Tanner05

I dropped my car off at the dealership for transmission work again. Lately, it's been hard to get out of 1st, hard to get in 3rd and 5th. And it has been popping out of 5th when I decelerate. Its been so bad its nearly impossible to drive.

The dealership called today and said they think its the clutch. Do these issues sound like the clutch to you? I know the clutch could stand to be replaced, but I didn't think a bad clutch caused grinding gears.

Question two: If it is the clutch, it is not covered by my warranty, so what would you guys recommend replacing it with? Would you go aftermarket or stock?

Thanks for the input.

kevinmalec

Well, as you may already know, I had issues with my clutch pedal having a dead spot at the top. I pressed down on the clutch and did not feel any pressure until about 1/4 way down. With the clutch pressed to the floor, I was having major issues getting my shifter into any gear! It ended up being the Slave Cylinder/Throwout bearing went bad, which is inside the clutch system. The shop had to replace out practically everything, except for the master cylinder. I went with the Ford OEM, since the sport clutch was $400 more. My wife couldn't justify the extra $400, since I am not planning on going F/I with it.
Hope you get everything figured out soon!! Not fun!!

Tanner05

Yeah its not fun at all.
Right now I'm getting the parts for the 3650 swap. The dealership would not listen to anything we said and didn't want to take the transmission apart to find the problem. So I have my car back with nothing fixed...

Its all good though. That GT tranny is going to make it worth it.

kevinmalec

Sorry to hear that.....Who is doing the tranny swap?
I had to go back to the shop this morning due to my rear brake lights not working. I was on my way to work this morning and a lady that was behind me, speeds up beside me and tells me that my brake lights aren't working. I took it back to the shop and it turns out, the mechanic did not fully insert the sensor connection after he finished installing the clutch. It was an honest mistake and he fixed within a matter of minutes and apologized. =-)

The cool thing is, several guys that work at the shop, (including the mechanic that worked on my car) are Mustang enthusiasts. The mechanic has a 99' Mach 1 that he rebuilt from the ground up and it is pushing close to 550 HP. They are all interested in coming out to our Ford car/truck show in July. =-)

Good luck with everything and keep me posted!

Old Mustanger

If it on your dime (not covered under warranty) I would get a second opinion from a good trans shop. Good diagnostic work is a lost art, many, if not most mechanics suck at it.

Going into gear hard or shifting hard could be the clutch assembly it's self or the slave cylinder or the master cylinder or just low fluid or contaminated fluid, maybe even just some air in the system.

Jumping out of gear is usually a bent shift fork or your shifter is not allowing the gear to be fully engaged. ie: shifter needing adjustment or worn bushings in the shifter.

Tanner05

Kevin, my husband and I are going to put it in. I'm just a little irritated that I bought the extended warranty and it turns out that we will be replacing everything ourselves. I thought this shop would be a good one. They had four cobra jets in the garage (its a Ford Dealer) one was a '69, '10, '11, and I'm not sure the year of the 4th, but it was a classic. They talked like they knew what they were doing, so I'm a little disappointed.

Old Mustanger, thank you for your input. This swap will be coming out of pocket, but I've been planning on doing it for about a year now. Now seems like the perfect time to go ahead and get it done.

Old Mustanger

Excellent, just make sure it is installed correctly. Personally I would not trust the dealers around here, extremely high cost and poor labor quality.
What kinda clutch are you going with?

2005Redfire6

Poor Tanner... Extended warranties are usually a scam/rip-off I've read an article on them...


Kevin, $400 more for a "Sport" clutch? How much was the OEM one? You could have gotten a SPEC Stage 1 for $370 I believe, I would imagine OEM wasn't that far off!

kevinmalec

I've read negative things about the extended warranties as well.

Well, due to my slave cylinder going out, they had to replace pretty much everything, except for the master cylinder. Majority of the cost ($899) was for the Ford OEM parts (Slave cylinder, throwout bearing, pressure plate, seals, flywheel, bolts, fluid and etc,). The total bill was $1,375.00. The sport clutch would have been $1,700+ and my Wife wouldn't approve. LOL

kevinmalec

Very cool! That will be a fun project for the both of you to tackle. ;-)
Sorry to hear about your dissapointment with the dealership. I've heard nightmare stories about Ford dealerships. I do take mine to the dealership for oil changes/tire rotation, since it was part of the package deal when I purchased my car.