As you may or may not know, the 91-94 Ford Explorer manual transmissions have 3 rubber plugs that usually dry up and fall out, especially at higher mileage. If these plugs fall out, you will end up having to get your tranny rebuilt. You can replace these plugs without too much difficulty while the tranny is still in the Explorer.

You will have to remove the front seats, center console, shifter boot and shifter tower, and all the plastic trim pieces that are around the edges of the carpet in the front of the vehicle. Once all that is removed, you will be able to pull the carpet back. Under the carpet, there is an access panel that you will need to unbolt. Once you remove this panel, you will be able to see the top of the transmission and the plugs that are to be replaced.

The replacement plugs that you need are Dana #219-3052 or Dorman #555-108 As you can tell from the pictures (click a thumbnail to see a larger picture), you will need 3 plugs, however I bought 6 just so I would have a few extra in case I messed one up or lost a few. Go ahead and just pull out the old rubber plugs. Mine came out pretty easily. Once they are you, you can start putting in the new plugs. I found that using a 1/2" socket that the plugs barely fit over was the best way to hold them while hammering them into the shift rail. I put an 8" extension on the socket, and hammered the plugs in from underneath. I got my brother to hold the plug, socket, and extension in place from inside the Explorer while I crawled under and hammered the plug in. He told me when it went it since it was a bit hard to tell from below. Be very careful not to hammer them in too far! I hammered mine in about 1/2 of the thickness of the rail, and that has worked well - no leaks, so I suppose that's about how far to hammer them in. Just take your time with this step.. It will take a few pretty hard initial hits with the hammer to get the plug started in the hole, but once it gets started, it moves pretty easily, so take your time and check your work often.

While I had everything torn apart, I replaced my shifter bushings. The parts you will need are a washer (E8TZ-7Z120-A), a spacer (E8TZ-7E018-A), and a bushing (E8TZ-7228-A). Those are the Ford part numbers, and combined, they should not cost you more than $6 or $7 from the dealer. Replacing the bushings is not hard, just be careful not to drop anything in the transmission. It is very important to have the tranny in neutral before you begin to replace the bushings. (I found this out the hard way, and the tranny did not have any gears when I got it back together!) Unscrew the 3 bolts that hold the top plate that goes around the shifter of the tranny that is sticking out. You will see the bushing below the plate, this is what you are going to replace. Carefully remove the bushing, being very careful not to drop any parts or broken pieces into the tranny. After removing the top bushing and washer above the stick, pull it out, and there is one more washer that is in the bottom of the area you are working in. Put everything back together in the order that you took it apart, but replace the old parts with the new bushings, etc that you just bought from Ford.

At the time that I replaced the plugs, I also replaced the tranny fluid with Amsoil Synthetic ATF fluid. I'm glad I did - the old ATF that was in the tranny was absolutely nasty! It smelled about like 100K mile differential oil. Also, be sure to clean off the magnetic drain plug - it collects the small metal shavings and pieces that wears off the tranny internals over time. I had about 1/4" of stuff stuck to the magnet all the way around!! After it has drained and you have cleaned the magnet, replace the drain plug and proceed to fill the tranny with ATF fluid (2.8 quarts for my 94 Explorer - check your owners manual) until it just starts to run back out of the fill plug. Replace the fill plug, and you are ready to go.

After I got the interior put all back together, I started the Explorer up and let it idle for a short amount of time to make sure there weren't any leaks, etc. Everything looked fine, so I took it for a short spin around the block. After you drive it briefly, check again for leaks. Everything should be good to go.. I checked mine a few times during the first week to make sure it wasn't leaking any ATF, but it wasn't, and hasn't since then.

That's about all there is to it. It's really not very hard to do all this, but do allow a nice chunk of time. I spent about 5 or 6 hours. It does take time to take the interior apart and put it back together, but it's not difficult.