Mgw Short Throw Shifter Needs Too Much Force To Shift

[Badwolf]

I have a 2005 Mustang GT Premium that I purchased used a few months ago. The previous owner installed a MGW Short Throw Shifter. It recently started to act up. It takes all my strength to change gears. Anyone have any advice? I'm not sure where to start.

Thanks

 

[F. Jason Garriott]

I have a 2005 Mustang GT Premium that I purchased used a few months ago. The previous owner installed a MGW Short Throw Shifter. It recently started to act up. It takes all my strength to change gears. Anyone have any advice? I'm not sure where to start.

Thanks

Hey Wolf: A worn pilot bearing or release bearing, may not be letting the transmission spin down enough to shift easily. Try rev-matching the engine and trans. Blip the throttle when you down shift.

 

[Noobz347]

Hey Wolf: A worn pilot bearing or release bearing, may not be letting the transmission spin down enough to shift easily. Try rev-matching the engine and trans. Blip the throttle when you down shift.

As well as worn synchros within the tranny.

 

[derf7]

I ended up putting royal purple manual trans hid in mine. 2nd gear was always a pain. Smoothed it out real nice.

 

[derf7]

Fluid

 

[kwesty]

The MGW throw is adjustable. You can try adjusting it so it may have a bit longer of a throw but it won't feel as notchy when you shift. I've heard a lot of different methods to fix hard shifts from changing the fluid to poly motor mounts.

 

[Badwolf]

As well as worn synchros within the tranny.

So, the problem just got a lot worse. The last time I was out, two days ago, I was nearly stuck at a McDonald's 10 miles from home. I couldn't get the car into 1st gear. I called my husband and he said to take off in 2nd gear. That kinda worked, I got the car home.
Now I am home and trying to drive the car, but it won't go into any gear with the engine ON. I removed the leather boot so I can see what is going on better. With the engine off, the car will go into all of the gears fine, clutch in or out. I can start it in 1st gear or reverse. In fact I backed out of my driveway and then once on the street I went to put it into 1st gear and it would not go. I turned off my engine, put the car in 1st gear and started down my street for a test drive. I couldn't get it in any gear without shutting off the car. I came home and now I'm stuck here.
Help? I don't know what to do.

 

[derf7]

Our cars have a safety feature that won't let us put the car into gear or start without having the clutch depressed. It sounds like sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The wierd thing is that it'll let u start the car but not shift all the time. The clutch pedal should have a plunger switch making contact. Poss on the pedal arm. Just in case check that. What also might be a gd idea is to jack the car up, have 1 person underneath and 1 trying to shift to see if there is anything binding the shifter. Also if needed you can adjust the shifter from there to make sure it goes in gear. Question. All you changed was the shifter correct? Not the clutch. Also check you fluid.

 

[jetmech807]

Sounds a lot more like a clutch issue, than a shifter.

 

[derf7]

I would think that too if nothing was changed,but after the shifter install is kind of suspect.

 

[Badwolf]

Okay, I bought the car from a dealer who put it on Craigslist. The dealer, "Autos By Choice", sold it to me as is.
It won't pass inspection they told me. At the time of purchase I knew it would fail for broken E-Brake cable, and no Catalytic Converter.
We fixed the E-Brake, and changed the rear brakes. I've checked the fluids, they're all good.
I had it inspected. It failed for no catalytic converter, the center brake light (it was just unplugged), and they said that they saw fluid dripping and pinned it as a problem with the rack and pinion. My husband said that they just saw fluid and wanted me to pay them a lot of money to fix it, basically that it would pass if I took it to my regular inspector.
So my point is, I haven't messed with the clutch, transmission or the gear shifter. They all came with the car.
At this point, the problem is constant. The car is now unsafe to drive due to the fact that in order to change gears I have to have the car engine off.

 

[Bullitt95]

If you can shift gears easily with the engine off and not shift gears at all with the engine on, it's definitely a clutch issue.
If the pedal feels consistent but heavy, you probably just simply have a worn clutch plate in which case a new clutch assembly with release bearing will solve the problem.