Looking for some information and advice...

Lately, when driving my car, about half the time I go to shift out of 1st and into 2nd gear, instead of slipping out of 1st smoothly, it tends to 'pop' out of gear. 1-2 and 2-3 shifts also seem to feel rather crunchy on occasion. I'm not too concerned about the crunchiness, because I've had that since day 1... But the popping out of 1st thing when I shift is a recent occurance.

Another thing I've recently noticed..

I generally do not beat the crud out of my car, but from time to time I like to do a flat-out acceleration run (like maybe once every couple weeks.. there are WAY too many cops swarming around South Bend to make me even think about trying to do this more often)... And a couple times lately, when shifting 1-2 quickly, I wasn't able to get into 2nd... It didn't go in, and the shifter felt like it hit a rubbery-feeling wall. I let the clutch out in neutral, pushed it back in, and it slid into gear.

This is distressing. Part of having a fast car is having the ability to shift fast. If you can't shift fast, the car isn't fast.

Has anyone else had this issue?

 

Sounds like it could be a problem with either the shifter or the clutch. Make sure you are pushing the clutch all the way in when you shift. If you already are, something is wrong...sounds like a warranty issue.

 

Synchro gone?

Anyone...anyone??

 

could be a bad syncro, but the popping out of first gear thing leads me away from bad syncro. Sounds more like an alignment issue with the shifter, like a cable or rod is bent in the shifter assembly.

 

not sure about the synchro... I'm going to try bleeding the clutch and see if that helps...

if not, i'll put the stock intake back on and take it in.. cuz we all know a whopping 20 extra hp will destroy a transmission

 

I had what sounds to be a similar problem. I went back and forth with the Dealer that they " could not duplicate customer concern". Finally what I did (and yours might exhibit the same symptom) is when parked on a slight incline with the car in gear, I could depress the clutch pedal and the car would not roll. I could then, with the clutch depressed, pull the shifter from first to neutral and hear a pop and the car would then roll. They replaced Clutch Disk, Pressure Plate and Slave Cylinder and tested good. Now it is like it should be! I hope this helps.
Michael

 

Did they do that under warranty? As far as I know (and from experience on my 01 Cougar), the clutch and its components are not covered.

 

Yes, it was completely covered by warranty. This was a "control issue" covered by the 3/36.

 

A non-fully disengaging clutch will definitely cause gears to not change cleanly.

 

I dont know man, i'm so confused. Today it's shifting like butter. How can I have them diagnose something that drives okay sometimes but is crummy other times?

 

If your car will do the same as mine did, I would park it where you can easily duplicate the problem. It was a frustrating once for me but once I duplicated it they replaced with out any problem.

 

I have a similar issue as I have parked my vehicle on an incline for two days and then it got all stupid on me. The clutch is hydraulic and non-adjustable, so it will get "upset" and then fix itself. Drive it like a school bus for two days and it will fix itself. This has happened to me 3 times. I put the Hurst shifter in to fix the "not going into 2nd quickly" issue and the extra rigidity helps the alignment from high RPM shifts. Also, check your motor mounts as the engine/tranny works together and if a motor mount is loose or broken, the whole thing is out of whack.

 

Can you please elaborate on this?
I'm having (what appears to be) clutch issues, but not the ones described above.
Occasionally, I experience more of a shuddering/vibration when letting out the clutch in 1st.
This only happens while city driving (repeatedly bringing the car to a stop, then quickly starting again at stop signs), or during a lot of stop-and-go traffic, and mostly after the car has been driven for an extended period of time.
The kicker is that this problem is not consistent, and, as such, my dealer "could not duplicate the problem" blah blah blah.
Some days, the car shifts beautifully.
Other days, it's so bad that I want to crash it into a tree and be done with the wretched thing already.

Is this what you mean by the clutch "getting upset and fixing itself?"

Is there any way to convince a dealer to do something about this?

 

The clutch is a wear item and thus they will most likely wait until your clutch is toast and then charge you to put a new one in. Fortunately, what you are describing is NOT a clutch issue. You have a good clutch as your car goes into gear and doesn't slip when you accelerate. So it is not the wear item that is the issue. The clutch assembly also includes a clutch plate that MUST remain smooth and aligned. When the assembly gets HOT the material expands. Unfortunately our cars are not high end exotics and they do not build the things so they are in spec when "on the boil", so you will see as the clutch heats up (i.e. stop and go) you will get a bit of "chatter" when lowering the clutch into 1 or 2 and backing up.

To fix this, I switched to Motul Brake fluid (just read) as the break fluid reservoir and the clutch reservoir are the same. Motul has a much higher level of Thermal Stability. When you replace your brake fluid, make sure to bleed everything, including the clutch.

I haven't had the issue lately and I haven't replaced any physical parts. I know that there is a TSB out there for something to do with the clutch plate, so if this does not ease your chatter, then continue searching this board until you find someone who has had their clutch plate replaced under warranty.

Good Luck -

 

What's TSB on the clutch plate for?

 

EXCELLENT advice!
Thank you so much for breaking this down for me.

But please forgive me; I am not too mechanically-inclined, so I'm not sure what you mean by "bleed everything, including the clutch."

I'm guessing you mean to flush the system, but how?
Sorry for the ignorance.

Also, where might I purchase this Motul brake fluid?
Would a Pep Boys or Auto Zone carry this?