5 spd. grinds on downshift and 1st -2nd

[branlee55]

Hi guys, I have a 1997 ford F-250 with the 7.3L and 5 spd. I just picked this truck up at a good bargain while knowing it has a couple issues in the transmission. First off this truck has 106k miles which is nothing for these bulletproof motors. This also makes me assume that this is the orignal transmission in the truck also. The guy that i ust bought the truck from said he had just replaced the clutch right before i bought it. That being said the truck grinds everytime if i try to shift from 1st to 2nd. To avoid this ive been starting in 2nd gear. 2nd to 3rd also grinds sometimes if i try to shift it too quickly. To avoid this i just apply pressure and wait for it to slide into gear. 3rd to 4th shifts smooth and the same from 4th to 5th. The other problem is anytime i try to downshift the gears grind no matter which gear im trying to downshift into. Ive found a way to drive the truck where it gets me where i need to go and where i very rarely grind the gears. That being said im tired of having to baby it and wait for it to slide into gear. I also dont want to continue driving it this way and end up hurting the transmission even more. Ive owned 3 7.3L but this my first manual so I am not as familiar with the transmission. Any ideas as to the problem or possible solutions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[greasyF250]

On the OBS there is a bushing that is in the clutch pedal linkage that wears and the result is the clutch doesn't fully disengage. I put a heim joint in on the end of the push rod at the clutch pedal. Do a search on this forum and you'll see what I'm talking about. I moved the clutch linkage 1 tooth tighter and had to loosen the clutch master cylinder in order to make the connection. No more grinding and shifts like butter.

[branlee55]

is there a way to tell if the bushing is shot? I pushed in the clutch while watching the bushing and it appears to engage fully... Also another thing i havent checked yet is the tranny fluid. From my understanding there is no dipstick on this tranny. How would i go about checking the fluid and changing it as i cant think it would hurt to go ahead and replace it

[greasyF250]

When I changed the bushing , it only helped for about a week. The bushing was $12 at Ford. Then I put in the heim joint and eventually moved the the arm 1 notch.
There is no dip stick for the trans. you fill it until it starts to come out, but make sure you get the fill plug out before you drain it . The fill plug is half way up the driver side of the trans.

[branlee55]

ok i ordered the heim joint today. Do you think adjusting the linkage could temporarily help my problem while I wait for the part to get here? Also do you have any pictures of adjusting the clutch linkage or could you help guide me or at least get me started in the right direction. thanks for all the insight so far i appreciate it.

[terryknight]

your synchros could be going out but with only 106K i doubt it. there in no linkage it is a system, you can try and bleed it. i did something similar to the heim joint, but with a bolt. the bushing don't last long at all.

[greasyF250]

Originally Posted by branlee55

ok i ordered the heim joint today. Do you think adjusting the linkage could temporarily help my problem while I wait for the part to get here? Also do you have any pictures of adjusting the clutch linkage or could you help guide me or at least get me started in the right direction. thanks for all the insight so far i appreciate it.

There is no adjusting of the linkage . What I did was move the clutch linkage arm 1 tooth. ( you'll see what I mean when you take it apart to put in heim joint) But in order to get it back together , I had to loosen the hold down bolts for the clutch master cylinder. Its not much of a movement ,but it make all the difference in the world. In a nutshell , the problem is , the clutch linkage does not push in far enough to fully disengage the clutch, usually from worn linkage.

[madpogue]

Originally Posted by greasyF250

There is no adjusting of the linkage . What I did was move the clutch linkage arm 1 tooth.

You're talking about pulling the arm off the splined end of the shaft and rotating it one spline tooth, so the arm starts out in a better position wrt. the pushrod, right? Actually, that is the "adjustment". IIRC there's some brief reference to it in the FSM somewhere.

One temporary fix while waiting for the Heim joint would be the cheap / not-so-elegant drill stop collar fix.

[greasyF250]

Thats what I'm talking about. Didn't know of a reference in the FSM. Previous to doing the 1 tooth adjustment , we replaced the the clutch master cylinder and slave , all in 1 piece , which didn't help much. Then we moved the arm 1 tooth , but it was a PITA because we had to come up with some movement in the linkage just to get it back together. We backed off the nuts holding the m cyl and was able to muscle it together. Its been working great since Jan. of 2011. The whole problem here , as I stated earlier ,is wear throughout the clutch linkage (310k on this OBS). Just a small movement goes a long way to disengaging the clutch. Ford's fix is to replace all components in the linkage, right down to throwout bearing and clutch . $$$$$$$ I did find a reference to an adjustable pushrod that somebody got at NAPA, but have not been able to locate it.