I got a Lawyer for us on the Tremec 3650

Hey Guys,


Well I have the same issue that most of you are having.....I had the notchy 1-2 shift at 5000 miles, and replaced it with a new one. 3 days after I got the new one in, it started doing the same thing. Now at 11,000 miles it is totally shot. It grinds no matter if you granny shift or hit it hard. I talked to someone I know at a Ford dealer and he said most likely they wont warranty it and will probably send someone down from Detroit to inspect my car for modifications. But I agree with the fact that if we can get enough people in on this Ford has to do something about it. So I am with you guys 100 % and please let me know who I need to email this letter to and what it should contain. I have been around mustangs for 10 years now and these tremec's are supposed to be stronger the the T5 and T45, after all thats why Ford went to the extent of using the strong transmissions. There should be no reason for a mildly modified mustang to need a TKO. Unless you have heads, cams, or power adder the 3650 should be fine. Anyone with this problem should not be sitting down with this issue. Fixing this problem will not put Ford Motor Company out of bussiness, Ford will take care of that aspect with Tremec Corporation.
 
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My TR3650 is in the shop waiting. Been there two weeks waiting to be took apart. They have three other 3650's ahead of me. I have never had a vehicle in service and had three other vehicles in there for the same problem.........I am trying to find the other owners. There is nothing special about a TREMEC. That is just a acronym for the company name. They own just about all the tranny designs and make them; T56, T45, 3550, 3650, 4050, T5, and some heavy duty truck ones. I think it is a design problem. They build other transmissions that work, but the 3650 just doesn't seem to be up to par. Back to the research. I am pouring over everything about them. Learning things I never knew.
 
The 3650 is my first manual tranny. I have put 37,000 miles on it in the last 13 months and have had no problems. Maybe I am just lucky. I don't give the tranny hell like most would, but I do occasionally get on it. :shrug:

-wjfawb0
 
At least u ford guys dont have bad engines and bad tranmissions. My Z28 is getting ready to recieve its 3rd engine in 1 yr because of piston slap and its 3rd tranny because the syncros keep going bad!! I dont even beat on it that hard!!
 
Start checking the Lemon Law or dealer buy back for that Z28. I am glad this is a sticky thread now. Dewayne, I know your lawyer wants 500, but 100 will get it to federal court, and beyond.


My uncle's C5 has a mysterious appetite for motors, too. He has had two new ones and one rebuild in the two years he has owned it. Most LS-1's I know are still going on, even with hardcore abuse. Seems people with LS-1's and Ford 4.6's that never change the oil, never wash them, abuse them to all hell, are the ones that never have problems. Maybe I shouldn't baby my car anymore.?! I guess they don't care if it breaks, no?
 
Good to report we are at the 100 mark.

My lawyer wants to have a over welming number of complaints.
Mostlawyer dont even wanna touch a issue like this, thank God he is a avid Mustang owner!!!!!!

Keep em coming fellas

Thanks to you all !!!
 
Well, things are starting to make sense. I just bought my first mustang, and its my first manual car. Since i dont have a long list of experience with stangs/manuals, like some of you, i didnt realize the problem i was facing. I just bought an 03 GT Mustang a little over 2 months ago, and it only has 1,500 miles on it. It is 100% stock, I have never raced it or beat it up in any way. But since day one, i have been experiencing the problems everyone has been talking about on this thread. At first, i blew it off as "newbie manual driver error" and as i got better at driving, expected it to go away. I have noticed, after my car sits a long time, like overnight, or the car is cold, the problem seems to be worse than if i have been driving around all day. The 1 - 2 shift is the worst! As im trying to shift, it seems to get caught on something right before it goes into gear, and i have to pull hard to get it to go in. It is as if the shifter is getting caught on something. There have been a few times where i think its in gear but its not and i end up grinding. When you need to make a quick shift so you can get out of the way of another driver, make a turn, or what ever other reason, and you have to strain to get into gear, thats a problem. I delt with the problem thinking it was just me... but this thread has made me realize its a much larger problem, and im behind the campaign 100%. I want to see ford do something about this! Luckly i havnt had it go completely out on me yet, and i hope this issue is resolved before it does!! When you buy a $30,000 sports car, and it has faulty parts from DAY ONE, someone needs to do something about it to correct the problem. Its not like the problem arises after a couple years or a lot of miles, cars are coming from the dealers with this problem. If the dealer i bought my car from was honest with me and told me "sir, just so you know there is a problem with the transmission, so you may have problems shifting, and it might even go out on you" there is no way i would have bought that car. They make you think you are getting a car in perfect condition thats going to drive well, and have no problems, and then you find out that FORD and TREMEC have both acknowedged there is a problem with your car, thats unacceptable!



