Ruh Roh

03_TrueBlue_GT

Active Member
May 5, 2010
810
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Houston, Tx
Well this happened yesterday.


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For some reason the car would not go into gear at all after I stopped at the Valero the other day to add more air to my tires... I did manage to get it into first but it took a lot of effort. All the other gears you could forget about getting it into gear. For the past 2 weeks its been driving weird, like the clutch pedal being loose feeling and difficult to get into gear but not too difficult. I knew something was up also because the throw out bearing began squeaking like it had before a month ago.I attributed it to one of the annoying things about our Mustangs because a lot of members have complained about their tob squeaking after a new clutch job. But being at college I was just hoping I could get home and then figure whats wrong with it. Its aggravating because I changed the clutch, pressure plate, throw out bearing, pilot bearing and all the other essentials in December and have only put 3,500 miles on it.

So any ideas what could have caused this? I think the TOB was defective and took a dump on me or there is something wrong with the clutch. By the way the parts I used in back in December were
-Exedy stage 1 clutch
-Ram Billet Steel flywheel
- Ford Racing throw out and pilot bearings
All of the parts came from American Muscle and I did the work myself with a friend who is a mechanic, he has done 4 other Mustang clutch jobs and the rest are running fine so I don't attribute it to us not doing the work properly. I also believe that because I have driven about 3,500 miles since the swap and followed the proper break in procedure of driving 500 miles easy with the new hardware.

Currently the car is in a shop in town getting diagnosed, Ill recieve a quote as to how much this is going to cost me... :confused:
 
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Sounds like the clutch is not fully releasing. Might be anything from the clutch cable itself, to the quadrant, clutch fork or pressure plate. I think it is highly unlike the TOB bearing is causing an issue here. Worst case, the TOB would lock up an make a bunch of noise, but the clutch would still operate.

Really too bad to see such a good looking car on the flatbed. BTW, wanna trade wheels? LOL
 
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Did u replace your clutch cable? Do u have the stock quadrant still in place? If not, I would put an adjustable quadrant and new cable in it...
Nope it still has the stock cable and quadrant. I was told the aftermarket quadrants suck compared to the stock ones.


Sounds like the clutch is not fully releasing. Might be anything from the clutch cable itself, to the quadrant, clutch fork or pressure plate. I think it is highly unlike the TOB bearing is causing an issue here. Worst case, the TOB would lock up an make a bunch of noise, but the clutch would still operate.

Really too bad to see such a good looking car on the flatbed. BTW, wanna trade wheels? LOL


Thanks I just washed it too the day this happened. The Ford dealership called me back and they told me that because I am running aftermarket clutch and flywheel that the Ford TOB's were made for stock clutch's only...:rolleyes: I don't believe really believe that because I spent a long time researching what to do for a clutch job before I did this. I know a lot of you guys are running aftermarket clutches with the Ford TOB. Heck the Ford brand is recommended by almost everyone to use that I have asked. The dealer wanted to put a new clutch, flywheel and all new hardware from Ford for $2,296 dollars... I politely refused and I'm going to have it towed home with my family's trailer this Saturday for free, and work on it when college lets out...About the rims its funny cause I kinda miss having my stock 17x8 bullitt rims, and wish I hadn't sold them. Not being able to rotate tires sucks lol.
 
My wheels are stock 17x8's and can be rotated. Just keep that in mind when considering my offer to trade. ;)

If they want to replace the whole clutch assembly, then it sounds like it might be an issue with the pressure plate. I guess you'll see when you drop the tranny down this summer. It'd be good to have someone push the clutch while you watch to make sure the travel is sufficient before dropping the tranny though. That's not a particularly fun job...
 
My wheels are stock 17x8's and can be rotated. Just keep that in mind when considering my offer to trade. ;)

If they want to replace the whole clutch assembly, then it sounds like it might be an issue with the pressure plate. I guess you'll see when you drop the tranny down this summer. It'd be good to have someone push the clutch while you watch to make sure the travel is sufficient before dropping the tranny though. That's not a particularly fun job...


Dumb question but what do you mean by that and how is it done?
 
Just make sure the problem isn't in the cable or quadrant before pulling the transmission down. You could have someone push the clutch while watching the clutch fork to make sure the fork is making the full range of motion. If that's the case, then the problem is likely behind the bellhousing, and require you to drop the trans.
 
Just make sure the problem isn't in the cable or quadrant before pulling the transmission down. You could have someone push the clutch while watching the clutch fork to make sure the fork is making the full range of motion. If that's the case, then the problem is likely behind the bellhousing, and require you to drop the trans.


Thank you that helps a lot. So if its a bad clutch cable the clutch for will not engage if I am understanding correctly? Also my clutch pedal is firm and I can put the transmission into any gear when the car is off.
 
Just wait till you put all that power through it for a while, and at the track.

I aint scurred. The 4R70W is one hell of a stout tranny. My builder was telling me that he's built more mustangs than he could count and has seen his fair share of tranny failures. He said that he's seen dozens of T5, T45, and so on fall apart and only 2 4R70W's fail and they were do to driver stupidity. Im pretty confident in it











*crosses fingers*
 
The dealership told me its because I have an aftermarket clutch/flywheel assembly running with the Ford bearings that caused the issue... They asked me if I wanted to buy a whole new oem setup and install it for $2,200... I told them no thanks. I dont even think they checked the car out to be honest. I just think that since I told them I had recently put an aftermarket clutch/flywheel assembly in that they figured that was it. I am up in college atm and my parents are coming up to pick up the car to take it home. Next Thursday is my last day so I figure that weekend I will find out what is wrong with it.
 
Tell your Ford dealer that the aftermarket clutch was probably made by Valeo, who also made the OEM clutch. They have no idea what they're talking about. Take it to a trans shop and let them stick to doing warranty work. $2200 for an OEM clutch setup? For that price, it better include a new transmission!
 
Put a new cable in it and the problem will go away...seriously go to ford and buy one now...youll be happy you did


From what I have described you think it could be the cable? Reason I think its the tob because the past month it has been squeaking like it used to before the swap and steadily got louder. Also at idle I could hear a something like the bearing spinning making a tapping noise.