Finished T5 swap- Car Vibrates then stalls when put into gear

SN95StangMan

New Member
Jul 5, 2003
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Lynwood, CA
Need help diagnosing a vibration in my car. Here are the details:

Its an AODE - T5 swap that I just finished. My battery was weak so I had to jump start the car and I let the it idle for about 15 minutes before I decided to back it out of the driveway and go for a test drive. There was no unusual noises or vibrations with the car idling in neutral. The problem is that as soon as the clutch started to engage and I rolled two feet back the car started to vibrate rather heavily, the RPMs dropped, and the car died. I fired her back up and decided to roll the car forward in first gear and essentially the same thing happened. I repeated the same process a couple more times with the same results. At that point I decided to call it quits and tackle it on friday morning.

The trans is a freshly rebuilt Gforce T5 and a lightly used spec clutch and flywheel.

Another thing to note is that I'm not sure if I adjusted the clutch cable properly. I got the MM cable/quadrant/adjuster package. I dont know if a cable that is not properly adjusted could contribute to my issues.


Not sure what I should start looking at on Friday to fix this problem. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

:flag:
 
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Does it only happen while the clutch is being engaged?

Is it better if you slip the clutch more and/or give it more gas?

Where is the point of engagement? If it's right on the floorboard or pretty near the top, you probably want to fine tune the adjustment.
 
Yes it only happened when the clutch was being engaged.

The point of engagement is pretty high. I would depress the clutch to the floor and it seemed like the clutch didn't fully engage until it was almost all the way back up.

Slipping the clutch didn't really do much except delay the point at which the vibrations started when the clutch was fully engaged
 
Don't forget folks, when the tranny is in neutral and the clutch pedal is not pressed, the clutch is "engaged" and the input shaft is rotating with the engine. I could see a pilot bearing problem if it happened as soon as Eddie pushed in the clutch and the input shaft was rotating at a different speed than the engine. But anyway.

Eddie, I know I had to re-learn how my car worked when I switched to manual Mustangs. I'm wondering if the tranny is fine, but your expectations of how it works is off. Don't get me wrong, something may still be hosed. But I thought much the same thing as I was trying to get used to a manual - what's wrong with this thing? I can't tell you how many times I stalled the engine going from neutral to 1st (or reverse) until I learned how to feather the clutch right. In my case, the car does kinda shake as I engage the clutch from neutral. If It shakes too much and the rpm's are dropping fairly quick, it means I've let the clutch in too fast. When backing out of my driveway, I let the clutch out slowly until I'm moving, then push the clutch back in to keep the engine from stalling. Repeat until I'm out of the driveway.

I'm busy this weekend putting cats on my GT, but I might have time Sunday to swing by. If you want an extra pair of eyes, PM or call me and let me know.
 
Pilot bearing is good. It's brand new and installed right.

It's is also the correct tranny for a 94-95.

Matt, I know what you mean and the thought crossed my mind. However I was driving my brothers Mach for a few week straight and I'm sure it can't be that much different than my car. The only thing seems to be the point at which the clutch is engaging seems a lot "higher" on my car.
 
Fair enough Eddie, I didn't remember if you'd had any experience driving a manual on a 'Stang. I agree it shouldn't be much different. In my case, I was new to driving a manual period, not just a Mustang. As to the cable, the point where the clutch first engages should be about midpoint on the pedal, if I remember right. That's what you're adjusting for. Full engagement can happen at that point; you get a faster engagement the higher up the pedal you go. You should be able to push the pedal a bit before the clutch disengages. You'll have to adjust the firewall adjuster until it feels right to you.

I wonder, could this be the clutch slipping? I've never felt one slipping yet, too new to a manual tranny. Could the clutch have gotten dirty, or maybe the flywheel wasn't smooth? Were the flywheel and clutch both from the same car?
 
You want the cable adjusted so there's just about no freeplay in the cable.



Were the pressure plate dowels installed (between the pressure plate and flywheel)?
 
Pressure plate dowels are in.


OK I just rememberd something. I had to modify the AODE transmission mount and crossmember in in order for things to line up. the holes on the poly mount had to be opened up in order for it to slide up to line up with the crossmember holes. then they crossmember needed to be opened up laterally (the holes in the crossmember needed to be opened up towards the passenger side in order for the bolt holes to line up)

I was in the process of doing this when I called it quits for that day, and I ended up physically pushing the tranny towards the drivers side about a half inch and bolting it down, with the intention of opening those holes the next day. I continued the project and forgot about that, so in essence the tranny is not centered by about a half inch or more.

Im wondering if this is causing some kind of "binding" in the driveline.

Either way, Im gonnna get that done before moving on to anything else.


Thanks for all the help.
 
OK, I jacked the car up and tried to see whats going on with the car up in the air. If I slip the clutch or give it a little bit of gas the problem doesnt seem present. I was able to go through fourth lightly without much incident. I was however getting some vibrations in 5th gear. I didnt want to spin the wheels too fast with the car in the air.

I snapped a quick cell phone video of the car in first gear going aroun 10mph, and I can hear a "clicking" sound every few seconds.

YouTube - Clutch 2

Then I tried seeing what happens if I dump the clutch at only 2500 rpm. The car bucked noticeably as soon as the clutch engaged. Same thing happened if I released the clutch pedal quickly when going through the gears.

Video

YouTube - Clutch
 
I just realized something when I skimmed over your original post. You sure the flywheels not warped... I would have had it re-surfaced before putting it in. I had mine done last clutch swap was only $30. You could have clutch chatter.
 
Are you reusing the AODE slip yoke on the drive shaft with the huge counter weight on it? I did a test run with my old slip yoke and it had a nasty vibration up on jackstands and a mild one during actual driving. Ordered a new T5 slip yoke and it solved that. I also agree on checking the surface of the flywheel. Just out of curiosity, did you get the T5 pcm or are you reusing the AODE spec one? And I know what you mean about modifying the factory AODE mount. I ran it like that the last couple months but got sick of it and finally found the right mount bracket for sale and bought it. I know someone else who might have one if youre interested.
 
what modification of the aode mount are you talking about? i just did this swap 2 weeks ago and i re-used the mount bracket on the cross member and installed a prothane mount. the only issue i had was it would shake hard with the clutch chatter but its getting better every time i drive it
 
I've never seen an AODE mount bracket work without being modified in any of the three swaps I've done. They all had to be notched or the mount is way off in terms of lining up. Theres a thread on here with pics of the swap where the guy who made the post shows pics of the necessary mod. It's pretty much just slotting the original mount. Consider yourself lucky I guess. :shrug:

To the OP, any luck on the vibration??
 
I've never seen an AODE mount bracket work without being modified in any of the three swaps I've done. They all had to be notched or the mount is way off in terms of lining up. Theres a thread on here with pics of the swap where the guy who made the post shows pics of the necessary mod. It's pretty much just slotting the original mount. Consider yourself lucky I guess. :shrug:

lol, my bad i did trim off excess i didnt need. didnt realize it was necessary.


back to topic... does the shaking subside when the clutch gets good and warm?? i'm thinking chatter.. i'm going through the same with a resurfaced flywheel