Hello everyone. I was looking at a 1989 B150 Van (3.9 engine, 5 speed manual, around 140k miles). The shifter feels a little notchy and 'vague'. Is this common issue with these? Any idea on a possible fix?

The whole shift pattern is slanted somewhat toward the driver. I maigine that's how it's set up. But the notchiness and vagueness seems like an issue of some sort. Thanks for any advice.

 

I have an '89 B150 with 3.9L V6, 5-spd manual. I thought mine might be the only one left!! I'm the original owner, it has 120,000 miles. The only time the shifts felt "vague" was just prior to breaking an internal shift rail pin. When the pin came out it could not be shifted out of gear at all. The tapered pin was around $2. Getting the transmission out & apart for that one pin was another matter. I found out later there is a way to access the shift rail pins (3) from the top of the gearbox without removing the transmission. You remove the shifter from the inside, then unbolt the top cover. BTW, Don't start the vehicle with the cover off, or you'll get sprayed with tranny lube!. Since it was already out, I took the transmission to a tranny specialty shop for a checkup. It's all aluminum case (NP2500) & very light. The shop guy said the gears looked like they had NO WEAR whatsoever. It was just the pin. To this day, it shifts crisp & clean, no slop.


Last note: If the van ever gets stuck in gear, you can get it into neutral by removing the shifter from inside & using a large screwdriver to pull in into neutral for pushing/towing. It's very easy to do.

 

Thanks for the awesome response and cool that you have a 5 speed! It's nice to know that the shift rail pins can be accessed that way if need be. This is the sort of thing that makes forums great, tips like that. What sort of gas mileage does yours deliver?

 

Yes, forums are great. You always find someone who can answer your question. As for gas mileage, the official EPA figures are 13 MPG City, 19 MPG HWY. I can honestly say that over many years of driving, the combined average is 15 mpg, and that's the figure I use when estimating fuel cost for a long trip. It really did get 19 MPG once, on a trip to N. Carolina, almost totally in 5th gear. The fuel benefit of the overdrive 5th gear (~0.78:1) is somewhat "cancelled" by the rather steep rear axle ratio (3.92:1). Mine does not have A/C.

One last idea: The sloppiness you feel might just be the shifter itself after 140,000 mi. That's very easy to replace & inexpensive (~$75), I replaced mine along with the pins. Just remove the shift boot, then 4 bolts on top from inside the van. And a small bead of Permatex on the mating surfaces.

 

Shout out to a fellow B150 Manual owner! Mines an 89 and a V6 too but if feels like it only has 3 gears. I have 1st, 2nd and then 3rd which feels like 5th. The play in the shifter is super super sloppy. Am I missing shifts? I cant find any other gears when I grow it so it feels like maybe it was replaced with a 3 speed? here is a pic of mine: https://imgur.com/gallery/ypyLLzd

 

Very nice van in the pic! If you're saying it's a 5-speed but yours "jumps" to 5th after 2nd, you might have a pin that's come loose on the 3/4 shift rail. That happened to mine. Yours might have happened in another gear to remain "neutral" in the 3-4 positions. When it happened to mine it got stuck in one of the gears - you wouldn't be able to move out of that gear so it sounds like yours is in the center (neutral) position. You can take the boot & top cover of the shifter off from the inside. The pins are tapered & cheap, a couple bucks. I had my transmission out to replace it. The pin was stuck to the magnet on the bottom of the transmission case, which was good so that it didn't get caught up in the gears.

I was very dumb to replace just the one pin. It happened again & I replaced them all that time. Just my experience. But you can tell from just opening up the shifter if the pin came out. GL.

 

THANKS I'll check it out and let you know what I find! What is the actual name of the transmission in our vans? I've not been able to identify what it actually is? Any idea?

 

My '89 factory shop manual labels the 5-spd manual transmission as NP2500. I've also seen it labeled as A535. There's a thread on this forum that talks about it gives a link for servicing:


https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...on-thread.html

From the thread: https://www.drivetrain.com/parts-cat...0-overhaul-kit Scroll to the bottom & you'll see the parts blow up diagrams for the NP (later NV) 2500/ A535. Tap the left pic & you'll see the breakout of the shift rails. The shift forks are labeled "62" The pins are shown out. No PN's for the pins, they're standard tapered pins. The pins that the shifter connects to the rails are at the far right, opposite the shift forks.

 

I was able to take the exterior cosmetic boot off to get a better view of the gear shifter trying to find each gear. I think my linkage is so sloppy that I was shifting from 1st to 2nd and then straight to 5th?


​​​​​​https://imgur.com/gallery/VVNWxCO

 

Hey do you have any leads where I can get a shift improver kit? I think ,mine is just worn out. It's just so sloppy. I can engage in all gears, its just finding the gears is a problem because the stick has so much slop in it.