Ford Ranger Forum : “how do i know if i have a 4 speed auto or a 5 speed auto are the tranys differen...”

Hi van,

Yes.  A 4-speed and 5-speed automatic transmission can sometimes be very different.

As you pull away from a stop light have a friend (in the passengers seat) notice the number of times that the transmissions changes gears.  If you have a tachometer you can watch the engine reaching a "rev limit" and then dropping to a lesser value.  This is indicative of a transmission "shift point".  If your vehicle has overdrive it can sometimes (mistakenly) be referred to as the "5th gear".

Hope this helps!

Count the number of times it shifts.  I'm pretty sure that Rangers weren't offered with 5 speed autos then...or ever even.  I'll have to check on the now part.  I might be surprised.

Do whatthe first guy said if its a 4.0 then it did come with an available 5 speed automatic i was surprised to find taht out myself

a 99 ranger will have a 4 speed auto there is no way ford had a 5 speed auto in 99 to tell look at the shifter there should be some letters and numbers next to it if it sas prd321 its a 4 speed if it say prd432 its a 5 speed

all automatic rangers only ahve prnd21 on the gear selector and yeah it was early but jsut becasue you dont think they woul ahve one doesnt mean tehy didnt atelast look it up before you answer i almost bought a 98 that had 5 speed automatic

Paul Board is wrong! That is not true with any ranger...

I have a 1997 with a 5R55E. It is a 5 speed automatic tranny. That is the easiest way to tell (what they explaoined above), but not all of our rangers (even the standard/manual ones) have tachometers. What size engine and trim do you have? You could also have a 4R44E electronic auto tranny...