And as for those of you out there bashing everyone with problems, blaming it on abusing the car, and driving it hard, **** off. There are just as many, if not more, people having this problem that have never abused their car than those who are rough on their car. I would understand your arguement if there were one or two people with this problem, and they were hard on their cars, but when its as widespread of a problem as it is, and you put the blame on the drivers, thats bull****. How can you blame the drivers when FORD and TREMEC have both acknowledged there is a problem. Then there are those of you that are crying because were going to put ford out of business. I think i can make my point in one word....FIRESTONE. If anything was going to put ford out of business, it would have been the firestone problem, with peoples wheels blowing out, causing severe accidents and the deaths of a lot of people. Ford isnt going to go out of business because they put jacked up parts in a mustang and we want them fixed! Oh yeah, and the 'well mine isnt broken so there isnt a problem' idiots. Just because YOU beat the **** out of YOUR car, race it every chance YOU get, have a long list of mods, and then turn around and dismiss an actual problem because YOUR car is fine is rediculous. If everyone had a car like YOU with no problems, this thread wouldnt exist. YOUR car isnt the tell-all/final decision in the matter. YOU think ford should ignore everyone that is having the same problem becase YOU are among the small number that dont have the problem. Consider your self lucky and **** the hell up. If YOU couldnt shift into second, and YOU were experiencing the same problems the rest of us were having, YOU would be on the other side of the fence backing the cause.

Why did god put such ignorant people on the earth!?!?!

Thats all i have to say. My email is on the way!
 
Originally posted by Kobramorder
Seems people with LS-1's and Ford 4.6's that never change the oil, never wash them, abuse them to all hell, are the ones that never have problems. Maybe I shouldn't baby my car anymore.?! I guess they don't care if it breaks, no?

I think you're on to something, in the sense that some of the people who post problems like these are just too sensitive. The vast majority of car owners just go with the flow, but many sports car owners pay more attention to their car and overanalyze its performance. The people who abuse their cars are less paranoid about their cars, and are more like typical car owners.

Two of the funniest things I've seen posted are 'rain gets in the windows when they're down' and 'when I cold-start the car below 40 degrees and immediately rev it up to 5000 rpm it makes a funny noise.' Gee, ya think so?
 
Originally posted by MrStangMan
Well, things are starting to make sense. I just bought my first mustang, and its my first manual car. Since i dont have a long list of experience with stangs/manuals, like some of you, i didnt realize the problem i was facing. I just bought an 03 GT Mustang a little over 2 months ago, and it only has 1,500 miles on it. It is 100% stock, I have never raced it or beat it up in any way. But since day one, i have been experiencing the problems everyone has been talking about on this thread. At first, i blew it off as "newbie manual driver error" and as i got better at driving, expected it to go away. I have noticed, after my car sits a long time, like overnight, or the car is cold, the problem seems to be worse than if i have been driving around all day. The 1 - 2 shift is the worst! As im trying to shift, it seems to get caught on something right before it goes into gear, and i have to pull hard to get it to go in. It is as if the shifter is getting caught on something. There have been a few times where i think its in gear but its not and i end up grinding. When you need to make a quick shift so you can get out of the way of another driver, make a turn, or what ever other reason, and you have to strain to get into gear, thats a problem. I delt with the problem thinking it was just me... but this thread has made me realize its a much larger problem, and im behind the campaign 100%. I want to see ford do something about this! Luckly i havnt had it go completely out on me yet, and i hope this issue is resolved before it does!! When you buy a $30,000 sports car, and it has faulty parts from DAY ONE, someone needs to do something about it to correct the problem. Its not like the problem arises after a couple years or a lot of miles, cars are coming from the dealers with this problem. If the dealer i bought my car from was honest with me and told me "sir, just so you know there is a problem with the transmission, so you may have problems shifting, and it might even go out on you" there is no way i would have bought that car. They make you think you are getting a car in perfect condition thats going to drive well, and have no problems, and then you find out that FORD and TREMEC have both acknowedged there is a problem with your car, thats unacceptable!



