waxx1234

Hello,

recent college grad here, saved up from my first job to buy a 2005 Mustang GT with 54k miles on it. Although it has auto trans I love this thing. Best vehicle I ever drove. But i noticed when i got the car is that it shifts hard. What i mean is when you shift from R to D or D to R it jumps a bit. Also the when moving the shifter sometimes it doesn't click into place properly i gotta give it small nudge. What i mean is Saying I am going from R to N sometimes it would sit somewhere between them or i gotta give it a slight tap for the shifter to set in. But that case is very rare. The Jerk when shifting is more common. Do you guys think it could be due to old Trans Fluid? The 05 doesn't have a dipstick to check the current fluid color. I have to go under and check. Should I take to a trans place or my local dealer and have them check it out? would you guys usually suggest a trans fluid flush and replacement at 54k miles ?

Thanks a lot guys. I love this car. And i take really good care of it. Concerned enough to ask here.

08'MustangDude

They all seem to have that issue when they get older. It ill go into gear fine,
from "P" to "R", then "P" to "D", but when you star fussing with it, going
from "R" to "D", then "D" to "R. yeah, it grabs a little hard. But, go back to
"P" first, before going into any gear, it's fine...

Derf00

It's an 05 with 54K miles? nice!

Most likely the trans fluid has never been touched. On a nearly 15 year old car, that needs to be addressed if it wasn't by the previous owner. If you can't confirm it, have dealer or reputable shop do a fluid flush/exchange. This is NOT the same as a drain and refill. Drain and refill will only get about 1/2 the fluid.

For the Hard shift from D to R and back again, there is a reverse servo in these that is known to be very sensitive to wear and varnishing / gumming up. A fluid flush/exchange will help clear that up.

BTW the manual states the fluid is lifetime (aka 100K+ miles). In the real world that's not true. 30-40K miles is the suggested replacement interval.

08'MustangDude

Then why does it only happen if you are in "D" before going into reverse?
If I go to "P" then "R", it's fine. It only happens when going from gear to
gear, never from park to gear... If the "R" servo was bad, it would do it from
park to reverse ALL the time, and it doesn't. AS long as I go to park first,
all gears engage smoothly.

GT Nate

Maaco might be able to erase the logic that's in the tranny now and reprogram it to produce softer shifts. They do magic there!

Derf00

Could be sticking valves in the valve body then or when changing from the D to R circuit there is a pressure loss that isn't present when going from P to R only. There is a manual piston connected to the trans shift cable on the valve body. As you move the shiftier, it physically moves a piston which changes the fluid paths around as you go through each position. If a piston in the valve body is getting stuck the hard thunk/thump would be from the piston not moving freely and needing a slight build up of pressure to get it to pop free or, there is a the loss in pressure from a bad valve. The loss of pressure would mean a build up enough pressure to engage reverse would be required. When that pressure threshold is met, it pops the related valve instead of being a smooth transition like is programmed.