All,

I have a 2011 Mustang GT with a manual transmission. For the sake of this discussion, I would prefer to only have input from others with manual trans cars.

At about 4800 miles it began exhibiting a strange behavior where the engine skips (or misses) between 2100 and 2400 in any gear. It feels like it's running extremely lean, to the point that the motor begins to die and the ECU gives it a little more fuel to catch up. Again, it does it in any gear but is very pronounced in 4th, 5th, and 6th. Unfortunately, that RPM range is ~75-80mph in my 3.31 geared car, so it does it constantly when cruising on the interstate.

I've taken it to 3 different dealers. The first updated the ECU and the problem persisted. The second dealer knew immediately what I was talking about when I brought it in, had the shop foreman drive it, and told me it was normal operation because Ford runs them lean to assist with fuel mileage. The third dealer reset the ECU and cam sensors and told me it was normal too. When they reset the ECU, it made the problem happen over a wider range, and now it goes all the way down to 1800 rpm.

Now, I'm not a novice. I worked my way through college as a professional mechanic, I have been driving manual trans exclusively for over 20 years (18+ cars) and I am a very avid and serious Mustang drag racer with my '92 coupe. I'm intimately familiar with EFI Mustangs, how they work, and what makes them tick. I know this trait isn't normal. I have driven my coworker's 2012 GT/CS and it doesn't exhibit this trait.

So, do you have a car like mine and does it do this?

 

For what it's worth, the car is presently and has always been stock.

 

My '11 GT/CS 6 sp man 3:55 gears with 11,500 miles runs smooth thru the entire rpm range and always has.

Is this skip so bad as to feel it jerking?

 

I got a 2011 vert.. manual I have over 10,000 miles Being a vert.. it's got the basic rear.. also 3.31 I haven't experienced it at all.. When Take the car up to about 3000rpms between shifts in all gears... 1-2, 2-3, 3-4 Does it actually happen at through all the gears?

 

It does in fact skip so bad that it jerks at cruise, and it only does it in gear under load and not when you free rev it.

 

Get a different dealer and have the on line reps get involved....

 

I've been to three dealers. My patience is wearing thin.

 

What is your dealer saying about it? It's not normal, they should be doing something.

I would suggest PMing Deysha, search screen name FordCustomerService and send VIN, mileage, dealer and your info.

 

Get the regional service writer involved. Don't take no for an answer. Ask to drive one of their other cars on the lot to see if it does it. There's a lot of ways to prove it isnt normal

 

Thank you, Planeswalker!
I'm here to help, cmccarthy. Please PM me with your dealer, mileage, VIN, and contact info so I can escalate this for you and help get it resolved.

Deysha

 

OP, you are correct. That is NOT normal. The dealerships aren't going to make money off the warranty repair and troubleshooting, so they are blowing you off. Deysha will help you get it fixed.

BTW, I've got a 2011 GT with 6m and 3.55's. It has NEVER acted up that way. Not while stock and not in it's current configuration. 12,500+ miles.

 

I would tell them to hook you up with a "flight recorder" it records EVERYTHING while your are driving so that they can analyze it and figure out what is going on.

my dads 2004 F-250 was having issues with the turbo loosing boost so they finally hooked his truck up with a flight recorder and had him drive for a few weeks then they analyzed the data. finally they fixed it after 4 times at the dealership.

 

How about fuel pressure, it honestly sounds like the car starves for fuel a few seconds until an intermittent pump catches up. Not normal, don't take that garbage.