I have a question about the skip shift in our cars

[Will3212]

Lately the skip shift light has been coming on a lot in my car because I try to save gas by not accelerating hard. I have not had any trouble going from 1st to 2nd with the light on. This is what I do, press down clutch - shift to N - and then shift to 2nd. It has never locked out 2nd. Is something wrong with my skip shift feature? here is what another user said about skip shift
"After driving mine for a month, I have noticed something. I do not think this skip-shift feature actually makes you shift into 4th. I have shifted into 2nd several times with the message on the display with no problems. BUT... I have noticed that this tranny likes to go from 1->4 on its own. What I mean is if I simply pull straight back on the stick, it will go slightly right and into 4th, message or no message. To get to second I have to pull back and to the left when shifting. Even if I do that, it still feels like there is some resistance when I shift into 2nd. Kind of like the car wants to go from 1->4. BTW, I feel the same with 5->6 shift. I have to pull back and to the right to go to 6th, otherwise it wants to go back to 4th. Anyone else concur?" so that's what he said and 6 other people agreed heres the link to the forum Skip Shift Anomoly 2011 GT - Page 2 - The Mustang Source - Ford Mustang Forums so has anyone here notice this? Also, is shifting to N from 1st and THEN 2nd an easy way to bypass this skip shift?

 

[arcwcb]

WTF?!?! Skip Shift is for auto transmissions...

 

[jag989]

WTF?!?! Skip Shift is for auto transmissions...

Skip shift is definitely present on the manuals as well. I had it disabled with a tune, but it's there from the factory.

From what I recall, your process of shifting to neutral, waiting a moment, then heading in to second worked fine. I found that with the extra delay though, there really wasn't a point to not going ahead and sliding it in to fourth.

The shifter is centered to rest between 3rd and 4th - you will always have to apply a little extra force to either side when finding 1,2,5 and 6. This makes it much easier to find the gear you want quickly.

 

[JKidd]

Skip shift is definitely present on the manuals as well. I had it disabled with a tune, but it's there from the factory.

From what I recall, your process of shifting to neutral, waiting a moment, then heading in to second worked fine. I found that with the extra delay though, there really wasn't a point to not going ahead and sliding it in to fourth.

The shifter is centered to rest between 3rd and 4th - you will always have to apply a little extra force to either side when finding 1,2,5 and 6. This makes it much easier to find the gear you want quickly.

x2

I found the same thing. Used to fight it by delaying in neutral for a second (almost like you would if you were double-clutching) and dropping into second, but didn't really gain anything (more out of habit of going from first to second). Now I just roll with it if it happens. When I get a tune, I'll have it removed then.

 

[93-331-29psi]

Skip Shift = An easy way to avoid Gas Guzzler Tax

 

[arcwcb]

Wow, that is horrible. The point of buying a manual is better control over your motor and gear, why would Ford try to implement a skip shift on a manual too? That's crazy...

 

[jag989]

Wow, that is horrible. The point of buying a manual is better control over your motor and gear, why would Ford try to implement a skip shift on a manual too? That's crazy...

Try looking at it this way.

You won't run in to the skip shift if you're driving even slightly aggressively. It's very unobtrusive to begin with.

Having the skip shift feature also saves you a minimum of $1,000 by avoiding the gas guzzler tax. If you absolutely don't want it, buy a $350 (or less) tuner and still save $750. My dealer actually offered to disable it for free when I mentioned it, but I had a tuner on the way already.

 

[lokstag1]

I have a manual 2012. The skip shift has never forced me to shift into 4th. It seems to act more as a recomendation than a rule

 

[chile02]

I havent had a problem with it, I notice that when you shift below 2800rpm is when it give you the option but never forces me to go straight into it, I also notice that 4th is really close to second, but then again I have a short throw shifter. but when I do take off quickly I don't have any problems shifting

 

[Will3212]

Skip shift is definitely present on the manuals as well. I had it disabled with a tune, but it's there from the factory.

