Blew 5th gear

merc123

Active Member
Jan 27, 2003
420
2
39
North GA
Never thought I'd see the day when I blew out 5th gear. I was driving to work today and had cruise set on 75. The car was pulling up a hill and I felt it surge a little bit then I heard a weird whirring sound. Not quite like grinding a gear but close. I pulled it out of 5th and put in 4th and had no issues. I went to put it back into 5th and as soon as I released the clutch it made a semi-grinding sound and when I applied the gas it just revved the motor. Needless to say I limped the car to the dealer (another 30 miles) in 4th gear. With 3.73's on the highway in 4th gear is NOT fun. I was cruising at 60 MPH @ 3,000 RPM. The tranny sounded terrible the whole time probably from the metal chunks flying around in it now. Anyway, I get to the dealer and unbeknownst to me I was supposed to transfer ownership of the 100,000 ExtraCare warranty into MY name and they tell me they can't fix it until I get it changed over. So now I have to pay $50 and wait 10 days for it to get changed into my name, which is not guranteed because I had some TSB's fixed by a Ford dealer previously under my name so Ford Corporate might kick it back.

Any ideas if Ford kicks back the warranty transfer? How hard is it to rebulid the 3650's 5th gear?
 
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the 3650's are a craps shoot. You either get lucky, or you get screwed. I personally have been lucky... mine makes funny noises, but never grinds, holds up to over 550RWTQ and I beat it like crazy. However, I have seen many fail for what seems like no reason. For $1650 you can get a performance built 3650 shipped to your door. No core BS. Straight bolt in, no changing anything....

I got mine from RPM transmissions.

HERE'S A LINK:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TR3650-3650-TR-3650-4-6L-Mustang-transmission-Tremec_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33733QQihZ014QQitemZ330023538421
 
I've been lucky as I've only had the TSB fix done on mine. The tranny has taken a thrashing too because I learned how to drive stick on it but I figured it would be 2nd or 3rd, never 5th.

If Ford won't fix this I'll pay the $1400 to get that performance one. Ours uses the electronic speed sensor, right?
 
I've been lucky as I've only had the TSB fix done on mine. The tranny has taken a thrashing too because I learned how to drive stick on it but I figured it would be 2nd or 3rd, never 5th.

If Ford won't fix this I'll pay the $1400 to get that performance one. Ours uses the electronic speed sensor, right?

Yes, electronic speed sensor. All you would need is the tranny I sent you in the link. There are no additional parts required.

Hope Ford takes car of you though... They have screwed me a few times, hope your luck is better.
 
Never thought I'd see the day when I blew out 5th gear. I was driving to work today and had cruise set on 75. The car was pulling up a hill and I felt it surge a little bit then I heard a weird whirring sound. Not quite like grinding a gear but close. I pulled it out of 5th and put in 4th and had no issues. I went to put it back into 5th and as soon as I released the clutch it made a semi-grinding sound and when I applied the gas it just revved the motor. Needless to say I limped the car to the dealer (another 30 miles) in 4th gear. With 3.73's on the highway in 4th gear is NOT fun. I was cruising at 60 MPH @ 3,000 RPM. The tranny sounded terrible the whole time probably from the metal chunks flying around in it now. Anyway, I get to the dealer and unbeknownst to me I was supposed to transfer ownership of the 100,000 ExtraCare warranty into MY name and they tell me they can't fix it until I get it changed over. So now I have to pay $50 and wait 10 days for it to get changed into my name, which is not guranteed because I had some TSB's fixed by a Ford dealer previously under my name so Ford Corporate might kick it back.

Any ideas if Ford kicks back the warranty transfer? How hard is it to rebulid the 3650's 5th gear?


It's not uncommon for the 5th gear countershaft needle bearings to let go on these. The only way to find for sure is to pull it apart.

Did you have 1-3 gear?
 
Let us know how it goes. Sorry to hear that. Did you ever stress the tranny?

Other than some spirited driving, not really. I mean, who doesn't bang some gears every now and again..


It's not uncommon for the 5th gear countershaft needle bearings to let go on these. The only way to find for sure is to pull it apart.

Did you have 1-3 gear?

I have every gear but 5th. Reverse felt funny and it could have been chunks of the gear getting caught between the teeth of the reverse gear though. It almost seemed like reverse was binding some how. I still have 1, 2, 3, 4 with no problems. They don't grind or feel any different.
 
Yes, electronic speed sensor. All you would need is the tranny I sent you in the link. There are no additional parts required.

Hope Ford takes car of you though... They have screwed me a few times, hope your luck is better.

I doubt Ford will take care of me. They have screwed me a LOT in the past. If they don't come through I'll just get this new tranny. Save me the time of taking out my Tri-ax when it goes into the dealer ;)
 
Don't keep driving it like that or you could damage reverse too. They're on the same shaft, no? When I broke reverse in my GT, 5th was sloppy as hell. You shoulda seen that thing when the mechanic pulled it apart. I had pictures somewhere...teeth in the bottom of the tranny case and two gears and the clustershaft (?) were stripped.
 
Don't keep driving it like that or you could damage reverse too. They're on the same shaft, no? When I broke reverse in my GT, 5th was sloppy as hell. You shoulda seen that thing when the mechanic pulled it apart. I had pictures somewhere...teeth in the bottom of the tranny case and two gears and the clustershaft (?) were stripped.

It's parked. When Ford gets ready to take it in (if they take it in) I'm going to trailer it to the dealership. It's only about a 2 mile drive from the house to the dealer so it may not be bad but I don't like those pieces floating around.

What caused it to go though?
 
It's parked. When Ford gets ready to take it in (if they take it in) I'm going to trailer it to the dealership. It's only about a 2 mile drive from the house to the dealer so it may not be bad but I don't like those pieces floating around.

What caused it to go though?

I wouldn't say it really "went". A few beers at lunch + Supercharged car + stock tranny + neutral drops into reverse = shrapnel. :bang: But the mechanic said some of the parts in there weren't looking too good as it was, so maybe I did it a favor.