Missing 3rd gear

[milolamp]

1994 Ford Explorer Sport 4wd 5 speed manual transmission

3rd gear suddenly quit working. The shift lever goes into position but nothing there, like it's in neutral. Is this possibly a simple fix or should I order a rebuilt transmission?

 

[RangerX]

Welcome to the forum.
One gear out on a manual trans involves opening up the trans, so not an easy fix. I suggest getting a used trans from a junkyard etc rather than pay big bucks for a rebuilt.

 

[milolamp]

Thanks Bill. Was hoping maybe a busted fork or something that could be fixed through top cover. Don't know a lot about the internals or how everything works inside.
I did look around for a used transmission but they are $700 and a rebuilt is $900.

 

[FR-425]

That price probably includes the transfer case.

you can do better than that for an M50D

 

[RangerX]

I recently bought a second Ranger that came with a trans that also had no third gear, so maybe it's a common failure!
I read up a little about repairing the M5OD and realized it was above my skills level, so I looked around and found a much newer Ranger being parted out and got the trans for next to nothing.
Do you have something else to drive, or are you needing to fix this ASAP?

 

[RangerX]

Just in case you don't know, you can swap in a manual trans from more than just your generation of Explorer. 2nd gen Ex, Rangers, B4000, Navajo, if it's behind a 4.0, it will work.

 

[RangerX]

Also trying posting in this thread, telling what you need. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=280598&page=4
Buncha good guys up in those parts, maybe one has an extra.

 

[SuburbanSploder]

Just in case you don't know, you can swap in a manual trans from more than just your generation of Explorer. 2nd gen Ex, Rangers, B4000, Navajo, if it's behind a 4.0, it will work.

Ressurecting an old thread I know, but I have a line on parts from a 98 5spd and I am interested in swapping into my 94. What parts will work with the swap? Id like to be able to use as much of the 98 as possible

 

[RangerX]

are you talking about swapping one 5-speed for another, or are you talking about converting from an auto trans.

 

[SuburbanSploder]

Converting from automatic

 

[RangerX]

Well, I've never done that swap, but the trans will bolt up to your engine. Is the donor also a 2wd?
The one area that could potentially be a problem is the pedal assembly. I don't know if the floor contour changed any between gen1 and gen2. I'd take a close look at both and compare.

 

[SuburbanSploder]

Donor is also 2wd. I was wondering if the driveshaft will work?

 

[RangerX]

I think the only difference would be in the length between a 2dr and a 4dr.

 

[Centaurious]

When I replaced my '94 5-speed with a '99 model it had no opening for the mechanical speedometer drive. Fortunately the output shaft still had the machining for the speedometer drive gear so I only needed to swap that over and use my old tail-shaft housing. Don't forget to replace the 3 rubber plugs in the back of the top cover with brass freeze plugs.