Silver_'02_4.6 said:
Cudda-Transmission not a maintenance item, so I should never have to change fluid then right?
You still apparently don't understand percentages and my calculations. 250 people reported problems to Dewayne, that is 0.4% of all owners-meaning 99.6% owners don't have a problem to report. This means that 99.6% or roughly 59,000 manual GT owners could have posted positive and neutral experiences here and we would still have just 0.4% of owners reporting the same transmission problem. 0.4% is based upon the 250 reports to Dewayne of a grinding trans, which is the real minimum percentage of GT owners reporting a similar tranny problem here.
I understand your numbers, I just don't think that 0.4% of people having trouble with a particular manual transmission means anything. Now we all know the real number is higher (not everyone uses StangNet), but because of the censorship that's happened here we will never know how high.
Silver_'02_4.6 said:
Why do you think your fix is number one? According to Ford, my car is normal, so they don’t believe there is any validity to your hype fix. Is your service manual a Ford manual?
When I said it was number one, I meant that it was the first thing mentioned in a troubleshooting flowchart for gear grinding in a general do-it-yourself manual (Chilton). I know Chilton's not gospel, or even the Mustang manual, but the mounts do seem like an obvious thing to check. They affect drivetrain alignment, which affects where the shift stops locate the linkage in each gear.
Silver_'02_4.6 said:
One doesn’t have to spend a lot for a nice shifting trans. I own a manual Focus too and I expect much less out of it than my Mustang (4 Focus recalls and 3 warranty repairs not withstanding), but the odd thing is I have never heard so much as a peep out of the cheaper Focus’ transmission and the car is lightweight and I still have about an average 13% driveline loss. Point being, yes the Focus has much less power but an equally smooth transmission without penalties is definitely feasible for a more powerful car.
The difference between your Focus and a GT is the torque level. Torque makes things difficult for transmission designers. The gears will be spinning longer, and with more force, after you press the clutch. Everything has to be heavier, and grinding is much more likely because of the higher energy level.
And regardless of what the loss is on any particular car, a stronger transmission will generally either cost more power or more money. Those are two things I am not willing to sacrifice to keep you all happy.
Silver_'02_4.6 said:
You’re the one that wants a check-but you claim not to have a problem.
I don't want a check. I just don't want my transmission to be altered. I made the point that I would be OK with T3650 owners getting a check, but if there is a recall it will really put me in a quandary. I don't want my transmission to be altered (based on the top-notch performance my car has given me), but I don't want to be out-of-compliance with a recall. So what the hell am I supposed to do if there's a "fix?"
Silver_'02_4.6 said:
I imagine a supplier provides Ford's mounts, but the parts should be validated and fully understood before they are placed on a motor vehicle. Proper control processes in the manufacturing stream should reduce material variation. Yeah motor mounts wear out over time, but in less than a year and 6000 miles? I guess mine were toasted as I drove home from the dealership.
I consider the stock Mustang motor mounts to be borderline defective even with 0 miles. This is just an example of too much emphasis on NVH, at the expense of functionality. Why do you find it so easy to believe that the T3650 is a defective design but not that the motor mounts are a defective design?
Silver_'02_4.6 said:
especially since your are only armed with your feelings towards this issue.
Feelings? OK, since my car ran 13s stock, and since it never crunched gears at the track, in NINETY PASSES, I
feel it has a great transmission. Do those count as hard numbers?
Silver_'02_4.6 said:
Jeez, in just two posts your root cause has gone from rolling reverse shifting and driveline misalignment to people just want T56’s and aren’t one with their cars-shaky ground here. Perhaps in the future you will be a bit more open minded and less accusing before attempting to crash a thread that many consider to have merit.
I will be the first to admit that there may be several factors at play here. Transmissions are complicated. That doesn't make what I post contradictory; the transmission doesn't operate by itself in a vacuum. Besides, I am just about the only person here making any suggestions besides "the 3650 sucks."
Silver_'02_4.6 said:
Everyone here should know that Ford isn't going to put a T56 in for a 3650.
BS- I am all too familiar with the T56-worship that goes on at this forum. Evan Smith called the T56 "the transmission that should be in every standard Mustang Ford sells," and I really think that at least a few of the people posting here believe that crap. They consider it a travesty that their cars don't have T56s.
Mister Stang said:
Hey guys,
Glad I read through this (yes all 10 pages...) before I started scoping out for a Mustang. Kinda makes a guy pissed off just to hear about this, but just so you know, Ford isn't the only one with problems like this.
I currently own a '98 Sunfire GT and have been an active member of a GM J-Body website for almost two years. I have heard complaints like yours about the Getrag 5 speed that is found in '99 and newer Sunfires/Cavaliers for quite some time. All GM has suggested in their TSB's to the owners of these cars is to use either GM Syncromesh fluid or Saturn tranny fluid. With these tranny's there is a constant growling and many J-Body owners have been trying to find a solution forever...
From a car that costs from $13,000 to $24,000 (Canadian) I can almost (remember I said almost) find this acceptable but from a car like the Mustang with it's $25,000 to $40,000 (Canadian) price tag, I find this sad.
Being a former AOD driver, we had our own sets of problems while the T5 guys seemed to breaking thiers left and right but at the time the Mustang was basically a drag racing fiend and not much else. Now with the better
suspension, more sophisticated engine and a much better overall look, this car is mared with a crappy tranny...hmmm...guess all that "Quality is Job One" crap is still just a marketing line...
Hopefully Ford steps up to the plate and does the right thing with a solution. I'd hate to see the revered Pony Car die off because of more of Ford's inabilty to solve it the right way.
Oh, nice. This is exactly why I think this thread should be LOCKED... or it should be DELETED. It perpetuates the typical stereotypes about Fords and Mustangs in general.
BTW, did you notice that J-body owners are having the same "problem?" Gosh, do you think there is some kind of similarity between that transmission and the 3650? Maybe the J-bodies use a sideways 3650?
Or maybe there is a similarity between the DRIVERS having both problems. Hmm....