Clutch Issues

[mat82284]

I decided to shorten and edit my post.

2 years ago I had my engine rebuilt and a new clutch/fly wheel installed. It was a Spec stage 3 kit. The tranny was opened and looked to be in great condition when it just hit 100k miles, so I skipped upgrading that for now (low funds) When I put 2k miles on the engine and clutch I went to the track once and did 3 passes. This was 1 month after getting the engine replaced.

I've now had the engine and clutch for 2 years and it worked great up until 3 months (1k miles) ago. At first I started hearing this long screeching sound when taking off into first gear. The sound lasted 3-5 seconds max. It went away when the car was fully engage in 1st. It's never screeched in reverse or any other gear. The clutch pedal also became much stiffer than before. I've read online that this happens to alot to users with spec throw out bearings and the simple fix is to buy the ford one. I also have a new symptom that not to many has had. Just recently the car started to a speed bump per say when going from one gear to the next. What I mean by speed bump is that it takes 1-2 seconds before I can smoothly shift into gear. If I do it right after pushing the clutch in It takes a small amount of force to get it into gear, but it will grind trying to get into second gear. Again its very smooth if I wait 1-2 seconds or when the car is off. This leads me to believe the clutch is slow to disengage.

I'm going to have my friend pull my tranny and take a look at it and see if we can see whats wrong, but it wont be for a week. If anyone has any ideas on what it could be please let me know.

From what I've read the crappy spec through out bearing barely lasts 10k miles and apparently I've been lucky for it to make it to 19k.

edit:

I also realize the tranny wasn't made for 500rwhp hp lol. I also rarely ever go above 4500-5krpms and that is probably 380-440hp at that range. I drive really conservative and I never race it. I've never grinded or powershifted or anything like that. I'm also shocked how many other mustang owners have put 600+ rwhp on these transmissions and they still hold up. I knew it wouldn't last for ever, but i figured why fix something that wasn't broken right away. Hopefully its just a throwout bearing otherwise a t-56 seems to be the next best option.

 

[trombonedemon]

Cars Transmission is failing. You and I have the same symptoms, and Darn near the same circumstance. I'm not putting 500 horspower to wheels though. My reccomendation for you is to find a stronger Stang transmission. I'm thinking you've went waaaay past what your stock transmission should handle.
http://www.pomoforacing.com/tech/PreliminaryT45rebuild.pdf
But is you decide to rebuild, here what you are instore for. Transmissions are in a world of there own. Hope you have the best of luck.

 

[mat82284]

Cars Transmission is failing. You and I have the same symptoms, and Darn near the same circumstance. I'm not putting 500 horspower to wheels though. My reccomendation for you is to find a stronger Stang transmission. I'm thinking you've went waaaay past what your stock transmission should handle.
http://www.pomoforacing.com/tech/PreliminaryT45rebuild.pdf
But is you decide to rebuild, here what you are instore for. Transmissions are in a world of there own. Hope you have the best of luck.

Thanks for your reply. I actually just edited my post, I was a little tipsy earlier when I typed it. I realized that I made a few mistakes on it and fixed them.

And an answer to your response. I actually did take that into consideration as well, but I'm pretty sure the transmission is fine. If you re-read my post you might see where i messed up when describing the exact issues.

If the transmission didn't shift smoothly and grinds I would feel its the transmission, but from what I've noticed the transmission shifts smoothly when waiting 2 seconds after pushing the clutch in. If I don't wait those 1-2 seconds there is a little bump that wants to stop me from pushing it into gear because if I do the transmission will grind. I forced it once before the 1-2 second pause and i barley grinded second gear. This leads me to believe the clutch is not dis-engaging properly and extra slowly. This is also something that the throwout bearing could effect since it handles the engaging/disengaging mechanics of it.

What exactly did your car do, can you describe it to me?

 

[nancygrl]

I have a similar issue with 3rd gear in my 2000 ZX2. IMHO I would lean towards bad syncros, that's what I've been told is the problem in my escort. My .02

Check the easy stuff first with the clutch, pressure plate, throw out bearing etc...

 

[trinity_gt]

The first thing I'd do is set the transmission aside and inspect the clutch. The noise, the stiff pedal and the failure to release all point to a clutch problem. Or at least I should say it's the simplest, most direct thing to look at first.

If you have found that puck-type Spec Stg 3 clutch to chatter a lot it's possible you've got internal transmission damage but I doubt it. Inspect the clutch -- pressure plate, cover, spring, disc -- and the release mechanism -- cable, release arm, fulcrum/pivot, release bearing and the sleeve upon which it rides on the transmission -- for damage before tearing into the trans.

 

[trombonedemon]

Thanks for your reply. I actually just edited my post, I was a little tipsy earlier when I typed it. I realized that I made a few mistakes on it and fixed them.

And an answer to your response. I actually did take that into consideration as well, but I'm pretty sure the transmission is fine. If you re-read my post you might see where i messed up when describing the exact issues.

If the transmission didn't shift smoothly and grinds I would feel its the transmission, but from what I've noticed the transmission shifts smoothly when waiting 2 seconds after pushing the clutch in. If I don't wait those 1-2 seconds there is a little bump that wants to stop me from pushing it into gear because if I do the transmission will grind. I forced it once before the 1-2 second pause and i barley grinded second gear. This leads me to believe the clutch is not dis-engaging properly and extra slowly. This is also something that the throwout bearing could effect since it handles the engaging/disengaging mechanics of it.

