i have same problem currently and ordered new rotors). Also forscan might tell you how the ABS sensor are working.

Do you have enough oil in your transmission? low oil amount can cause your issues, also when was your clutch disc and assembly last changed? there's also the synchro ring possibility, but i'd first check oil levels and figure out your clutch assembly condition. I assume the trans is M5R1? we have plenty of people here who knows much more of this transmission.

 

[Brem95]

Thank you very much @Hacra I will take off tires and check shortly. I have a computer and elm reader so I’ll also give forscan a try shortly.

I’m assuming it’s the M5R1 but haven’t looked into it since I just got the truck. I will do some research. I’m having a hard time finding instructions to check the tranny fluid levels, do I just open up fill plug and Check that way? Thanks

I’m unsure of clutch condition but I’m assuming it was changed within the last couple years. Will report back soon!

 

[Hacra]

Fluid Type/Spec:

MERCON V ATF (Motorcraft XT-5-QMC)

(MERCON V replaces the now defunct MERCON ATF)

Fluid Capacity:

5.6 pints, 2.8 qts (U.S. quarts) total capacity

There should be drain plug and fill plug near each others on driver side of the transmission.

Before doing anything, check that you can remove the fill plug (centerish of the tranny), if you dont and end up draining the transmission, you might have fun times ahead of you, in case fill plug is seized so that you cannot remove it, not sure if M5R1 can be filled through the shifter hole. Someone smarter with M5OD-R1 transmissions should take over.

 

[Brem95]

Thank you very very much. There’s not much specific info for the manual transmission. Is it true that the transmission is a Mazda product and v6 engine is pretty much straight out of the mustang? I’ll be replacing all fluids in the near future.

 

[FijiBill]

The M5OD manual transmission is from Mazda. There are different versions and flywheels if you have a OHV versus a SOHC engine.

As others have said, first you should check the fluid level. The rubber plugs at the top of the transmission commonly leak. I use Valvoline Dex/Merc as Mercon V was, for a while at least, not recommended by Ford for this transmission, but they have flip flopped on that. Do NOT use gear oil as you will starve the bearings. Only ATF.

To me, it sounds like your clutch isn't fully disengaging when you shift so the transmission is still spinning. One possibility is a bad pilot bearing. When the pilot bearing on mine disintegrated, I had to turn the car off to shift into first. Another possibility is a bad clutch master or slave (more likely) cylinder. The slave is inside the bellhousing so you need to drop the transmission to get to it or the pilot bearing. Might as well get a new clutch and take care of both--all are probably due if they are original.

Thank you very very much. There’s not much specific info for the manual transmission. Is it true that the transmission is a Mazda product and v6 engine is pretty much straight out of the mustang? I’ll be replacing all fluids in the near future.

 

[Brem95]

The M5OD manual transmission is from Mazda. There are different versions and flywheels if you have a OHV versus a SOHC engine.

As others have said, first you should check the fluid level. The rubber plugs at the top of the transmission commonly leak. I use Valvoline Dex/Merc as Mercon V was, for a while at least, not recommended by Ford for this transmission, but they have flip flopped on that. Do NOT use gear oil as you will starve the bearings. Only ATF.

To me, it sounds like your clutch isn't fully disengaging when you shift so the transmission is still spinning. One possibility is a bad pilot bearing. When the pilot bearing on mine disintegrated, I had to turn the car off to shift into first. Another possibility is a bad clutch master or slave (more likely) cylinder. The slave is inside the bellhousing so you need to drop the transmission to get to it or the pilot bearing. Might as well get a new clutch and take care of both--all are probably due if they are original.

Thank you sir, I am thinking of riding it out for the winter and just being careful, then in summer see if I want to rebuild the transmission. The main problem now is a small oil leak by the filter/ lower control arm area and the abs type feeling when I brake at low speeds to come to a stop.

 

[masospaghetti]

+1 for oil level, this is low hanging fruit and it make take care of your issue.

Slave cylinder issues are fairly common on this transmission. (Edit: "common" more because they aren't changed regularly, since it requires dropping the transmission to replace them. Not as much because the slave cylinders are unreliable.) I haven't heard of any master cylinders going bad.

Stick with regular Mercon fluid or possibly GM Synchromesh. I wouldn't put anything heavier than synchromesh in there, which is similar in weight to a 5w-30 motor oil. ATF is really thin and a slightly heavier oil is probably good for the bearings but it might cost you a bit of fuel mileage. I've gone through 4 of these transmissions and the shift behavior is about the same with Mercon or synchromesh.

 

[Brem95]

+1 for oil level, this is low hanging fruit and it make take care of your issue.

Slave cylinder issues are fairly common on this transmission. (Edit: "common" more because they aren't changed regularly, since it requires dropping the transmission to replace them. Not as much because the slave cylinders are unreliable.) I haven't heard of any master cylinders going bad.

Stick with regular Mercon fluid or possibly GM Synchromesh. I wouldn't put anything heavier than synchromesh in there, which is similar in weight to a 5w-30 motor oil. ATF is really thin and a slightly heavier oil is probably good for the bearings but it might cost you a bit of fuel mileage. I've gone through 4 of these transmissions and the shift behavior is about the same with Mercon or synchromesh.

Thanks for the helpful info, I put in royral purple syncromax after reading right on the website that others recommended it for that transmission. It seems to be shifting it better will try it out some more but have had the work truck home these past few days .