2013 Mustang :: Potential transmission problem
 

I'm the owner of a 2013 V6 Mustang with 7,600 miles -- purchased new this time last July. I've really enjoyed the car and had minimal issues. But I'm beginning to get concerned. I've had some of the shifting issues that others have noted, but believe my problem may be more serious.

INTERMITTENT ISSUES
One of my sources of frustration is that all of the problems described below are intermittent. It's as if this car has good days and bad days with symptoms that emerge and disappear -- sometimes for weeks at a time. This is likely going to present challenges with the dealership -- a conflict that I'm anticipating.

SHIFTING
I sometimes have difficulty shifting from first to second gear. Gears may not perfectly mesh and I get what I believe many refer to as "notching." This is more prevalent at lower speeds and lower RPMs. If I really wind it up, it occurs very rarely. Many days and even some entire weeks I don't have this problem at all. And then one day it is there all day or for an entire driving session. There's no other pattern such as how long I've been driving, temperature, etc.

THINGS THAT GO BUMP
This only happens when I'm idling and it can occur either in gear or in neutral. I feel a bump and shuddering of the car that is very abrupt and short. It's difficult to describe. It's almost like voltage changing in a window A/C unit. There's a slight twitch of the tach, but no increase or decrease in idle. But the overall pitch of the engine noise seems to change afterwards -- like it graduates to another level. Sometimes I'll get 3 or 4 of these bumps when I'm sitting at a light. And sometimes it goes away for a week or more. It seems to be coming from the middle of the car or just right and slightly forward. I can feel it in the shifter. It doesn't seem to cause any performance problems, but it isn't right and a new car shouldn't be operating this way. Today, it was the worst it has ever been. I mentioned to the dealer once before and they looked (or feigned) perplexity and told me to use better gas. Nothing less than 93 has ever gone in this vehicle.

I know I need to get this into the dealer pronto. But I would appreciate any comments about what might be going on. Sounds like it could be a serious transmission issue to me.

Also, if it can't be reproduced at the dealership, would appreciate any advice on handling with the dealer. I think I'm going to need to document with an iPhone video. I haven't been able to catch this happening with the hood up or under the car, but I think I'll need to.

Thanks in advance for your attention and replies.

Hi tcfx17,

Welcome to the forum! My name is Deysha with Ford Service. I’d like to get this escalated to the customer service manager for your area. Please PM me with your VIN, dealer, full name, mileage, and best daytime number so I can help.

Deysha

im haveing the same issue with my 2013 mustang Gt everything you described is happening to me and i took it to the dealership and they have no idea what it is so they told me to drive it for another week and if it gets worse to bring it back. its to the point know that i am having a hard time to pull out with out it jerking until i get into 3-4k rpm. my car has only 12K on it and like you said it shouldn't be acting this way. this is the reason why i bought a brand new car is so i wouldn't have to worry about it messing up on me. im going to be going to another dealership Monday and have a second opinion on it.

That's normal when your getting hard on the car. It's because of the poor design Ford used in the transmission the piece in there is plastic and shifts around due to the cars torque. Take it into the dealer and see what they say but I am pretty sure they will not find anything.

The fix for this is an after market MGW shifter. You will be able to slam the piss out of the transmission under heavy load without any issues once one of those bad boys go in and the stock junk comes out.

I think I know the little bump you speak of too. My GT will have a little shake now and then when idle. If that's what it is then yeah its nothing to worry about. If its some loud clunk then I would worry.

Same for you MGW shifter they won't find anything wrong with it. Even if they replace it you will have the same issue.

This topic literately comes up on these forms at least once a week :D

http://www.mgwltd.com/

its has got worse. im going to see if i can take a video of it. but im going to the dealer ship and leaving my car because its unsafe for me to drive

Not really unsafe, it is justan annoying problem, yes take it in and have it diagnosed/fixed, but unsafe would be it locking up and jamming the car to a stop.

Most of the time you can simply skip 2nd and go right to 3rd.

I've experienced "the things that go bump" in mine. I normally idle around 700 RPM, occasionally when i come to a stop or if I'm sitting for a long time i feel the shudder and the RPM drop to about 5.5 hundred

Mine is a 2014 with 6K miles. This pretty much occurs all the time when running the air. occasionally when not. I'm not really to worried about it right now, it really feels like something is kicking on. If it gets worse I'll have it looked at.

What I'm more concerned with is the piss poor gas mileage i get 19-22 MPG. It may have something to do with it but don't know yet. I've complained to the dealer and got the standard response "If it isn't throwing a code..."

**edited to updated the RPM, yeah i looked stupid**

I feel bad for you '13-14 owners. Normally its the first two years of a new engine/trans ('11-12) that have the issues but it seems its the newer cars having the problems.

Matthew