6 speed hard to shift when cold

[tristanlee85]

Now that the weather is getting chillier, the truck is very hard and sometimes impossible to shift. It took about 5 minutes to get it in to reverse last night. I was getting so aggravated that I felt like I was going to bend the shifter. Finally I slammed it and it went in gear. First can also be a pain to get in to gear as well.

I noticed that when the clutch is all the way to the floor, and I move the shifter in to reverse or 1st, it never fully goes in to gear, but as long as I hold the shifter in that position, the truck will actually slowly move which to be indicates it's not fully disengaging and it's the idle that's keeping the RPMs up and allowing it to move.

The first thing I'm going to check in the fluid in the hydraulics to make sure it isn't low. Once the truck has warmed up, the shifting is no longer difficult. I am curious to know what else could cause this. The clutch has about 60k on it and from what I can see by the paperwork, the previous owner had everything replaced (disc, pressure plate, throw-out bearing, and maybe a few other pieces I'm unaware of).

[97 golden stroker]

sounds like it could be a pilot bearing. but you should check the fuid first like you said.

[tristanlee85]

Well, the fluid is full. I checked the transmission to see if the fluid was low or old. It looks brand new. I am now leaning toward the hydraulics. I guess it doesn't happen only when cold like I originally though. I drove the thing for 3 hours last night and when I got home, I couldn't get it in reverse at all. I shut the truck off, put it in reverse, start it up and then back where I needed to, but then I couldn't get it in to first gear very easily.

I notice when it won't go in to gear that if I put the clutch to the floor and move the shifter to the gear (without going in gear), it will move one direction or the other which means the clutch isn't fully disengaging.

Are these self-adjusting hydraulics? What about bleeding, or are they a sealed unit? I had priced a master/slave assembly (pre-bled) at Advance Auto for $144, but I don't know if the OEM quality units are as good as direct from Ford or if I should just get raped at the dealership. Sometimes on this like these OEM is the only way to go, but I am not sure.

[wiyrs]

Originally Posted by tristanlee85

Well, the fluid is full. I checked the transmission to see if the fluid was low or old. It looks brand new. I am now leaning toward the hydraulics. I guess it doesn't happen only when cold like I originally though. I drove the thing for 3 hours last night and when I got home, I couldn't get it in reverse at all. I shut the truck off, put it in reverse, start it up and then back where I needed to, but then I couldn't get it in to first gear very easily.

I notice when it won't go in to gear that if I put the clutch to the floor and move the shifter to the gear (without going in gear), it will move one direction or the other which means the clutch isn't fully disengaging.

Are these self-adjusting hydraulics? What about bleeding, or are they a sealed unit? I had priced a master/slave assembly (pre-bled) at Advance Auto for $144, but I don't know if the OEM quality units are as good as direct from Ford or if I should just get raped at the dealership. Sometimes on this like these OEM is the only way to go, but I am not sure.

mine does this too, regardless of temp. just mainly reverse/L i was thinking the fluid since my shifter gasket leaks alittle, havent checked the fluid tho

[ipz2222]

pilot bearing, pilot bearing, pilot bearing....

[tristanlee85]

Is the kevlar bearing a non-dealership product? I had also read that while changing that, I should get the newer style clutch forks. I'm not sure when the change was made. I believe I have an early 99, though looking at the comparison between early- and late-99's the truck seems to fall in to both categories so...

[tristanlee85]

I ordered a pre-bled Dorman hydraulic assembly from Rockauto. Hopefully their product line reputation carries over to Fords too since my experience with it has been good on my Saturn. I installed the new hydraulics and could feel an immediate difference in the pedal. Before it would engage right off the floor. Now it does it about 1/2 way up. I had very smooth shifting so far so fingers crossed...

And it looks like the Kevlar bearing is part of the SB kit, or it can be ordered separately. With the bearing going out, wouldn't it make some sort of noise?

[wallersF250]

I had the same issue with mine for 6k hard shifting, then the pilot bearing started making noises at me, and edging when stopped. I went with the South Bend Kevlar and also replaced the Throw out bearing. Clutch and all still like new at 105k

[tristanlee85]

Interesting. I have not had any issues since I got the new hydraulics, nor have I ever heard any noise from what seemed like it would be related to the pilot bearing. SB will go in the truck when the next replacement is needed, though.