Shifting trouble in 5 speed

[logjam]

I was a GM man until my ford mechanic father-in-law converted me by giving my wife his explorer '96, V-6, 4WD, 5Spd. I just replaced the clutch, slave and throwout at a local mechanic. It drove fine for 1 day, then, when driven for fifteen minutes or so, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears are really hard to shift into no matter what rpm I shift at. If I knock the shift handle toward where the gear is supposed to be there is a loud and strong thump noise. I also noticed that the mechanic removed the bumper that keeps the clutch pedal from hitting the floorboard. I think they wanted more pedal range to further disengage. I need help. X-GMC man.

 

[Brock94]

These clutches are notoriously difficult to bleed-- it sounds like yours was not bled properly, so it is not fully disengaging the clutch. There is even a TSB that recommends partial disassembly of the master cylinder to bleed it properly. I followed the procedure in the FSM (not the TSB), repeating the steps a few extra times and it did the trick. I know that procedure was posted somewhere on here...

You should get it bled properly before you drive it much more or you'll chew up your tranny.