Additional fun with this M5OD-R1

Stats of course:

1995 Stock Ford Explorer with the 4.0 OHV.

High miles (240k) Did a run down to the pick and pull yard yesterday, noted a very odd sound coming from the transmission. Wife let me know it did it for her a couple of days earlier. I've been using this as a daily driver sense the VW was off the road pending a spindle replacement/wheel bearing issues. (Thankfully that's been done now, as this one seems to want $$ again)

https://youtu.be/ZbzstXmS3d0

Pardon the road noise. Seems to be there mostly in 3rd gear, and a lot in 5th gear. Let off the gas and just hold speed-it quiets down. Hammer on it or engine brake and it gets louder.

I drove it through all gears on the video, and you can hear when I engine braked and accelerated.

Thought or ideas? The new clutch worked wonders on everything else. She's been shifting like a dream sense the clutch system was replaced.

Fluid checked this morning. It was slightly low. (about 1/4 a quart). Noted was a small leak. Looks like the output shaft seal. The shift rails where left alone when we did the clutch. No sign of leakage then, or now. (We pulled the rubber boot up, and can see quite a bit if things where leaking top-down. Also did a solid visual, no leaks from the top.)

We have about 10+ of snow expected over the next couple of days, so I'll have no choice but to drive the explorer for the 4wd. If it mellows out (weather wise) for a week or so, we can probably pull things apart for basic repairs, but anything heavy duty might have to wait until Spring. (I have no garage area to work in-my idiot step father never cleaned out the barn/work area...it's loaded with his junk and it would take days to move it...)

Wife was wondering if we could just not use 5th/OD gears and eat the fuel mileage. Seems to be really talkative in 5th gear. 3rd is chattering, but 5th is really obnoxious. In order to nurse things along, we might just not use overdrive/5th gear for the time being. That seems to be the major issues.

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No ideas? **shrug**

S-

Got this from an online rebuilder service. This is what the team came up with when listening to the video:

From the description and the audio on youtube it sounds like the input and cluster are damaged. This happens if it has ever gotten low on fluid and it takes the hardness out of the gears….. 4th gear would be the quietest. Below is a list of parts that would be required at the least to rebuild it.. We have also price a rebuilt unit for your consideration.

Click to expand...

While I'll be the first one to admit it was about 1/4-1/3 a qt low for a bit. I'm reminded of how skanky the fluid was when we first changed it. (The fluid wasn't 'red' it was gray, like someone poured liquid graphite into it.... Usually what aluminum flakes look like in a fluid...) I think this problem has been a long time coming, and it waited until I changed the fluid with fresh stuff... Being a bit low? Yes didn't help. But we didn't put a great deal of mileage on it. Maybe 700-900 total IF THAT sense we put it on the road. (It has a slow leak at what seems to be the output shaft seal. So it was topped off correctly when we did the change, and dripped out over time.) My gut feeling is that the fluid was run low for a very long time before we got our hands on it.

That's what the 'expert' said. Looking for options at this point. I'm not wild about dropping the transmission again-and there's no way of knowing if a salvage yard one would be any better-or worse. Rebuilding might be possible, provided online help would be available...and not special oddball tools are needed.....

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just had mine rebuild for $904 used m5od was around $700 so an extra $200 to have it done was good piece of mind.. also i pulled and re installed it, but i let them rebuild it that way i have a warranty.. as i said i spent $904 but parts were about $700 of that and with not knowing the state of a used transmission i was not about to spend $700 on a used one..

i had lost 2nd, 4th, all syncros, input shaft, and bearings, also a few misc parts..

I've seen them on rock auto for about the same when adding shipping charges. I've always done my own work, but peace of mind definitely counts. My gut is telling me this is a worn bearing at the end/rear of the unit.. Reality is by the time I can drop the trans, it will likely need the counter shaft and input shaft. Just need to nurse it along. .. rotten snow came way earlier then I expected.

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I just bought a reman M5-R1 from Smart Parts Automotive for $595 with a 12 month/unlimited mileage warranty. They claim it to be a total reman with a dyno run for testing. Right now it's still on the pallet, it'll be another week or 2 before I can get to it. The M5 in my 94 4.0L has been a bad penny ever since I bought the truck in 2011. It's been built twice before but it's crapped out again. So I decided to go with a different case and internals altogether. By the time it's all said and done, trans + shipping both ways I'll have about $825 in it. I'll let y'all know how it works out.

Probably a bearing, that's all I can say. I will call BS on the rebuilder's line about "taking the hardness out of the gears"... no. fawking. way. would that happen, you would have to heat them up to some insanely high temperatures to anneal hardened gears, a transmission just can't get that hot and function. It would have locked up or caught on fire long before that. It's just worn out.

The M5OD I took out of my 88 Ranger leaked so bad that I was putting a quart in it every 1000 miles and it had been over 2 quarts low multiple times. It had a lot of bearing noise but always functioned. 1/4 quart low or whatever didn't hurt yours.

The one I rebuilt and used to replace ^ that one was full of metal shards, ground up debris, plastic, etc. Thought it was a lost cause but after going through the parts washer I ended up using almost all of the old parts with new bearings, seals, and synchros. The only major things I replaced were the 5th/reverse cluster and shift fork and only because they were actually damaged pretty bad. I have about 3000 miles on the rebuild so far and it's been working perfectly, no whine or anything whatsoever.