Hi all,

Last week, one of my dreams came true: I now own my very first Mustang (at age 43). It's a 2007 GT California Special with 17,000 miles. I love it so far!

Being a total newbie to owning a Mustang, as well as a total newbie to owning a manual transmission vehicle, I have a question for you guys: is it normal to hear a "clanking" noise while shifting? I test drove a new Mustang a couple weeks ago with a 3.55 in it and of course I wasn't all that smooth at shifting it. When I test drove this 2007, a similar experience. You know, just trying to get the feel and pedal work down, not "hitting" the timing quite right during shifting. But now that I've put a few miles on it, I'm realizing that I can't really shift from 1 through 3 without this clunking noise happening. When I go from 3 to 4 and 4 to 5, I can get those pretty smoothly and noise-free. Sometimes I can get the earlier gears without the noise, but it's when I'm driving fairly aggressively: fast acceleration, running the rpms up quite a bit before shifting. Is this normal? I just want to get a feeling for whether I should take it to a shop and have them check it out or not. I bought it from a respectable dealer who of course said everything was fine. On top of the remaining manufacturer's warranty, they also warranty the drive train for 30 days, so I'm not really worried about anything yet. Maybe it is still a case of me not knowing how to drive it properly! Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks!

 

Congradulations on your first mustang! These cars clunk like crazy when shifting and the noises can come from a variety of sources. I was searching for a clunk in my car for months before I finally found out that my exhaust hanger on my transmission cross member was loose and it was clanging back and forth on every shift. People also have issues with the stock upper control arm making clunking noises after a lot of use on the car. Noises like these are really hard to track b/c they transmit through the entire car and its hard to tell the exact area where they are coming from. You can also check the driveshaft for any slop to see if your U-joints are worn out. It could also be coming from another source, but I would check those first. Good luck!

 

i would have someone drive it for you,
who's been driving manuals for years
and see what they have to say about the
clanking.

someone with experience should be able
to tell pretty quickly if something is
not right.

 

I had more of a "clunking" sound when shifting from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd.

I determined it was probably the extra u-joint in the heavy 2-piece driveshaft that Ford uses. I installed a Steeda one-piece aluminum driveshaft and the clunking disappeared.

 

Welcome to the world of muscle cars.

Yeah, these are not BMWs.

In my experience, your transmission is normal. There seems to be pretty loose tolerances in the drive-train. Once you get everything lined up in one direction, shifting becomes normal. But when you decide to start shifting in the other direction it has to re-align all over again. Clunk, clunk.

I've owned a lot of Camaros and a few Mustangs in my day. They were all the same. My wife used to own a manual VW back in the day and she's always talking about my inability to shift gears as well as she could.
I usually slip the clutch a bit when she's with me. LOL.

Cheers..

 

Thanks everyone for all the replies and advice!

Worn u-joints or an issue with the heavy driveshaft might make sense. It seems like it does it at low, slow and easy speeds and shifts. Even when trying to back up or slowly maneuver a parking lot, I'll hear it when I'm going on and off the gas. A lot of this just could be me trying to get used to the car.

A friend of mine who has owned plenty of cars in his lifetime drove it and and didn't say anything about it. Seems like when he was driving, the shifting went a bit more smoothly. Maybe I just need practice.

I'll keep pondering it and if it seems like a problem I might have it looked at just to be sure the U-joints aren't in need of repair. With 17,000 miles that would surprise me, but you never know, I guess. Even thought the dealer supposedly gave it a "multi-point inspection" I suppose that could be something they missed. Maybe the Steeda driveshaft would be an instant fix, but dang, that's $700 I didn't plan on spending I'll just turn the stereo up loud to drown it out!

I'll have to post some pics. This car looks brand new inside and out! I love the CS package and it has everything I wanted in a Mustang!