From what I recall, your process of shifting to neutral, waiting a moment, then heading in to second worked fine. I found that with the extra delay though, there really wasn't a point to not going ahead and sliding it in to fourth.

The shifter is centered to rest between 3rd and 4th - you will always have to apply a little extra force to either side when finding 1,2,5 and 6. This makes it much easier to find the gear you want quickly.

so when you go to N from 1st then putting it into 2nd the clutch is pressed the whole time right? Do you think that 1 second deley is a big deal?

 

[Az Pete]

Try looking at it this way.

You won't run in to the skip shift if you're driving even slightly aggressively. It's very unobtrusive to begin with.

Having the skip shift feature also saves you a minimum of $1,000 by avoiding the gas guzzler tax. If you absolutely don't want it, buy a $350 (or less) tuner and still save $750. My dealer actually offered to disable it for free when I mentioned it, but I had a tuner on the way already.

Free fix.....disconnect the solenoid from under the car....right rear top corner of the tranny.

 

[jag989]

so when you go to N from 1st then putting it into 2nd the clutch is pressed the whole time right? Do you think that 1 second deley is a big deal?

I'm not quite sure what you're asking here.

A one second delay would be very frustrating if you're trying to accelerate or shift aggressively, but that isn't ever the case. Skip shift won't bother you unless you're trying to shift 1 -> 2 under something like 2,500 RPM with very little throttle.

I personally disabled it so I wouldn't ever have to think about it, but according to AZ Pete doing so is even easier than I thought.

 

[Will3212]

What I'm asking is you know how you can bypass the skip shift by shifting to N for a half second from 1st and then from N shift to 2nd to bypass the skip shift, my question is you don't have to release the clutch when you're at N for that half second right. Also, please tell me how you disabled the skip shift I'm going to the dealer Friday and i want to ask them to disable it, so they'll just disconnect the solenoid from under the car right, will anything else go wrong once they disconnect it?

 

[jag989]

I don't recall having to let off the clutch, no.

My dealer was going to have it disabled through the computer, which you can also do with an aftermarket tune. American Muscle sells tuners for about $350 and includes unlimited free tunes. Throw in an aftermarket intake (very easy to install) and you can see a nice performance gain as well.

I'm not familiar with the solenoid fix, but it sounds like that's probably something you could do yourself pretty easily.

 

[Az Pete]

Raise the car on jack stands and support it. Go to the transmission and look on the rear, passenger top side of the housing and you will see a small electrical plug with two wires. Simply unplug it and tape the plug to keep it clean. Tie the pigtail to another wire harness with some zip ties. Remove car from jack stands. Harder to get the car on and off the stands than unplugging the solenoid. It causes no other problems. Mine has been unplugged for 6000 0f the 7000 miles on the car. The light on the dash will still indicate that skip shift is functioning but it is not......simple fix and cheap

I doubt a dealer will unplug it........

 

[Wind-Farmer]

is this crap real? I must not have "that" in my car.

 

[Az Pete]

Yes it is real on the '11 and up from what I know.....it all has to do with getting a fuel economy rating and avoiding having to charge a poor mpg addition to the price. Really not a big deal.

 

[JCeeDeestang]

We just purchased a 2011 Mustang GT a few days ago. It seem's that my wife is having problems trying to figure the shifting ordeal all out. I have not had the opportunity to drive it and see what the problem is, since I'm deployed in Afghanistan. I will definately take a look at all your recommendations and see if it is a gear shift issue or maybe my Spouse is hesitant and don't understand what it means by skip shift. Thanks for all the updates and looking forward on taking the mustang on a spin.

 

[Austinj427]

I have zero issues. I run around town 1-3-5. If I'm over 45 I'll toss it into 6.

 

[MoshpitMad]

I absolutely hate the Skip Shift feature on my 12 GT. I am fully capable of shifting to 4th on my own if I wanted. I don't need my "sports car" trying to save me gas. It's a horrible feature. I have to accelerate semi-aggressively for it to not intrude.