87 Bronco II stuck in neutral

[jdspears]

Let me break it down. It's strange I've never seen anything like it.

My manual 4x4 2.9 L Bronco II shifts just fine when it's off. I can get it from first to fifth gear without a problem.

Turn it on, I literally have to use every iota of strength in my body to force the damn thing into first gear. Same for second.

Checked clutch reservoir it's ok and full. I'm terrified it's a transmission issue, or I may need to replace the entire clutch. Any idea?

[Ranger Dave]

or the disk is stuck. put it in gear and start it with the pedal to the floor, does take off

[tekatlarge]

I had the same exact problem with my 83 ranger. In fact I bought the ranger off a neighbor that parked it because he thought the transmission was Bad.

Turns out That it was a very worn out clutch disk, flywheel and a weak pressure plate. I dropped the trans did a complete clutch job including a new flywheel and throwout bearing and was down the road the next day shifting along..

What happens is:
As the clutch disk wears it allows the pressure plate to get closer to the flywheel. The closer to the flywheel the disk gets the more clutch pedal travel is required. Add to wear, wear of the flywheel and the worn throwout bearing means that all of the clutch stroke is used up taking up all the slack in the clutch linkage and parts . The clutch system doesn't have enough travel to fully disengage the spinning clutch disk. That puts a bind on the transmission and makes it hard to put it in gear and when it is in gear it stoplight creeps on you.