I hear it's common to miss 3rd gear on hard acceleration. My '03 has the same issue. What can/should be done?

 

Is this caused by the shifter being mounted remotely and the transmission being slightly out of line with the chassis/shifter due to torque? If so, its the biggest gripe I have with this car other than the trottle-by-wire throttle lag.

 

Get yourself one of these . . .

http://www.pro50shifters.meridian1.n...=E&PKV=P1050|0

or

http://www.steeda.com/products/steed...mec_tr3650.php

or

http://www.mgwltd.com/mustang_shifter.shtml

 

Steeda Tri Ax. You will never miss 3rd again.

 

I want to get that MGW one. heard good things about it.

 

Ok, but if you don't mind, what's the root cause of 3rd being difficult? It would be nice not to have to replace a shifter on a basically brand new car. I'm not so happy plunking down 300 bucks for something that should/could have been right to begin with.

 

Not sure what kind of difficulty you are experiencing but the Tri Ax 'gravitates' towards 3rd gear.
Its not about missing gears for me although I have missed 3rd gear many times both at high and low revs. Its about the feel of the shift, much more positive and the throw is a LOT shorter. Even if it didnt correct your shift problem it would make the car feel sharper. Cant quite comment on drivability as 'Murray' is currently on jacks with the front end torn apart (waiting for isolators to complete spring install). Not had a chance to take on road since installing shifter but I already know I love it.
If the gear missing doesnt happen often and you are happy with the shifter as it is then keep your money in your pocket. If missing gears is happening a lot then I think you need to contact your dealer.

 

The problem I had with missing third gear is that with the stock shifter, I had to push it over to the right and forward, and it can be difficult to do both precisely when shifting quickly. I only had the problem a few times (if I was accellerating and shifting hard) but it was really annoying. Like Tricky said, I don't think it's a real chronic problem, so if it's happening a lot, there may be more of a problem.

As for 'fixing' it, I love my Steeda Tri-Ax. It has a spring that is compressed when the shifter is in 2nd gear, and when you push it out of 2nd and towards 3rd gear, the spring expands, pushing the handle towards third. All you have to do is puch it forward into 3rd gear. It works great and I couldn't recommend it enough. It has a really great feel and lets you shift faster and with a greater feeling of precision. I've heard good things about the other brands too, so I'm sure you'd be happy with any of the shifters.

 

I just thought it was funny when a freind hear about my getting the Mustang, the first thing he said is be careful of 3rd. When I asked him why, he told me that many of his freinds have Mustangs and all have problems missing 3rd. He told me that I would need to replace the shifter but it just seems stupid to have to do that. If this is such a common issue, why hasn't it ever been corrected? I love the car but I must admit this kind of thing ****es me off.

 

The problem is the long throw of the stock shifter. But it has to be that way to remain comfortable for everyone. Not all Mustang owners are going to drive like a bat out of hell slamming it between the gears and racing everything that challenges them. Ford had to make a compromize and the shifter remains comfortable, light and easy to use at the cost of the odd occasion when you miss 3rd gear.
I dont see a real problem here. Old people and women need to be able to experience the Mustang experience as well.
$170 to fix, small price to pay. Read the reviews on these shifters, their importance becomes clear, thats why I have one.

 

I'm not sure how a slightly longer throw translates into a missed gear. I'll read up a little and see what works for me. Maybe I can get a hold of somebody local that has one of these aftermarket shifters in their car that I can check out.

 

Longer throw = longer travel between gear changes.
Longer travel (can) = early release of clutch
Early release of clutch = missed gear

I dont know if its the same problem you are experiencing but this is my usual problem and is down to driver error (and my big daft size 14 feet).
Hoping my new shifter will to an extent elliminate this problem but wont find out for few months.

 

trust me you will be amazed at what a short throw shifter will do. My car doesn't ahve one but my brothers car has a tri ax and the shifter barley has to move in his car to go into gear. It really is amazing.

 

The longer stock shift handle gives less precision than a shorter shifter handle. I really dont believe there is an inherent flaw in the design of the Mustang's stock shifter or trans. For the record, I've heard the same complaint from guys driving GM F-bodies and even in some older Vettes. I don't know why some people have so much of a problem 'finding' 3rd gear. I only had the problem a few times, and I just had the handle bump into the space between the 1st and 3rd gear slots. It was just due to me not being careful enough and not paying enough attention while shifting. However, it can happen more easily if you are trying to shift very fast and not being careful about where the shift is going.

 

I'm pretty sure there's either a common problem or it's just my car. I've had tons of manual trans cars over the years and never had a 2-3 shift problem like this car. I'm not even speed-shifting, just shifting fast under heavy accel and you just can't hit 3rd! Have no problem at slightly slower pace. I'll play with it for a while and see if it's me but I'm skeptical. At least there appears to be a fix, and that's good.

 

If you just like to cruise around the shifter is fine. But if you want bold moves and to drive it like Steve McQueen once in a while, the stock shifter performs poorly. Do you notice how many people on the forums have changed out their shifter or are planning to do it soon? What I would like to see Ford do is put a better shifter in the car. There are option packages to upgrade the pedals, shifter bezel, and shifter ****, but no option to upgrade the actual shifter.

How about having a "Hurst Equipped" package?

 

+1 on that.