GT4G4Me

I was wondering if anybody could help me with this problem; About four 3 1/2 years ago, I bought a used Mustang 2000 GT. About a year later, i messed up my clutch on the freeway downshifting from 5th to 3rd gear. I was convinced that I had worn out hte clutch, and that the different in temperature along with the downshifting (from about 70mph) caused the prbolem. So I got my clutch replaced with a King Cobra Clutch. About a year later, same problem. Only this time I was going 40 mph on a street and i downshifted from 3rd to 2nd. The clutch gave out quickly and I heard the clutch break into many pieces in my car. I was convinced again that the problem was that I had previously burned the clutch on different occasions, so it made sense. I got a stock clutch installed on my car, and from that point on, I drove the car fairly conservatively. And guess what, a few days ago (less than a year since the new clutch was installed) my clutch gave out again trying to downshift to 3rd from a 70 mph roll. This is exactly what I did: I was going 70 mph on the freeway, and I clutched all the way, tried to pop it in gear, and slllllowly lifted the clutch (about a third of the way up, before it would actually engage a gear). Now i hear a popping sound, and I noticed that my clutch immediately dropped to the floor (basically got messed up AGAIN...) Because I have a short shifter, I sometimes think that I'm fully in gear when I'm actually not. However, before my clutch got messed up, I never lifted the clutch past half way. My car grinds a lot because it sometimes half engages... and I can't pop it in reverse until I drive a little in a gear or roll the car a bit first. If there's anyone who can tell me what's going on, I would really appreciate it!

I was thinking of just getting a stock shifter again. I don't know if it'll solve my problems though. Any input on this subject would be great!

Miliock

short throw shouldn't do that unless you have the stops adjusted wrong.

I have a stock clutch with 75k miles on it with multiple downshifts like that...it's getting notchy, but still in 1 piece

breakinloose96

I was having the same problem with mine. I drove it kinda hard for about a year after I bought it and one night shifting hard from 2 to 3 I heard what sounded like some kind of spring breaking in drivetrain and put it in shop next day and my brother unbolted tranny and my clutch literally fell out with pressure plate in four peices. NEWay put in king Cobra clutch and surfaced flywheel with new throwout bearing, fork, and pivot stud, but what he told me was that it will happen again until I replace tranny synchros and said it looked like i had been sitting at stop lights with my foot resting on clutch pedal not pushed in but just sitting on the pedal and basically 1/12 engaging the clutch on accident. So my suggestion is get the synchros looked at new flywheel, throw out, clutch, and new adjustable quadrant. Hope this helps

so1o2k3

Sounds like it's time for a transmission rebuild. Or if you have the money, just get a better tranny like the tko500. Although you might be able to get away with fixing just the linkage and synchros, it's probably not worth the labor to do all that and risk it breaking again. Might as well go with something you know won't poop out on you.

kcp1989

try matching your revs. I never let the clutch out while down shifting until I have the revs perfectly matched

GT4G4Me

Thanks for the information guys. My car is at Galpin right now and I'm going to get the clutch replaced along with the flywheel. I was wondering if I should order a new flywheel (like an aluminum Spec Flywheel) or just go with the stock ford flywheel. Obviously I want more power and smoother shifting and revving, but is it worth the 360 bucks (as opposed to the 250 stock replacement). In a year or two, I'm going to replace the tranny with a T-56 6-speed tranny. What's a good long term clutch capable of handling about 500 HP? Thx guys.

00wGT

i just had the same problem with my cluth in my 2000 gt and i replaced it with a king cobra, so i hope it doesnt happen again