anyone have a 97 ford ranger with the 5 speed 2.3 liter 4 cyl., i do. (hate the thing)

this truck has been babied and only has 80,000 miles on it

lately it has been grinding going into 2nd gear about 3000 rpm, or downshifting into 2nd above 25 mph, what the hell! i bought the truck off my step dad, he babied it, never towed or hauled anything in it. all fluids have been constantly changed as i work at an oilers lube express, changed the rear diff and tranny fluid 4 times because of boredom at work, oil changed every 2000 miles! any similiar problems anyone? if i drive like a grandma through 2nd into 3rd its fine, there is no driveline noise or anything like that, i dont know how good my step dad was with a 5 speed, the tranny has a hydraulic throw out bearing, if the bearing or clutch assembly was worn could this cause the problem? as of yesterday i put B&M synthetic trickshift ATF in the tranny. shifts much smoother but the problem still remains, may have helped a little bit. possible synchro's for 2nd gear going out? there are no metal shavings on the tranny drain plug on the magnet, i just dont know, any help is well appreciated

 

im no mechanic yet but i think it could be your syncros

 

It sounds like your 2nd gear synchro is bad. My friend's Supra grinds second because his synchro's bad so I'd have to wager you have the same problem.

 

i really really hate this ford