02 transmission problem?

5speed

Member
Aug 6, 2011
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Hey guys,
I just grabbed an 02 gt and am having some issues. Whoever had it before me put a short shifter on it and I'm not sure what else. Anyways, to shift into gear is incredibly hard. It's almost like you're overcoming a wall and it then snaps right in. No noises when this happens, and I have the clutch on the floor. The second issue is that the car makes a metal grinding noise when accelerating in any gear that gets louder as the RPMs get higher. Finally- if I try and coast with my foot off the gas and off the clutch in any gear, the car bucks a little and slows down quickly like something is catching. No noise happens when this is going on though.

Any advice on the problem is appreciated. I paid a lot for this car and am terrified that I got a lemon. There is only 60k miles on it btw.
 
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5speed:

Congrats on the new ride.

Please post all mods (e.g.--CAI, cams, pulleys, supercharger, headers, custom tune, etc.) so we know what is under the hood.

The decel issue and the bucking issue may be due to a custom tune than needs tweaking. The decel 'tugging' you feel can be due to how the "coasting fuel shut-off" and/or dashpot has been set up. Also, if there is a custom tune then the light bucking may be due to too much EGR or a dashpot air clip that is not quite right.

More info, please, and then we'll see if StangNet can help (I think we can).

Chris
 
Hey Guys,
I just purchased the car, so I don't know about custom tunes or anything else. From just my cursory examination, the car has a short shift (no idea what brand), strut braces, and is lowered by an inch or two(can see the blue springs). Everything else is stock. Sorry I don't know more but the dealer didn't even know anything about the car. I will try and get a video uploaded for the sound.

Anyone have any ideas on why it is so hard to shift into gear- could this just be a crappy shifter? My '00 v6 that I had before this (stock everything) was nowhere near this hard to shift.

And also thanks for hopping in to help me so quickly :)
 
Take the shift knob off (unscrew it) and then pop out the shifter bezel and you should be able to see the brand of the shifter on the part of the shifter towards the rear of it. Did you buy it second hand? It's highly unlikely but its not tough to put a new gauge cluster in with fewer miles and do some other things to get it to work and read the low miles. If it has an aftermarket clutch it could be clutch quadrant which is why its so tough to push in. If you need help identifying mods post up a pic of the engine bay and then under the car as well from a lift. Did you test drive it and get it checked out by a reputable shop as well before you got it or did you just assume the miles were low so it was a good buy?
 
The original title could be more correct. You do have a transmission problem. The transmission is going bad. This is a textbook case of what happens when a manual transmission goes bad. What you really need to do is take off the shifter cover and look at the shifter. Double check that the shifter isnt hitting the bump stops. This is the only other thing i can think of as to why it is so hard to get it into gear. Just had a similar problem with my mustang and it turned out to just be the bump stops. That would take care of the hard shifting problem. The other problems are transmission related.
 
Hey guys, just an update, found the noise culprit. The aftermarket shift knob was loose. Drove with no knob and zero noise. So right now I'm just looking at the shifting problem and the decel issue.
 
Hey guys, just an update, found the noise culprit. The aftermarket shift knob was loose. Drove with no knob and zero noise. So right now I'm just looking at the shifting problem and the decel issue.

Did you happen to look and see if the shifter looks stock?

I'm not joking when I say I have to really push sometimes to get my MGW into gear. It doesn't always feel normal.
 
Ok, so I put an aftermarket shift knob on the thing, and the noise came back, so I was like wtf... I took off the boot/plastic part and had a look to see what was going on. First and foremost, this is the short throw shifter that I have:

Mustang Short Shifter for TR-3650 (Late 2001-2004 GT, 2001 Cobra, Bullitt, Mach1) at AmericanMuscle - Free Shipping!

Now if you look at the picture of that you will notice two screws on the north and south ends of the shifter. Whoever put the shifter in didn't adjust them right. The south screw was too far extended in towards the shifter and was pressing up against it, causing the rattle in 2nd and 4th (and causing scrape marks all over the shifter). I adjusted the screw back a little, and presto- problem solved! No noise whatsoever. Drove the car 20 miles after this in all gears, all situations (traffic, highway, etc) and didn't hear a peep.

As far as shifting into gears, I think I have a better explanation of it now. It's NOT like trying to shift into reverse on the ford stock shifter, where you have to fight it to hell sometimes. It's more like the shifter itself is very tight. I never once have had a problem getting into any gear, it just takes more kick than I am used to. I'm wondering if the thing just needs some grease somewhere?

Also in regards to the mileage, the carfax report confirmed it had 60k, and there is a warranty on the car from the dealer. I had my mechanic check the car out after I test drove it, and even he didn't notice anything wrong. I only picked up on it from driving to work in traffic. I doubt this is a high-mileage switch, more likely just an idiot owner who didn't know how to drive stick. The warranty is a 50/50 (me and insurance company) split on the cost of any repairs, and covers pretty much the whole car. I'm taking it in to a transmission shop either tomorrow or Tuesday to have it looked at, and I'm just hoping the repairs aren't too bad (spent alot on this baby already, and would like to have some money left to start adding new stuff instead of fixing old stuff). They think it might be a synchro issue. I will make sure to report any findings here for you guys of course.
 
Ok so I went to the transmission shop today to have it looked at. The owner said he definitely noticed the issue, and is calling me tomorrow to schedule when I should bring it in to fix it. He thinks it is either the clutch fork or a synchronizer.

Also, he said the shifting is fine, and that that is how the late 01 and newer mustang transmissions feel. Guess I need to start drinking my protein shakes :D
 
if you have an 02 then its probably a tr3650 since you think its stock, which is a very problem prone transmission. i have the same deal except stock shifter and different mods but i have a noise issue as well between 2k and around 4k rpms (pretty loud rattle, i suspect throwout bearing). it also shifts a wee bit harder than my buddies t-5 since its slightly heavier duty, but also consider how hard its been driven over its lifetime rather than just mileage. it is a mustang after all, thats why we got them! :nice:
 
Ok so I went to the transmission shop today to have it looked at. The owner said he definitely noticed the issue, and is calling me tomorrow to schedule when I should bring it in to fix it. He thinks it is either the clutch fork or a synchronizer.

Also, he said the shifting is fine, and that that is how the late 01 and newer mustang transmissions feel. Guess I need to start drinking my protein shakes :D

Mustang GT transmissions are a little harder to shift than say a 4 banger honda or toyota, but it should never be really hard to shift gears. When you have the syncros replaced, make sure the transmission has a complete rebuild. (cost effective). BTW when it is rebuilt it will engage much smoother and easier.
 
Just an update on this old thread for anybody in the future:

The noise issues that I experienced were normal, what eventually eliminated them was two things:
1) Adjusting the bump stops so that they weren't hitting
2) Adding RTV sealant to the area between the shift base and the top of the transmission (previous owner must have used some crappy sealant or none at all).

As far as shifting being rough, I have a new 3650 in there now (5th gear problem occurred later on and it was more cost efficient to just get a pro-built upgraded transmission than fix the old one), and this is normal, I have gotten used to it, and I now know that this is just how the 3650's are, especially with a short-throw shifter.