I noticed this happening lately. I have to push the clutch to the floor to make the 4th to 3rd shift. If I don't depress it almost completely, the shifter doesn't allow me to go into 3rd. If I apply more pressure it starts to grind and never goes into gear. I'll play around with it some more to see how repeatable it is. I never used to have to push the clutch to the floor to make this shift.

Just last week it was at the dealer for severe brake noise, they replaced the front pads and resurfaced the rotors. Less than 10,000 miles

 

Maybe check the brake fluid, I believe the clutch and brakes use the same fluid reservoir.

 

You should always push the clutch to the floor when doing any shifting!

 

When you say brake noise, do you mean squealing?

I took mine to the dealership. They said my brake pads were glazed over, but that they're perfectly fine. They used something to clean it and wrote in the report that the technician experienced no noises after applying the solution. Lo and behold, not one mile from the dealership the noise is back, albeit not as loud. Now, it's back to normal.

I still haven't done the bedding process as some recommended. From what I've read, basically warm up brakes, do some hard braking without stopping (60 to 10), and let it cool. Is that correct?

 

Correct.

Adam, did your last car have a worn or unadjusted clutch? A properly adjusted clutch only fully disengages in maybe the last 7-10% of travel.

All the people I've taught to drive standard I've had to get them to move their seat up because in an automatic they've gotten used to "toeing" the accelerator and brake. You should be able to sit comfortably with your left foot on the clutch fully in on the floorboards without locking your knee joint. If you do that it should be no effort to fully press in the clutch.

 

My clutch disengages in the first ~30%. You have the clutch pressed in completely before moving the shifter at all? I'm talking all the way to the floor, like what's required when starting the engine. I've never driven a manual transmission vehicle where that was required in order to avoid grinding? It only seems to happen going from 4th to 3rd.

Not a squeal, it sounded more like a groan. It only happened when firmly braking at lower speeds, like 20-0MPH. The Ford technician didn't know what it was, he called the service hot-line and Ford said they were confident new pads and resurfacing the rotors would get rid of it. It has only been a week but I haven't noticed it back yet.

 

Hmm I do have that too. I notice it when I slow to complete stop. It makes me cringe

 

Well I can tell you that you should not need to go all the way down to the floor. There is a lot room between the disengage point and the floor. So much so that I have installed a clutch stop to limit that extra travel. It has been on my car since the 1st week I have had it and over 15000 miles ago and Zero grinding. So there must be something wrong with your car. I would say bring it in and have them look at it.

The brake fluid mentioned before is interesting as they did just fix the brakes.

 

Agreed. I have an appointment tomorrow, lets see what they say.

 

What?? A clutch stop?

You may find that some cars have slightly different release points, but all the way to the floor is the correct method when shifting as mentioned by AOC Sparky. He is also correct when he says some of us are too far away from the fire wall as well. A kink in the knee with the brake or clutch pedal to the floor and elbows at 120 degrees when hands are at the three and nine position on the wheel and seat back as vertical as you can stand is proper no matter one's personal taste.

Adam, if there is no grinding in this position with the gears warmed up, there is no problem. Don't be paranoid guys.

If you have a transmission or gear box problem, I hope you plan to remove the clutch stop before going for warranty work. Egads! Maybe it's a drag-race thing?


Cheers.

 

Yeah they are very popular on the BMW boards and many companies make them for the BMW. I have had them on a few cars and it makes a big difference. My last M3 had 77k when I sold it with no signs of wear on the original clutch.

Going to the floor is just to insure that you go past the disengagement point. Once you fully disengage the clutch all addition movement is wasted. The clutch stop eliminates that extra travel. I do however go all the way to the clutch stop when shifting.

 

While this may be true for what you are used to there are a few things you will have to bear in mind for a hydraulic clutch system (not sure what the M3 has and TBH I'm too lazy to look)

At any rate, keep in mind that the natural state of the clutch is "engaged". Anything, such as an air bubble between the clutch master cylinder and the slave (say from recent brake work) can slightly change the take-up point and make the cause the clutch to not fully disengage. The same thing will happen if the clutch MC needs to feed more fuid from the reservoir.

Also, if you are using a clutch stop, it may be keeping your clutch from adjusting from wear because it adjusts when you put it to the floor!

 

You have a point as there is an engagement point off the floor when upshifting where one starts adding throttle.. But I think to be safe......

Cheers.

 

The dealer said something is definitely wrong with the transmission but they don't know what. Sounds like they will be keeping the car until Monday at the very least. They are going to start pulling parts and get on the Ford hotline. Will update this thread as things progress.

9,671 on the odometer when I dropped it off this morning. At least I wasn't imagining things.

 

Why would you NOT go to the floor????

I want my synchro's to be as free wheeling as possible. Heck I double clutch on most down shifts anyway, and always punch the floor board.

Don't forget the TSB's for the Tremec for subpar synchro's on some that were causing slight grinds/balky shifts from 2nd to 3rd upshift. If its the 3rd synchro, it could also explain your 4th to 3rd shift.

 

I do, most of the time. The problem become more apparent when doing quick downshifts from 4th to 3rd. Even with the clutch to the floor it would kind of bind before going into 3rd. No problem with any other gear.