New guy checking in

DSG03MACH1

New Member
Feb 6, 2004
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Hi folks. My name is Joe and I am a proud new owner of a 03 MACH 1. I just purchased it last weekend and I am totally thrilled with it. I was doing some reading on any problems with these cars and came upon the tranny issue with the TR3650. I'm not too happy about this. When I first picked the car up I got this clunk when shifting. I figured that it was due to me being a bit out of practice on a manual tranny. The last one I had was a 93 Z28 a couple of years ago. But still I thought it was rather strange. It doesn't do it all the time either. Only when I granny shift and still not all the time then either. If I get on it and shift hard and fast it works beautifully. I think I'm gonna wait till I have more prominent issues before trying to address this any further. I have a friend that works at a Ford dealer as a repair tech. Maybe when the time comes I can get it worked out without too much of a hassle. My car only has about 140 miles on it. To have problems this soon is quite disturbing to say the least. Anyway, I just wanted to stop in and introduce myself. Take it easy folks.

Joe
 
That is a known problem for the 3650. This is my second car with that trans and I'm sure it will make the same noise. It will usually go away after the car is warm. If the problem continues just take it to the dealer and have them look at it. My 02 did the same thing, but it went away after the car was warm. After 34K of ripping into second the trans never had any problems. One thing I will tell you....get a short throw shifter ASAP. The stock one is like throwing to China.

Congrats on the new ride!!!!
 
DELOS02GT said:
That is a known problem for the 3650. This is my second car with that trans and I'm sure it will make the same noise. It will usually go away after the car is warm. If the problem continues just take it to the dealer and have them look at it. My 02 did the same thing, but it went away after the car was warm. After 34K of ripping into second the trans never had any problems. One thing I will tell you....get a short throw shifter ASAP. The stock one is like throwing to China.

Congrats on the new ride!!!!
Yeah, I've already thought about getting a new shifter. Might as well wait till spring though. Weather here sucks right now. Car is covered in the driveway.

It doesn't go away when it warms up (the clunk). It almost sounds like it's the clutch grabbing or something. Really doesn't sound like it's coming from the internals of the tranny. I'll have to pay close attention now that I know that are possible issues here. I have not driven it since yesterday before the storm. I learned of the problem just today.

Thanks for the welcome :)

Joe
 
DSG03MACH1 said:
Yeah, I've already thought about getting a new shifter. Might as well wait till spring though. Weather here sucks right now. Car is covered in the driveway.

It doesn't go away when it warms up (the clunk). It almost sounds like it's the clutch grabbing or something. Really doesn't sound like it's coming from the internals of the tranny. I'll have to pay close attention now that I know that are possible issues here. I have not driven it since yesterday before the storm. I learned of the problem just today.

Thanks for the welcome :)

Joe
i cannot accurately describe what exactly happens, but what you are talking about is not a problem with the tranny, it has to do with the way the tranny and rear end connected, ford told me that on that 1-2 shift, it is the torque unloading or something...i dunno what exactly, but im pretty sure it will go away in a few thousand miles like mine did
 
just some guy said:
i cannot accurately describe what exactly happens, but what you are talking about is not a problem with the tranny, it has to do with the way the tranny and rear end connected, ford told me that on that 1-2 shift, it is the torque unloading or something...i dunno what exactly, but im pretty sure it will go away in a few thousand miles like mine did

That makes me feel a bit better, I hope it does go away. But on the other hand if it was the torque unloading it makes more sense that it would hapen when pushing the clutch in. I get the noise when I let the clutch out and it engages the gear. Who knows, maybe I just need to get a bit more used to the charactersitics of the car. Still though, I'll be keeping the senses sharp when crusing. Tomorrow I'll be visiting my good friend that is a Ford tech. I'll have him take it for a drive. He's quite a motor head and should be able to tell me exactly what is going on. He services all my vehicles, builds all my motors and does all my performance mods anyway. This guy has a sick 84 Ranger with a stroked and blown 302. I'm normally a Chevy guy so we have a lot of fun busting each others balls from time to time. I'm sure he was tickled pink when I told him I bought a MACH.

Thanks again for the help,

Joe
 
DSG03MACH1 said:
That makes me feel a bit better, I hope it does go away. But on the other hand if it was the torque unloading it makes more sense that it would hapen when pushing the clutch in. I get the noise when I let the clutch out and it engages the gear. Who knows, maybe I just need to get a bit more used to the charactersitics of the car. Still though, I'll be keeping the senses sharp when crusing. Tomorrow I'll be visiting my good friend that is a Ford tech. I'll have him take it for a drive. He's quite a motor head and should be able to tell me exactly what is going on. He services all my vehicles, builds all my motors and does all my performance mods anyway. This guy has a sick 84 Ranger with a stroked and blown 302. I'm normally a Chevy guy so we have a lot of fun busting each others balls from time to time. I'm sure he was tickled pink when I told him I bought a MACH.

Thanks again for the help,

Joe
Welcome. where you from Joe?
 
FallenPhoenix said:
guy I work with has an '03 and he says 1-2 bites a bit when cold. I think he said something about adding synchromesh additive or something too. Sorry, this was after ~6 hours straight at work :(
dude, that is different, that is the friggin 1-2 gear grind.
 
Dan_Soprano said:
Crappy weather the last few days huh!! Freakin' cold today!!!!!!!!
Yeah, it figures too. The weather hasn't been all that bad and then as soon as I decide to buy a car nothing but crap. It's been sitting in the driveway under cover for the past few days. Anyway, I visited my friend today at home, he's the Ford tech. I let him take it for a whirl and all seemed fine to him. The slight clunk when the gear engages is normal depending on how the car is shifted. He checked the official ford tech bulletins and found this complaint listed but it also said it was rather normal. This website is only accessible to Ford employees with a password. This puts my mind at ease for now. I must get a tri ax though. I missed a shift twice today due to the sloppiness of the stock unit:mad: I vowed I wasn't gonna mod this thing, YEAH RIGHT :D You guys are gonna have to bear with me and my ignorance for some time to come. Like I said, all I have ever owned till now are camaro's and firebirds. I look forward to learning all about my new found pride and joy.

Joe