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BLUF: I can't always shift into second gear and I'm not sure what to do.
Long form:
Maybe my searching isn't as on target as it could be, but I haven't found anything useful about the issue I'm having.
Occasionally, I can't shift into second gear. I can't reliably get this to happen, but it seems to happen mostly if I coast in neutral with the clutch out. When the transmission decides it's not going into second, I can't force it to, no matter how hard I jam on the shift ****.
On the occasion that this happens, I have tried double clutching and it still wont go into second. If I think fast enough, when second is locked out, if I go into another gear (without letting out the clutch in that gear...) I can then go into second.
It's so intermittent that I can't pin down much except that not being able to go into second gear will REALLY let you know...like trying to slide through an advanced left turn at the last second and not being able to accelerate to get out of the way.
What I know about the car is kind of limited...I bought it used, having been told that it was a stock vehicle. I since have found out it's lowered, Koni dampers, MBRP exhaust, and a J&M adjustable rear axle locating bar, so someone put some money into this thing at one point.
The shifter appears to be aftermarket; as far as I can tell, it's a Steeda Tri-Ax (pix further on) but I'm not sure.
You may be able to see on the attached picture, but when I pulled out the center console trim to take a look at the shifter, there is a TON of metal shavings...maybe part of the issue?
I don't know what fluid is in the transmission, but I haven't found any other people mentioning this issue in a forum or Google search, so I'm not sure if changing fluid would be an issue, but since it's a complete unknown at this time, I'm leaning towards a fluid change to the Ford recommended fluid.
Is there something, like a common problem, I'm missing here?
I don't race this thing, but my wife drives it when I have to deadline her Jeep for work and not being able to get in to second as needed could wind up being a huge deal for her...or me!
Old thread but it could be the skip-shift feature on the manual transmissions to improve gas mileage, the transmission will lock out 2nd or 3rd gear when upshifting under moderate to heavy acceleration to improve gas mileage or if the RPM's are considered too high for "efficiency". Unfortunately this has the side effect of confusing the driver.
There's a sensor on the side of the tranny that if you disconnect it, it will disable this lockout/skip shift feature. A tune will also disable it.
I should have mentioned that I have the sensor on the side of the transmission pulled to disable the lockout feature on this vehicle; it didn't occur to me at the time.
Looking back on what I had originally posted, I also should have mentioned that this mostly seems to happen when downshifting, like when going around a corner.
I removed the shifter to inspect and found that the little grub screw that holds a retaining pin in was backed almost all the way out. When I put it together, I snugged the grub screw down and, so far, have not had this lockout problem, so maybe it was allowing some slop that created binding? I haven't driven it enough to call it 100% solved, but for the past week it's been working properly. I haven't been driving it too much since pulling the shifter though, so I'll have to wait and see if the problem stays away or not.
I've seen shift issues from bad shifter bushings and loose nut/bolts before so a loose grub screw that is/was most likely the cause. Most people end up doing away completely with the stock shifter for the bushing issues. Too soft and you get binding so the aftermarket ones with a poly bushing reduce the slop significantly and tighten things up. The grub screw specifically is not one I see/hear of very often. Mainly bushing.
Add a CAGS skip shift wiring harness. That will prevent lock out. They are like $25. Also, the best shifter out there is a Barton Shifter. They are expensive but well worth the money!!!
09-16-2017, 11:46 PM
6 speed help (intermittent 2nd lockout)
