96 Ranger stuck in 2nd gear??

[Modemagic]

Hey all, I have a 1996 Ranger, 3.0 v6, 5 speed manual transmission that seems to be stuck in second gear.

With the truck off:

Able to shift into all gears but second. (Shifting is tough)

Truck started:
Attempt to leave truck in neutral, slowly releasing the clutch the transmission engages into a forward gear and begins to move, but will stall.
Attempt to shift into first and slowly release clutch, truck seems to want to go forward, but truck will stall.
Attempt to shift into second gear, transmission will not allow this.
Attempt to shift into reverse. Transmission will not allow this.

Checked the filler on the firewall near the brake booster and it has fluid in it.

Not really sure where else to go with this one. Odometer reads 49k on it but cannot be 100% sure it is accurate, although it very well could be considering this truck spends a lot of time sitting. Tried several search variations but couldn't come up with anything that seemed to be the same.

Any help or suggestions would be great!

Thanks all!

 

[Modemagic]

After thinking about this for a bit. With the truck off or on, since it never seems to disengauge from what seems like second gear, I'm guessing that the transmission, although it seems to shift into every other gear, actually doesn't.

Is this something as simple as the shifter was installed improperly?

I know nothing about how/when this started happening as it happened to the prior owner.

 

[Modemagic]

According to the previous owner, while driving it started making noise, grinding, etc.

Anyone have any ideas??