And as for those of you out there bashing everyone with problems, blaming it on abusing the car, and driving it hard, **** off. There are just as many, if not more, people having this problem that have never abused their car than those who are rough on their car. I would understand your arguement if there were one or two people with this problem, and they were hard on their cars, but when its as widespread of a problem as it is, and you put the blame on the drivers, thats bull****. How can you blame the drivers when FORD and TREMEC have both acknowledged there is a problem. Then there are those of you that are crying because were going to put ford out of business. I think i can make my point in one word....FIRESTONE. If anything was going to put ford out of business, it would have been the firestone problem, with peoples wheels blowing out, causing severe accidents and the deaths of a lot of people. Ford isnt going to go out of business because they put jacked up parts in a mustang and we want them fixed! Oh yeah, and the 'well mine isnt broken so there isnt a problem' idiots. Just because YOU beat the **** out of YOUR car, race it every chance YOU get, have a long list of mods, and then turn around and dismiss an actual problem because YOUR car is fine is rediculous. If everyone had a car like YOU with no problems, this thread wouldnt exist. YOUR car isnt the tell-all/final decision in the matter. YOU think ford should ignore everyone that is having the same problem becase YOU are among the small number that dont have the problem. Consider your self lucky and **** the hell up. If YOU couldnt shift into second, and YOU were experiencing the same problems the rest of us were having, YOU would be on the other side of the fence backing the cause.

Why did god put such ignorant people on the earth!?!?!

Thats all i have to say. My email is on the way!

Gee, with all those bytes, you could have posted something valuable, like a lesb!an Photoshop of Mary Kate and Ashley.

Firestone is a good example. Let me see, people buy a top-heavy, glass-laden econobox that (to me) looks like it ought to tip over in 20mph wind. Then people run the tires at 15psi while they hurtle down I-10 blabbling on their cell phones at 80MPH. Yup, that is a great analogy to the people who speed-shift a transmission with a 3.38:1 first-gear ratio on a cold morning.

Seriously, would you prefer a more durable trans? It will have a slower (numerically lower) first gear. It will be heavier. The car will be slower. I will take my stock thirteens and deal with the 3 or 4 crunches I've had in 15,000 miles.

I realize this trans has a tendency to crunch, I am just trying to play the white devil's advocate.
 
ChuddaWuddaShudda, your ignorant point of view is exactly the type we dont need...

Firestone is a good example. Let me see, people buy a top-heavy, glass-laden econobox that (to me) looks like it ought to tip over in 20mph wind. Then people run the tires at 15psi while they hurtle down I-10 blabbling on their cell phones at 80MPH. Yup, that is a great analogy to the people who speed-shift a transmission with a 3.38:1 first-gear ratio on a cold morning.

you say SPEED SHIFTING, well, for your info, i dont SPEED SHIFT on a -20 degree morning when there is ICE on the road....

i dont speed shift when anytime i'm driving around casualy for that matter

my point is, the grind happens under NORMAL driving conditions, with NORMAL SHIFTING. even when i try to shift EXTRA slow to prevent the grind, it still ginds like a mother and feels like my tranny is gonna fall out.

like the other guy said, comments that call everyone with the problem idiots, arent wanted. you simply have a tranny that doesnt exhibit the grind to the extent that ours do.
 
