03Machwon

Hey guys. Ive just recently purchased a 2003 Mach1. I had a 1999 GT for about 5 years and drove it regularly, and ive noticed a pretty distinct difference in the feel of the trans. If anyone can help me just distinguish between what is normal and what is not I would greatly appreciate it. I searched for related threads but didnt find anything exact, so sorry if some things may have been covered.

1. A slight sound of vibration almost like clutch chatter while car is in nuetral and clutch pedal is not pressed.
2. Low rpm chatter. I had experienced this with my GT with a spec stage 2 but was kinda expecting it. Is it normal with stock t3650?
3. High RPM quick shift into second grinds. May be driver error as I am very new to the car and clutch engages very low in pedal. No grinding into gear otherwise. And is there a self adjuster for the clutch in a t3650 trans? Never had this occur with T-5 in GT.

Ive seen that these trans's seem to be very noisey, and I just am trying to get a read as to whether or not im looking at a serious issue or just normal noises. Oh and forgot to mention 47k miles on car. Thanks guys, sorry this was so lengthy.

cliffyk

Clutch chatter is unrelated to the transmission, however the 3650 can be a bit noisy in neutral at idle. Mine was when I got it at 30k miles and still is at 135k--no worse, just a bit of bearing and gear noise (reverse is constant mesh).

At 47k miles the transmission fluid has likely never been changed, meaning it is overfilled by 0.8 L. They came from the factory with 3.8 L, however due to the shifting problem you describe the recommended fill was reduced to 3.0 L. I have had best performance with Mobil 1 ATF.

Read this TSB for more information.

Clutch adjustment is covered in the user's manual, you can download one from Ford here; also here is a good article describing the semi-automatic process and how to manually tweak the setting.

03Machwon

Thank you. I did read from a Tremec forum about the Mobil 1 atf and have since bought that and rear diff fluid, no problem with diff but i dont like going over 35k on either so its time either way. I did have to mention the possibility of driver error but I really DONT think i miss shifted. Thanks for your response, I appreciate your input.

03Machwon

Thanks for the adjustment article i did the standard adjustment before but like the writer in the article stated " it makes the engagement point annoyingly close to the floor". Ill try the other and see how it works.

cliffyk

The very best, and inexpensive, mod I have ever done on my '03 GT was to replace the stock plastic cable quadrant and monkey motion adjuster with an aluminum quadrant and firewall adjuster.

I got mine from UPR over 5 years ago now, their triple-hook quadrant and quick-click adjuster; I used the original stock cable.

A year ago, after 100k+ miles the cable broke due to excessive stress applied where it was contacting the "first" hook on the quadrant--this because the leading edge of that hook had a sharp 90° edge that concentrated stress on the cable:



I radiused that edge before replacing the cable to prevent it from happening again:

03Machwon

Cliff you rock!! Thanks again, did the trans and rear diff fluid with mobile 1. drove the car for about 20 mins before getting to a red light that i could launch from, smashed 2nd gear and... No grind!!! Seems to be alot quieter and smoother as well. Still hoping I dont need to do the rebuild, but all is good for now

cliffyk

You didn't put M1 ATF in the differential did you?

If so drain it out ASAP and refill with 75W-140 gear oil, and 4 oz. of friction modifier if the manufacturer of the gear oil does not explicitly state that it is not needed...

03Machwon

lol no no. 75-140 royal purple with friction mod. Sorry i put that together like that.

cliffyk

Cool--You had me quite concerned for a while there...