notchiness in t-45 only while moving

2000fordstanggt · Sep 23, 2007

I was cruisin over to the local ford dealership with my boy, to look at a sonic blue terminator for him and out of no where it got really hard to shift. when i parked and turned the car off it got easy to shift again. the car sat for about 45 minutes while we looked around. when i pulled out same thing again, but when i got home and turned it off it got easy to shift again. i searched and couldnt find anything exactly the same. i wasnt driving it hard or anything when this happened. so what do you guys think could be wrong?

SVT32VDOHC · Sep 24, 2007

It is not your T45. People will say T45 is crappy....bla blah blah!!!!

Your clutch is not fully disengaging. This happened to me in my 96 Cobra. Hard to get into gear at a complete stop. Turn it off...goes right into gear. It also pops out of reverse sometimes. It will also roll forward at a stop while the clutch is pushed in.

Try this...for now.....When coming to a light, or a stop, put it in first gear while you are rolling....keep the clutch pushed down untill you stop. The trans will be hard to get out of first...but it's okay. Just take off and drive. My car has been like this for 3 summers. I don't want to fix it untill I need a clutch. I have L/T headers so I dread the labor cost of a clutch job.

2000fordstanggt · Sep 24, 2007

the 1st to 2nd shift is notchy as is the 3rd to 4th shift. you really have to pull it into gear..is that still the clutch?

2000fordstanggt · Sep 25, 2007

i just drove it and this seems to happen mostly after the car is warmed up.

SVT32VDOHC · Sep 25, 2007

YES!! Exactly man...that is mine here too!!! It is really really nice for the first few miles. But after that...I have to shut my car off to get it into gear. But, like I said, if I am rolling to a light I can put it into gear, stop, but then I can't get it out of gear. I can take off fine, but then shifting to 2nd and 3rd gears are hard. It is the clutch not disengaging. IT really sucks.

2000fordstanggt · Sep 25, 2007

SVT32VDOHC said:
YES!! Exactly man...that is mine here too!!! It is really really nice for the first few miles. But after that...I have to shut my car off to get it into gear. But, like I said, if I am rolling to a light I can put it into gear, stop, but then I can't get it out of gear. I can take off fine, but then shifting to 2nd and 3rd gears are hard. It is the clutch not disengaging. IT really sucks.

what do you think could be done about it?

smasher41 · Sep 25, 2007

change/ check your fluid for starters if old.

do you still have the stock clutch quadrant? mine stripped out and wasnt allowing the cable to tighten up all the way.
firewall adjuster and metal quadrant fixed that.

2000fordstanggt · Sep 25, 2007

smasher41 said:
change/ check your fluid for starters if old.

do you still have the stock clutch quadrant? mine stripped out and wasnt allowing the cable to tighten up all the way.
firewall adjuster and metal quadrant fixed that.

yep i still have the stock quadrant. ill be changing the fluid in the next couple days. its funny though this came out of no where so id think it was more of an adjustment problem. is there anything i can do with the stock quadrant and firewall adjuster? upgrading that is planned in the future but i cant do it right now.

smasher41 · Sep 25, 2007

keep reseting the adjustment, you can pop the car in neutral and do it at the light if needed.
sounds like its slipping teeth to me.

2000fordstanggt · Sep 26, 2007

smasher41 said:
keep reseting the adjustment, you can pop the car in neutral and do it at the light if needed.
sounds like its slipping teeth to me.

adjust it by pulling up on it?

SVT32VDOHC · Sep 26, 2007

Pull up one click, then push down, and it is set.

This may help, but did not work for me. It could be cable, quad, PP

Changing fluid will not help you

I tried fulid twice.

2000fordstanggt · Sep 26, 2007

SVT32VDOHC said:
Pull up one click, then push down, and it is set.

This may help, but did not work for me. It could be cable, quad, PP

Changing fluid will not help you

I tried fulid twice.

i didnt think the fluid had anything to do with it. but since i just got the car it needs to be changed soon anyway. is there any way to adjust the stock firewall adjuster?

Mike97gt · Sep 26, 2007

If the pulling up on the quadrant does not fix it then the quad is screwed up. It's supposed to automaticly adjust, if it does not you can either replace it with another stock one, get a aftermarket one with firewall adjustment or there is a way you can manually set the stock one but it's kind of a pain to get under there to do it. What you want to do is tighten the cable.

BTW there is no firewall adjuster for the stock quad, it's that srping loaded automatic adjustment or follow this tech article from another site

http://www.corral.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=97&Itemid=26

2000fordstanggt · Sep 26, 2007

svttech76 said:
If the pulling up on the quadrant does not fix it then the quad is screwed up. It's supposed to automaticly adjust, if it does not you can either replace it with another stock one, get a aftermarket one with firewall adjustment or there is a way you can manually set the stock one but it's kind of a pain to get under there to do it. What you want to do is tighten the cable.

BTW there is no firewall adjuster for the stock quad, it's that srping loaded automatic adjustment or follow this tech article from another site

http://www.corral.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=97&Itemid=26

i actually have that article printed out and sitting in my back seat right now. i understand how it works and everything but theyre talking about a bending a metal tab to leave it in the position you set and i cant figure out what metal tab theyre talking about.

