Mach 1 Shake After Letting Off Gas, Slack In Drivetrain.
12-06-2016, 10:10 PM
#1
Mach 1 Shake After Letting Off Gas, Slack In Drivetrain.
Hey guys!
I wanted to get some feedback on some possible causes and fixes for some problems I am having with my 2003 Mach 1.
1. When I let off the gas, 75% of the time the whole front end starts shaking and it almost feels like its causing deceleration when off the gas (More than just losing momentum).
2. Ton of slack and play in the drivetrain. When I let off the gas, or get on it, if I'm not EXTREMELY gentle with it it causes a huge thunk and feels like its almost slamming into gear in a way. We got the car checked out a while back for this, and the mechanic saw that there was a ton of play in the driveshaft. He basically told us to just not worry about it unless it breaks so we never ended up getting it fixed, but now its a lot worse. Sometimes it even feels like its bouncing back and forth.
3. Squeaking noise when the clutch is fully released at idle. I think this could be the throwout bearing, but correct me if I'm wrong. We just got a brand new clutch about 5k miles ago, but whenever I push in the clutch it almost feels like its grinding all the way down until its fully depressed. Sometimes its worse than others. Also when the car is at idle theres a super loud squeaking sound that comes from the front of the car. I thought it was a belt at first but I think it might be the throwout bearing, which is weird because that should of been replaced with the new clutch kit.
Please let me know any causes and solutions any of you have for these problems! Thank you!
I wanted to get some feedback on some possible causes and fixes for some problems I am having with my 2003 Mach 1.
1. When I let off the gas, 75% of the time the whole front end starts shaking and it almost feels like its causing deceleration when off the gas (More than just losing momentum).
2. Ton of slack and play in the drivetrain. When I let off the gas, or get on it, if I'm not EXTREMELY gentle with it it causes a huge thunk and feels like its almost slamming into gear in a way. We got the car checked out a while back for this, and the mechanic saw that there was a ton of play in the driveshaft. He basically told us to just not worry about it unless it breaks so we never ended up getting it fixed, but now its a lot worse. Sometimes it even feels like its bouncing back and forth.
3. Squeaking noise when the clutch is fully released at idle. I think this could be the throwout bearing, but correct me if I'm wrong. We just got a brand new clutch about 5k miles ago, but whenever I push in the clutch it almost feels like its grinding all the way down until its fully depressed. Sometimes its worse than others. Also when the car is at idle theres a super loud squeaking sound that comes from the front of the car. I thought it was a belt at first but I think it might be the throwout bearing, which is weird because that should of been replaced with the new clutch kit.
Please let me know any causes and solutions any of you have for these problems! Thank you!
12-07-2016, 10:35 AM
#2
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SoCal
Posts: 1,826
1) Not sure, probably related to answer #2.
2) "Slack in drivetrain".... FIRST thing I would look at is driveshaft u-joints. Probably have a bad one there. Also should take a look at transmission mount (usually called crossmember) and engine mounts.
3) Very likely bad throwout bearing. Non-oem units for whatever reason are known for premature failure. I've heard of them failing within the first 500 miles on the very extreme end. There may be some cable adjustment you can do to get rid of the noise, it is also possible that the bearing has either not enough or too much preload. That grinding you feel in the pedal suggests the bearing is in the process of failing though.
Just to muddy up the water a little bit... Common wisdom is to replace the TOB with only an oem Ford (or FRPP if buying from one of the usual Mustang aftermarket retailers) and never use the one supplied with your aftermarket clutch kit. My own personal experience varies from this - my last clutch was a Spec stage 1 and I used all of the supplied bearings. Ran that clutch for about 7 years, no bearing issues (contrary to many other user experiences with the same clutch as having premature bearing failure). Recently installed an Exedy Mach 400 (stage 2) and bought FRPP pilot and throwout bearings to use with it, figured I just got lucky with the Spec stuff from earlier. When I stood the Exedy supplied tob and the FRPP tob side by side for comparison, they appear to be the exact same bearing made by the exact same manufacturer. Same markings (part numbers), everything. Both boxes stated "made in China". My judgement is they both look and quack like ducks, therefore they both must be ducks. The only discernable difference between the two was the boxes they came in.
Are the bearings supplied by other manufacturers different or of lesser quality? I dunno. But it looks like Exedy and Ford use the same ones.
2) "Slack in drivetrain".... FIRST thing I would look at is driveshaft u-joints. Probably have a bad one there. Also should take a look at transmission mount (usually called crossmember) and engine mounts.
3) Very likely bad throwout bearing. Non-oem units for whatever reason are known for premature failure. I've heard of them failing within the first 500 miles on the very extreme end. There may be some cable adjustment you can do to get rid of the noise, it is also possible that the bearing has either not enough or too much preload. That grinding you feel in the pedal suggests the bearing is in the process of failing though.
Just to muddy up the water a little bit... Common wisdom is to replace the TOB with only an oem Ford (or FRPP if buying from one of the usual Mustang aftermarket retailers) and never use the one supplied with your aftermarket clutch kit. My own personal experience varies from this - my last clutch was a Spec stage 1 and I used all of the supplied bearings. Ran that clutch for about 7 years, no bearing issues (contrary to many other user experiences with the same clutch as having premature bearing failure). Recently installed an Exedy Mach 400 (stage 2) and bought FRPP pilot and throwout bearings to use with it, figured I just got lucky with the Spec stuff from earlier. When I stood the Exedy supplied tob and the FRPP tob side by side for comparison, they appear to be the exact same bearing made by the exact same manufacturer. Same markings (part numbers), everything. Both boxes stated "made in China". My judgement is they both look and quack like ducks, therefore they both must be ducks. The only discernable difference between the two was the boxes they came in.
Are the bearings supplied by other manufacturers different or of lesser quality? I dunno. But it looks like Exedy and Ford use the same ones.
12-07-2016, 06:08 PM
#3
Thank you so much for the info man! Ill definitely check out the U-joints, crossmember and engine mounts. And yeah, the throwout bearing came with the aftermarket clutch so you are most likely correct! Thanks again for the info. Im gonna talk to my dad about this and see what we can do!
