MT82 transmission, why so troublesome??

[nycamper65]

Will try to keep this a short and concise as possible. Bought a 2018 Mustang GT with 5000 miles on 5/6. Transmission broke that same day (no third or fourth gear). Should have done my homework its all over the internet how troublesome the MT82 transmission is but I had already owned a 2012 5.0 and beyond being a little notchy and the occasional grind into 2nd gear no problems. Dealer took car on 5/18 and to their credit was able to get a brand new transmission installed and back to me on 5/25. Transmission was not right from the minute I picked it up but I figured to see maybe it just needed to break in so I drove it over the weekend and the shifting got harder and harder. Returned the car to the dealer on 5/28. It is now 5/31 and Ford is telling the dealer to dismantle transmission to determine issue. I propose to the dealer take the car back and sell me a new one, I bought someone elses headache. Car had 5K and CLEARLY was not abused.

 

[I Bleed Ford Blue]

A little history first. Back in 2005 Ford went to a remote mounted shifter in all manual trans mustangs, meaning the shifter is mounted to the underside of the trans tunnel then is connected thru linkage to the trans. When the engine torques over during hard acceleration the trans moves with it. Well the shifter is fixed and doesn't move so there is going to be bind on the linkage when this happens. It wasn't an issue back then, now fast forward to 2011 when Ford introduced the 412 hp coyote and the MT-82 trans. Now the remote mount shifter became an issue, not sure if it's the big jump in hp or the mt-82 that is the problem, I suspect its a little of both. From 2011 to 2017 the mt-82 had 5th gear as a 1:1 ratio or direct drive (all manual transmissions have this) in 2018 the mt-82 was redesigned and direct drive was moved to fourth gear and now 5th and 6th are now overdrives. They also started using cast aluminum for the shift forks inside the trans, previous years the used cast iron. Well the early 18 mt82's would break the shift forks because they were weak and i suspect that is what happened to your first trans and that is why they changed it out, no questions asked. Your second trans might have a misalignment issue with the shifter, if not it has an internal flaw.

When you finally get it back and they have a good trans in it look into a shifter support bracket from blowfish racing. https://lmr.com/item/SSB-15-000/mustang-blowfish-racing-shifter-bracket-1516-SSB-15-000 It bolts to the trans mount on the tail housing and moves with the trans, the the shifter bolts to it so now it moves with the engine and trans thus eliminating the binding issue and prolonging the life of the trans and shifter.

 

[nycamper65]

Hi Ford Blue. I am aware of the shortcomings of the Factory shifter and planned on installing an MGW at some point. The problem I was having was even during slow neighborhood driving. Most often it was a bear to shift into second and it literally took a full second and sometimes grinding as it fell into gear. Downshifting to second was horrible too. All other gears were just fine. Strange thing is once in awhile it shifted fine into second...Go figure. I am not knowledgeable regarding transmissions but it felt like an internal issue. Update: Ford has authorized another "new" tranny install. I get the feeling the dealer thinks I abused the car. My salesman said to me "we don't know how you could break 2 trannys in a 100 miles." Operative word is "You". I did not break anything, the first tranny failed and the second one was not right from the minute I first drove it.....I guess I could see how they might think that but apparently there are lots of people with problems with this tranny. FRUSTRATING. I wonder on a percentage basis how many have had issues...

 

[Shocknawful]

I just installed the Barton two post shifter bracket. Still have the OEM shifter box but it is a MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT over the ty squishy factory shifter mount ! Best $ 120 I've ever spent. Combined with the Steeda 34lbs. clutch assist spring the driving experiance is much improved !