Partially engaged parking brake was holding me up lol.

 

I've ready similar accounts from at least five other people on the forums here and elsewhere

 

Someone mentioned it may be skip-shift engaging. Does it happen when you shift at higher rpms too?

 

The skip shift is really funky, it can make the shift just plain rough or, when it actually does it right, it just puts the shifter into 4th easily. If you want to see if it's the transmission or just the skip shift, you can check to see if you're meeting the conditions when it's rough. Probably the best way to try it though is to get some empty road put it in first, go to 2nd, then slow up and put it back into 1st again but DON'T STOP. This is important because the skip shift will only engage if you're accelerating from a complete stop, once you pass the skip shift area, it won't try to engage again until you again reach a full stop. Then accelerate again and try to put in 2nd and see if it's smooth. If it's consistently rough, then there could be something else going on.

 

i haven't taken apart the tranny but I'm positive its the skip shift partially engaging because every other gear is smooth as silk

 

Fixed

 

it's been an sporadic issue for me, too...

seems to happen more often when starting the car in the morning...

 

I think skip shift was probably the reason also.

Since I got a tune with skip shift eliminated, shifting into 2nd hasn't been a problem.

 

I, too, have experienced the clunky 1-2 shift; as others have said, though, I'm pretty sure it's due to "skip shift" partially engaging. When I take off aggressively from a stop -- enough to avoid skip shift -- my 1-2 shift is as smooth as all of the rest of the gears. Once I see the skip shift message on the console, though, it's guaranteed to be a clunky 1-2 shift.

 

This.

Which is why I suggest Ford offer a $0-50 tune that only eliminates skip shift as a dealer service

 

Quite honestly, I have yet to experience the skip shift on my vehicle. I have seen some message flashing one time, but it was gone too fast to actually see what was on the display... I assume it was the skip shift message.

Granted, maybe the 3.73 gears have some impact on this feature, but with just over 1000 miles on her, I feel that the shifting is smooth and without problems.

Just my 2 cents... Do you have change for a dollar?

 

Been a lot of you guys talking about poor 1-2 shift quality but on the V6 car I drove that has the same tranny and shifter, just with different ratios, the shift was super easy. And I recall a few of the magazine and online reviews of the V6 cars where the reviewer missed the 2-3 shift a few times. I did quite a few full throttle shifts 2-3 and never even had a feeling like it might not go right in.

Also, I do know from my driving experience in that V6 car, you do have to push the clutch pedal all the way down for a good shift.

Hard to imagine exactly what the feel of the problem you guys are describing on the 5.0 cars. Have any 2011 V6 manual tranny owners had any of these kind of shift problems???

 

If you rev the engine a bit the shift is not rough. Its only when cruising this happens. Like MARZ described above

 

The V6 doesn't have the skip shift "feature" which perhaps reinforces the theory that the problem is related to skip shift.

I haven't experienced anything but smooth shifting in the V6 other than a couple of times hitting 5th instead of 3rd and it sometimes seems reluctant to go back into 1st at intersections.

 

Wouldn't "partially engaging" equate to "malfunctioning"? I mean the point is to make you shift to 4th not make shifting to 2nd unpleasant, correct?

Regardless, I'd get a tune post-haste and be done with it altogether.

 

Based on the service manuals you should be able to kill the skip shift without a tune using something like what's on the Tremecs. It's got a solenoid up top near the back for the skip shift, should just need a resistor plugged into that. Buuut good luck in actually getting to that solenoid with any kind of ease. Yes, tuning sounds better and better.

 

I don't know if "partially engaging" is the correct terminology, as I am unsure as to whether it's a mechanical or electrical "tune"-related issue. Regardless, it really isn't that big of an issue -- my 2007 GT wasn't exactly known for its smooth shifts either, by the way -- and I will in fact be purchasing a tune in the not-too-distant future to remedy the situation altogether.

 

My 1-2 shift quality has been variable in easy launches. I've felt:
Smooth
A two-stage somewhat springy resistance, almost like the gate is partially obscured by a plastic part
A more metallic resistance, like "I'm gonna grind if you keep this up"
No "Two" for You!

Since the M6 gearshift is spring biased to rest between 3-4, I've had to learn to pull to the left on 1-2, instead of straight back.

I've got the FRPP tune on my wish list, just haven't gotten around to it yet. I guess I wanted to get to know my car in its stock condition first. With almost 4K on the odometer, I think time's up.