MRStangMan has stated many of the same problems I had when I first picked up my car. Blaming the poor tranny performance on myself, trying not to believe that my brand new car's tranny was actually broken, and then even after my first 3650 was replaced by the dealership at 200 miles living in disbelief when the replacement tranny started acting the same way. Glad to see another unsatisfied customer signing up. I really hope we get some action before this tranny blows as well.
 
same issues.. sent in my info aswell.. i was told by the dealer tranny is fine.. and my friends that i just suck driving LHD cars (I'm Australian.. been driving RHD cars all my life)... glad to see i am not the only one with these issues.. and really hope something can be done about it..
 
Originally posted by radrb8
Having owned probably 15 different manual tranny vehicles, I must agree they all are finicky and require skill. If you mistreat them, ie... a few times down the track, you're gonna have problems. Perhaps you are finding that the emails aren't coming as fast because those that have problems are not that big in numbers, they just complain loudly(as some should). Good luck, but I doubt Ford bends over for you.

I agree. Fortunately I my trans has acted very well compared to some of the stories on this thread.

Just to let you guys know, Stangnet has a sort of "Reputation" on other mustang related forums. I copied this from a post on another mustang message board. I am not saying I totally agree with it, but this is the attitude Ford might take with any attempts at class action suits.


"Those Stangnet boys (and girls) are some serious drag racing MoFo's. No tranny is going to hold up to side-stepping the clutch at 6500 RPM's from a dead stop and power shifting every gear at redline repeatedly using NOS, T/C's, S/C's etc.
I didn't buy my Mach to mod and hammer the snot out of it at the race track. If I wanted that kind of car, I would have bought a $2500 used 5.0 Mustang and modded it.
Sure, I've wound out 1st gear and done a really solid chirp in second and third gear once in a while, but if you're going to do serious, constant, hard drag racing like the Stangnet bunch, figure on replacing / rebuilding your trans every 10,000 miles. Sorry, but if you're gonna play, you gotta pay.
I'm not saying that there are no issues with the 3650, but so far, most people that drive their cars REASONABLY haven't had many problems."

GiddyUp!


:nice:
 
My car is doing the same. It has an occasional grind from 1st to 2nd and has had the dang squeaky throwout bearing for thousands of miles now. No problems with 3rd yet thank God. My last car, (98 accord), I drove the same as I do my mustang and it lasted 90000 miles with no problems. One of my friends just got rid of his 2000 gt because of his transmission and I dont even think he had a 3650, which was suppose to be better than previous mustang trannys. How can Ford stay in business selling this crap!!! My list of problems is longer than any EULA that I have seen. Ill be sending an email.
:mad:
 
Originally posted by Blk01gt_
ChuddaWuddaShudda, your ignorant point of view is exactly the type we dont need...

Firestone is a good example. Let me see, people buy a top-heavy, glass-laden econobox that (to me) looks like it ought to tip over in 20mph wind. Then people run the tires at 15psi while they hurtle down I-10 blabbling on their cell phones at 80MPH. Yup, that is a great analogy to the people who speed-shift a transmission with a 3.38:1 first-gear ratio on a cold morning.

you say SPEED SHIFTING, well, for your info, i dont SPEED SHIFT on a -20 degree morning when there is ICE on the road....

i dont speed shift when anytime i'm driving around casualy for that matter

my point is, the grind happens under NORMAL driving conditions, with NORMAL SHIFTING. even when i try to shift EXTRA slow to prevent the grind, it still ginds like a mother and feels like my tranny is gonna fall out.

like the other guy said, comments that call everyone with the problem idiots, arent wanted. you simply have a tranny that doesnt exhibit the grind to the extent that ours do.

OK, some of the 3650s are just defective. I will admit that. My disagreement is more with the people who say things like, "Ford should put the T56 in every V8 Mustang." That's an ignorant statement, not just b/c of cost, but b/c of the valid performance-based argument I made in my post.

I'm not calling anybody an idiot, but I do think the Firestone thing was blown way out-of-proportion, and is primarily an example of "user error." Associating one's self with the Firestone problem is not a good way for someone with the 3650 problem to make his point.

Believe me, the few times my 3650 has crunched my state of mind was no different from yours. But my post (which was half kidding anyway) is based on my overall experience over many street and race shifts.

And I think the post I was quoting is just a rant! I guess it beats kicking the dog, though.