Difficulty Shifting 1993 Sport 4x4

[nateman7097]

First off, I did a search in this forum before posting, but I couldn't quite find any problems similar to mine. So sorry if I am reposting an old question.

I have difficulty shifting between gears once rolling, sometimes it's not so bad and sometimes it takes some muscles to get it to go into gear. I have no grinding, I've topped off the tranny with fluid, and I have checked the clutch(under the clutch condom I know).

Other than the difficulty between gears everything works great. No winding, humming or grinding at all.

I was wondering if maybe the syncros need to be replaced/machined, or it there was something a little more simply I could do?

 

[Jason94sport]

Worn out slave cylinder can do this. Is it still factory or was it replaced? Most replacement units are garbage. Ford slaves are great though. What kind of fluid did you use?

 

[Anime]

Usually it is the slave cylinder, sometimes a worn out master cylinder can contribute to the issue as well, between the two of them, you get a hydraulic system that doesn't allow full release of the clutch, so shifting becomes difficult.

Something you can try is waiting an extra moment or two, shifting really slowly and seeing if it goes into gear much easier that way, rather than forcing the shifter into gear. If that's the case, then it's almost always the slave cylinder.

The syncros do wear, and if you drive with a bad slave for long enough and keep forcing the shifter into gear, it can eventually turn into a mechanical issue and rebuilding the tranny with new syncros and maybe even new gears might be the only way to restore normal smooth shifting.

Best bet is drop the trans, replace the slave, maybe the clutch and pressure plate, perhaps even the flywheel while you're in there or paying for it to be done. Use a good Dex/Merc ATF for the trans fluid and keep it changed every 30,000 or so.

 

[93RedX]

i just went threw that problem....started late last summer, but once it got cold it "made" it threw the winter, but to avoid further damage, i replaced slave, cluth, pressure plate a couple weeks ago. i can easily shift with my pinky. absolutly amazing difference.

 

[nateman7097]

I was hoping to avoid having to do that. I bought the truck not too long ago. They guy kept a pretty good maint log and it indicated that he did a whole clutch job about 20k miles ago.

Thanks for the advice though. I will let you guys know of any updates.