i have a 1990 5.0 lx hatchback and im having a problem shifting into gears. It kind of grinds as i go into 2, 3, and 4th. Now my father-in-law said it might be a clutch slave cylinder or something like that? Do i need a new clutch or a new transmission? i need help anything will do thanks
Once you get it into gear does it stay there or pop out? Can you fully engauge the gears with the engine off? There's no slave cylinders in our cars, they're manual clutches. Unless it's aftermarket hydralic or I'm totally mistaken, but every mustang I've seen and worked on had a manual clutch.
Assuming the car still has stock shifter and trans:
First start by adjusting the clutch quadrant (under the dash above the pedals), if that doesn't work, replace the cable, if that doesn't work, replace the clutch and clutch fork, if that doesn't work, take it to a trans shop and diagnose to be sure and replace or rebuild the trans. In that order.
I've had my fair share of problems shifting after my auto to manual swap, but I hope once my firewall adjuster and double hook quadrant arrive next week I will have finally worked out all the bugs.
If you need to I'm sure you can do a search and find directions on how to adjust the quadrant here in these forums, it's pretty easy, just ackward.
if it grinds when you go into gear but stays in and doesnt pop out then it sounds to me like a throw out bearing if so i would replace the clutch, preasure plate, get the flywheel turned and replace the rear main seal at the sametime to avoid further headache since you already got the transmission out
It sounds like you need synchros in your trans. If the clutch adjustment doesn't help, give your fluid a change and see if it looks like you have glitter floating around in the old fluid. That will probably give you the answer you're looking for without removing the trans.
Just offhand I'd vote for the clutch not disengaging all the way. My well-seasoned '88 GT has started doing this lately, especially when going into reverse. If I make very sure the clutch is all the way down, it's fine, but it's definitely time for a new clutch.
See if you have an adjustable cable. If not pick up on the clutch pedal hard, you should hear a few clicks, then drive it again. May need an adjustable quadrant/cable. I just did all of the new clutch cable, quadrant stuff to remedy a stiff pedal and grinding between gears. Pushes nice now but still grinds when shifting fast and pops out on decel in second. Mine needs rebuilt.