Dificulty shifting... help..

stang2004 · May 12, 2004

ok i have a pro 5.0, and the damn thing is quite notchy, and is difficult to shift. It does NOT grind any forward gears. However it grinds reverse under certain conditions. It will grind if im driving forward, and i need to stop, then go to reverse. If the car is off for a while, and i start it and put it in reverse there is no grind. Ive tried to put it into first, 2nd, 5th and 4rth before reverse, if i put it into 4rth before reverse it tends to cut down on the grinding, but not always.

anyway back to the forward shifting, It doesnt grind forward gears, if im cruising leisurely its not bad, i can negotiate the shifterbox pretty easy, however it doesnt go in smoothly, and is quite notchy, (like if im going to 2nd from first) ill pull back on the stick it will slide into neutral smoothly, ill pull it into 2nd, and it will start to slide in, hit some resistance and then kinda pop into gear with a little more pressure. if im shifting up to 3rd i push straight up, slides out of 2nd, hits 3rd, and it kinda pops into gear with more pressure, but sometimes it takes a second or two for it to 'Pop' into the gear. It makes it extremely hard to drive it fast and hard when im unsure if its going into the gears correctly. Anybody know what this could be? Clutch adjustment?

90_Red_LX · May 12, 2004

Same problem man. I'd love to know too.

blk92stangg · May 12, 2004

I would suggest maybe clutch adjustment. I find that the shift from N to 1st goes smoother if I rev engine slightly before shifting. I did the AOD T5 swap, and I chalk that problem up to a rough transmission. You can try changing your fluids to a higher cost one, as some people swear it smooths the shifting out.

On the other end of the spectrum, your tranny may have seen better days? Try double clutching when you drive next to see if that helps at all. (meaning rev the engine a few hundred rpms before you shift to the next gear)

Mephisto · May 12, 2004

I had the same issue with 1st gear. I found going from neutral to first was a major hassle.

Dropping into second first and then into first fixed the issue. It became such a habit that i do it with every standard now.

87'GTstang · May 12, 2004

First off, how many miles on the tranny. Second, when was the last time fluids were changed?

Synthetic fluids do in fact smooth out the shifting. To a certain extent, reverse is supposed to grind, it's a straight cut gear with no synchronization device. When excessive grinding occurs, the teeth can sometime be the culprit as can semi-bent shift forks. Those things are easy to bend from gear banging over the years in this tranny for some reason. A clutch that isn't adjusted will have problems shifting into any gear as it isn't releasing enough. And yeah, i'm surprised no one has mentioned worn ot synchro teeth - difficulty in engagin a gear causes this. Try also keeping it in a synchronized gear longer before going into reverse. What you're basically trying to do when you do this is to get the dog teeth on the synchro to grab and slow the rotation speed of the output/input shafts.

bgjohnson · May 13, 2004

you aren't moving when you put it into reverse are you, like slightly rolling back or forward just a little bit. because that will cause it to grind a little bit.

TT91 · May 13, 2004

ALL t-5 tranmissions needs to be put into another gear before engaging reverse.

SlowGT · May 13, 2004

Here's some INFO that may help you out.

And good luck bending a T-5 shift fork. You'll break it before it'll ever bend.

87'GTstang · May 13, 2004

SlowGT said:
Here's some INFO that may help you out.

And good luck bending a T-5 shift fork. You'll break it before it'll ever bend.

I encountered a T5 when being rebuilt that had the problem of difficulty in engaging 1st and 2nd gear. Yes bending a shift fork is not all that hard. Apparently the guy had nearly never changed the lubricant in it as it was very sludge like (for tranny oil) and extremely dark in color. In other words, heat up metal hot enough through abuse in this case and metal will go in whatever direction you want it to.

stang2004 · May 13, 2004

its not that it is hard to shift into certain gears, its just very stiff and notchy going into the gears, sometimes where it takes a second or two to put it into the gear. No grinding except reverse. I think im going to change the tranny fluid with some Redline and see if that helps to smooth it out,,, there is 96K miles on the tranny and engine. Im thinking it might be a semi bent shift fork causing the stiff shifting, crappy tranny fluid that hasnt been replaced ever. or a clutch that might be dragging. i didnt know if there was any bushings or anything that can be adjusted or replaced in the pro 5.0.

for comparison, if anybody has seen the calypso LX running the 1/4 mile and has so much torque that the rear view mirror flies off the windshield, and the center console opens up. When he shifts into first, and u can see the notchy ness, thats exactly how mine is,,,, is that normal? He also is shifting that really really hard....

89lxsport50 · May 13, 2004

What condition are your motor mounts in? It may sound strange, but when I replaced my worn motor mounts my shifting became noticably smoother. New fluid will help too.

88stangmangt · May 13, 2004

maybe your syncros are trash or you have the shifter stop's outta wack.

stang2004 · May 13, 2004

89lxsport50 said:
What condition are your motor mounts in? It may sound strange, but when I replaced my worn motor mounts my shifting became noticably smoother. New fluid will help too.

im having long tubes installed soon, so ill replace the motor mounts when the engine is jacked up

89stangLX5.0 · Apr 18, 2005

i've got the same issue, on an 89 LX 5.0, I have replaced with a new T5 tranny,Shifter, flywheel, clutch, cable, quadrant, motor and trans mount, aluminum drive shaft, you name it and it has been replaced, i had a friend do the work the first time and then had a shop look at it since it was still sorta hard to shift, they replaced the clutch with a spec stage 1 and its exactly the same, 1st to 2nd is very notchy and so is 2nd to 3rd, 3rd to 4th is ok and 5th is notchy as hell. There is no grinding or binding just a little tough to get into gear makes quick shifting hard, so i've gone down the "replace everything" route and it didn't work either, i've adjusted the cable back and forth, no good, replaced fluid with redline with the same results, i would say its worse when the car is hot. somebody has to have the answer

Dificulty shifting... help..

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