My car's T45 shifts like crap!

soctty7676 · May 18, 2006

'98 Mustang GT Conv. 88,000 miles 5-speed.

Hey all, I had my tranny fluid changed about 6 months ago when a new clutch was put in. It did shift a little better after the change, but it has gotten progressively worse, particularly in 1-2 and 4-5 shifts. The tranny feels tight, but going into 2nd is pretty rough and going into 5th grinds sometimes.

I do have an adjustable firewall adjuster and have made sure everything is okay there.

After reading and searching the board, I have come to the conclusion I need to buy Royal Purple synthetic?? If so, exactly what type and where can I buy this? I would like to buy it this weekend and get er done!

Thanks!

mustangman9812 · May 18, 2006

Those are not good trannys. I have 2 friends that have had to get theres rebuilt. They have a weak 2nd gear I have heard. Maybe someone else can add-on because i dont know to much about manual mustang trannys just auto's for me

Mike97gt · May 18, 2006

the T-45 is a ok tranny.. it's been pretty damm good to me and we don't see to many problems with them at my work.

Any trans used in a high horsepower car is going to need work at some point. If you drive these cars normal with the stock HP the T-45 will last the life of the car. If you want to go fast you need to be ready for stuff to break.

JOHNS01GT · May 18, 2006

You mean grinding while shifting gears is a bad thing??

No, I have a T-45 in my stang and it grinds too. I highly doubt changing the fluid to Royal Purple is going to make it go away. However I am open to being proven wrong.

I am either going to eventually purchase a kit from Hanlon Motorsports, or end up getting a TKO or something. I have noticed that when shifting the car granny style is when it has problems, power/speed shifting and no problems. Messed up but that's how it is.

soctty7676 · May 18, 2006

That's exactly how mine is. If I shift it like a wussy boy, it grinds, hangs, etc.... But if I shift it like a real man, bangin gears, it goes right in no problem. Guess, I'll just have to start powershiftin everywhere I go from now on...Ha ha!

My clutch also chatters like a mother, would it still be appropriate to take it back to the shop and ask them to fix it, after all these months? I said it has been 6 months, but I think it has been more like 9 since it was put in.

Thanks.

squares98 · May 18, 2006

svttech76 said:
the T-45 is a ok tranny.. it's been pretty damm good to me and we don't see to many problems with them at my work.

Any trans used in a high horsepower car is going to need work at some point. If you drive these cars normal with the stock HP the T-45 will last the life of the car. If you want to go fast you need to be ready for stuff to break.

+1

If you treat it good when it's cold, and install a properly adjsuted short throw shifter , the T-45 will hold up fine. Ive found mine works alot better since I replaced all the aftermaket clutch adjusters with Ford OE parts. I've had a pro 5.0 on it since 10,000 miles, which I believe is a big contributor to the longevity of the trans. You can force a grind, or you can depress the clutch accordingly and never get grinds.

HoustonGT · May 18, 2006

soctty7676 said:
That's exactly how mine is. If I shift it like a wussy boy, it grinds, hangs, etc.... But if I shift it like a real man, bangin gears, it goes right in no problem. Guess, I'll just have to start powershiftin everywhere I go from now on...Ha ha!

My clutch also chatters like a mother, would it still be appropriate to take it back to the shop and ask them to fix it, after all these months? I said it has been 6 months, but I think it has been more like 9 since it was put in.

Thanks.

Mine does the exact same thing as well Gotta love it when you're just relaxing, driving along, shifting nice and slow and all of the sudden chhhhhrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrzrzzztztztztzt....POS

DTNODYA · May 18, 2006

The thie third to fourth transition is smooth on mine.

Skidzz · May 18, 2006

2nd, 3rd, and 4th all grind when mine is cold. Doesn't bother me much because I know it's ok once it warms up. What pisses me off is me 4th gear. If I pull it down into 4th hard, it grinds EVERY time. It doesn't matter if I've been driving it for 2 minutes or 2 hours, I always have to be gentle going into 4th.....it sucks.

mity2 · May 18, 2006

Both T-45 i had shift like poooo.

next time it go boom, i'll say hello to TKO

JayC · May 18, 2006

Sounds like several of you have clutches that don't dis-engage properly. Do this simple test.......with motor idling and trans in neutral.
1. Depress clutch....raise pedal one inch off of floor.
2. In one smooth motion put trans directly in reverse.

If you have ANY grinding at all, your clutch is either not adusted properly or your clutch is defective.

Good shifting and long life are a product of a good clutch set-up and proper maintenance.

Jay

stng · May 18, 2006

The T-45 in my current GT has always shifted absolutely perfectly, I mean never once has it made any noise. However, my 96 Cobra would always grind from 1st to 2nd if I was trying to shift fast in the upper RPM's. I did two things, and between the two I would say that it cut down on the grinding by at least 50 percent. 1. I put in mobil 1 synthetic, this helped a great deal in all driving conditions. This alone cut down on my grinding problems by 50 percent. I would never have believed it if someone told me that it would help, but it did, big time. I also put in a Steeda Tri Ax, and this helped quite a bit as well, but I dont think I would go with a Tri Ax now... This was several years ago so I really cant remember which of the two helped more, but the combination of the two really made a big, big difference. The transmission would still grind occasionally while shifting fast near redline, but I would say this combination cut it down from almost every time, to probably one shift in 8.

DTNODYA · May 18, 2006

JayC said:
Sounds like several of you have clutches that don't dis-engage properly. Do this simple test.......with motor idling and trans in neutral.
1. Depress clutch....raise pedal one inch off of floor.
2. In one smooth motion put trans directly in reverse.

If you have ANY grinding at all, your clutch is either not adusted properly or your clutch is defective.

Good shifting and long life are a product of a good clutch set-up and proper maintenance.

Jay

When I shift into reverse like you said, I have a quick grind and it goes in gear. What would be the best way to go about adjusting my clutch. I know that sounds stupid probably but I honestly don't know how to adjust my clutch (98 GT). I have a Haynes but it sucks. Someone learn a brotha sumthin' :SNSign:

slow96mustang · May 18, 2006

my t45 recently took a crap on me. my countershaft bearings decided they didnt wanna be around anymore, along with my nice stamped steel shift forks. after agreeing with everyone on the t45 being "crap", i called d&d performance and asked about what they thought about me just buying a tko also... don sr, which is who i talk to everytime i call or go there, and is the owner of the company, told me that the t45 is actually one of the better transmissions for the mustangs, as long as you know how to shift, and have a decient aftermarket shifter on it. he said, that they're tourque rating of only 320ft lbs is a very strict rateing tho. he said as far as a nice, easy trans to actually go threw the gears with, that, it was the easiest trans to find the gear with, one of the quieter opperating ones, and he has only seen maybe a handful of them go bad IN STOCK CARS. he talked me back into one again, as the trans i bought came out of a 01 saleen, that ran 12.5's consistiantly. of corse something stock is gonna go bad.
so i agree with many others on here, buy a good shifter, actually let the trans warm up some before you start beating on it, and just maintain it the way it should be anyways. trans fluid aint too much more then oil, do it while changeing your oil one day.

four six · May 18, 2006

My old T-45 was grinding like a mother. So I put a 3650 in my GT. Shifts great now

My car's T45 shifts like crap!

soctty7676

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mustangman9812

Mike97gt

it doe snot

JOHNS01GT

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soctty7676

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squares98

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HoustonGT

Gilded Gelding

DTNODYA

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Skidzz

Tinkerbell

mity2

I like Pro3 and all I got was this crappy CT.

JayC

stng

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DTNODYA

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slow96mustang

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four six

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