What exactly did your car do, can you describe it to me?

My cars transmission started like that, wait 2 seconds then I am shifting perfectly. Eventually, what was told to me was the pilot bearing went bad and when the pilot bearing starts to go bad the bearings, synchros, and the basic cars transmission starts fall apart.
Had my clutch and pilot/throw-out bearing replaced, symptoms were still the same. Unless your cars transmission is was mis-alighned or something, then the cars trasmission is the culprit. Again, 500 Horsepower wasn't suppose to go in these T-45s. But, I'm hoping its not the T-45.

 

[mat82284]

The first thing I'd do is set the transmission aside and inspect the clutch. The noise, the stiff pedal and the failure to release all point to a clutch problem. Or at least I should say it's the simplest, most direct thing to look at first.

If you have found that puck-type Spec Stg 3 clutch to chatter a lot it's possible you've got internal transmission damage but I doubt it. Inspect the clutch -- pressure plate, cover, spring, disc -- and the release mechanism -- cable, release arm, fulcrum/pivot, release bearing and the sleeve upon which it rides on the transmission -- for damage before tearing into the trans.

Thanks guys for the info. Im starting to think that this could be related to low transmission fluid. The strangest thing happened to me today. I rarely ever floor it and I decided to just do it so see how the transmission acts and if it blows up oh well. We'll the opposite happened. After doing that and getting of the freeway the car shifted normally like it did before. Then after another few minutes it went back to the same routine I've been having. The fluid isn't old, but I'm not sure about a leak. I looked under the car and see dark spots on the exhaust that looked like something leaked onto it. Where I park has tons of oil spots so I never really looked at the ground, I'll park somewhere new next time.

There is one more thing I totally forgot to mention, a few days ago when I was heading home from a friends house (I normally only make 1-3 mile trips in my small town) and when I came home I heard this sound that kinda sounded like boiling. I listened and i could hear it for a min then it went away. This was the first time in a while that I made a 20 mile trip. I was reading online and low fluid can not only damage the transmission but cause the symptoms I'm having.

Is there a simple way to check the fluid level? Can I pull the shifter to see or do I have to empty it to see how much comes out?

 

[mat82284]

My cars transmission started like that, wait 2 seconds then I am shifting perfectly. Eventually, what was told to me was the pilot bearing went bad and when the pilot bearing starts to go bad the bearings, synchros, and the basic cars transmission starts fall apart.
Had my clutch and pilot/throw-out bearing replaced, symptoms were still the same. Unless your cars transmission is was mis-alighned or something, then the cars trasmission is the culprit. Again, 500 Horsepower wasn't suppose to go in these T-45s. But, I'm hoping its not the T-45.

Yeah I'm hoping its something simple, but if not I'm just going to buy a tr-3650 and drop it in. I found a good one for cheap so its a good substitute.

As for the power, you have to remember that 500hp is only at 6500rpms. The transmission can only handle 365ft of continuous (minutes apon minutes of transferred tq to the transmission). Transmissions normally can handle double of there rated rate in power if its not continuous (short bursts like 1sec to 1min). Tremec is known for there trannys holding up to double there rated power, but since the t45 was before them its hard to really say if it can compete. Like i mentioned before the only stress on the tranny was when i first went to the track and dyno. It ran fine foe a year and a half after that and I'm not lieing when i said i rarely ever floor it, meaning above 4000rpms. I've had to many tickets back in the day to justify more insurance costs again, so I make sure to keep it on the track, but school has kept me from going. The transmission should have held up just fine unless its just starting to wear out since it has 119k on it now. I'm going to check my fluid level I'm hoping its something as stupid as a leak or a throw out bearing. I'll start from the simple checks to the most advanced.

 

[trombonedemon]

Mechanical engineers can put a robot on Mars and feedback info through satelite but, they seem to can't produce a car's transmission that a home mechanic can work on w/o a 3 ton press.
Even if it is the transmission, just drive the "son of a gun" till it breaks, I've seen total rebuilt T-45's for less then a grand on Ebay, minus the core, hope you have the best of luck.

 

[mat82284]

Mechanical engineers can put a robot on Mars and feedback info through satelite but, they seem to can't produce a car's transmission that a home mechanic can work on w/o a 3 ton press.
Even if it is the transmission, just drive the "son of a gun" till it breaks, I've seen total rebuilt T-45's for less then a grand on Ebay, minus the core, hope you have the best of luck.

Haha thanks. The reasoning for not making them easy is simple. Its about money and power. If transmissions could be fixed with simple tools and was made even more simpler more and more people would do this making mechanics less and less useful.

Yeah ebay has some good deals on t-45's and 3650's. I have a friend who works for chp and he said get can get me one for 200-300 that works. So it would be hard not to pass up lol. I also have 3.73's and the 5th gear in the 3650 is a .62 which would help lower my 5th gear rpms to get some mpg back lol. So if I end up replacing the tranny i'll get a tr-3650 in stead of the t-45 that Borg Warner made and tremec improved on with the 3650. I know they both have there issues lol, but im sure all trannys do eventually.