So I have a few bolt ons, tune, exhaust, and a short throw shifter, all the usual stuff, and last friday I was at the drag strip and when I tried to shift from 2nd to 3rd gear, the shifter wouldn't go into 3rd. At first I thought it was me just sucking at driving, but it happened again the next two times down. So I went down again, but this time I didnt burnout, or launch, I just focused the entire run on getting it into 3rd gear and it still wouldnt work.
The car will go into third gear totally fine when I am driving normally, but with full throttle the car completely refuses to go into gear.
Does anyone have any idea of what the problem could be??

 

I'm listening on this one as well. I made 2 passes fine, however on the 3rd pass had to fight the car into 2nd haha. I'm glad the guy beside me jumped before the green light so I just took my time. Fought for quite a few seconds trying to get into second.

 

Unless your clutch is going out (which doesn't sound like it) you might look into replacing the plastic factory quadrant with a billet aluminum piece (the factory one can flex under hard use and cause the problem you're having), new clutch cable (most people say OEM is preferred over aftermarket for this) and maybe add a firewall cable adjuster.

 

Its definitely not the clutch. I just got a new one a month ago.

 

Did this happen with your old clutch? Maybe the new one isn't adjusted right. Worn syncros can cause this problem too, but worn syncros will usually manifest in crunching when going into gear under hard acceleration before not allowing the shifter into gear at all.

I have missed a few shifts before and it was my problem every time. What kind of shifter are you running? Are you powershifting?

 

It's the steeda short throw shifter, and I wasnt completely powershifting, but I wasnt going off the gas all the way either

 

See if shifting at 5200 is the magic number for shifting into third. If it does go into gear with ease then it's your synchros. you can try a quadrant but it will be hit or mis.

 

Yup sounds like a syncro. My t45 is showing signs of wear, but nothing that needs to be replaced yet. Im just counting down the days till it takes a poop so I can get a t56 lol.

 

i seem to remember this bieng a known problem with the wonderful trannys that ford put in these cars (mainly the 3650). they hate shifting into third while racing, mine is the exact same way. first to second you can hammer it, but when you go to third you can't just ram the stick forward like your activating vtec. be firm but not stupid fast with your shift when going into third

 

Unlike what most people think, the T45 and the 3650 are both very good transmissions.