2000fordstanggt · Sep 27, 2007

2000fordstanggt · Sep 28, 2007

ok scratch what i said about the quadrant. i got up under there and im pretty sure everything is fine there. is it possible that the clutch cable isnt adjusted right at the trans or are those two bolts under the shield just for adjustable cables? or is there something to adjust there with the stock cable. it feels like there too much slack in the cable.

Mike97gt · Sep 28, 2007

2000fordstanggt said:
ok scratch what i said about the quadrant. i got up under there and im pretty sure everything is fine there. is it possible that the clutch cable isnt adjusted right at the trans or are those two bolts under the shield just for adjustable cables? or is there something to adjust there with the stock cable. it feels like there too much slack in the cable.

read the article again. That is the only way to adjust the cable. there is no other adjustment point.

What happens on these cars is over time the spring loaded automatic adjuster does not take up the slack fully then you end up with a loose cable.

Nothing is going to look broken on the quadrant, it's just not working right. There was a TSB on this back in the day ford had us replacing the quadrants with another junk ford one that will just do the same thing in a few months.

MyStangGT · Sep 28, 2007

The cable is self adjusting via the quadrant ratchet. No other adjustment is possible with the stock setup. I have a 100K on a stock quadrant with no troubles with the quadrant itself.

I bought my 99 with 20K on it and the T45 was aweful from the start.

I did make a custom cruise switch holder/pedal stop to lower the pedal some. This actually results in less pedal travel but hasn't seemed to hurt anything. Another thought I had on this was the possibility of the stock arrangement having to much travel. I also added a UPR shifter. I changed my fluid to 10w30 Vavoline synthetic blend and added some rear end friction modifier. I replaced the clutch at 80K. No complaints at all with the way it shifts now. Each mod seemed to help some but not sure if the new clutch didn't make the most difference.

You could have a pilot bearing going out which would cause the input shaft to turn even when the clutch is disengaged.

Mike97gt · Sep 28, 2007

MyStangGT said:
The cable is self adjusting via the quadrant ratchet. No other adjustment is possible with the stock setup. I have a 100K on a stock quadrant with no troubles with the quadrant itself.

I bought my 99 with 20K on it and the T45 was aweful from the start.

I did make a custom cruise switch holder/pedal stop to lower the pedal some. This actually results in less pedal travel but hasn't seemed to hurt anything. Another thought I had on this was the possibility of the stock arrangement having to much travel. I also added a UPR shifter. I changed my fluid to 10w30 Vavoline synthetic blend and added some rear end friction modifier. I replaced the clutch at 80K. No complaints at all with the way it shifts now. Each mod seemed to help some but not sure if the new clutch didn't make the most difference.

You could have a pilot bearing going out which would cause the input shaft to turn even when the clutch is disengaged.

His quadrant is not self adjusting right.. I have seen this a thousand times. If you want i will post the TSB they had out on this. Some of the stock ones last a lot longer, some people notice it more because of clutch height preference..

Could it be a bad pilot bearing.. Yeah it's possible but highly unlikely. I think he should start with a free manual adjustment ( he needs to follow that article I posted to him) then if it don't work have somebody who has more working knowledge of these clutch setups do a clutch adjustment and I bet it will be fixed.

BTW you can self adjust it with the stock quad using the info in that article that I posted. I have gotten cars back into the shop with broken self adjusters that way

I have had customer cars that I found undriveable because you needed to bury the pedal to the run to get the clutch to disengage but the customer seemed ok with it??? I guess some people don't power shift?

a large percentage of mustang owners drive 1 mustang and does not know the difference between driving a car with a good adjustment compared to a serviceable adjustment that will get you by. I have worked on and driven hundreds of mustangs and I can tell you that even a brand new factory quadrant the adjustment is still going to be off but serviceable. For regular grocery getting driving this is ok but when you shift at high RPM's and you need that little bit extra clutch air gap for a smooth 1-2 shift you will be glad you invested in a firewall adjuster and learned how to use it.

My last mustang ( 01 gt with T-45) made all kinds of noise when up shifting especially in cold weather or at high rpm's sometimes it even binded up in first or reverse... I got it at a steep discount because some idiot mechanic that should sell his tools told the previous owner that the tranny was junk and it was going to cost thousands to fix.. I did the trick in that article I posted and it was as good as new and shifted butter smooth.. later I added a firewall adjuster and got it spot on for perfect blend of air gap at high rpm's and clutch wear.

2000fordstanggt · Sep 28, 2007

svttech76 said:
His quadrant is not self adjusting right.. I have seen this a thousand times. If you want i will post the TSB they had out on this. Some of the stock ones last a lot longer, some people notice it more because of clutch height preference..

Could it be a bad pilot bearing.. Yeah it's possible but highly unlikely. I think he should start with a free manual adjustment ( he needs to follow that article I posted to him) then if it don't work have somebody who has more working knowledge of these clutch setups do a clutch adjustment and I bet it will be fixed.

BTW you can self adjust it with the stock quad using the info in that article that I posted. I have gotten cars back into the shop with broken self adjusters that way

I have had customer cars that I found undriveable because you needed to bury the pedal to the run to get the clutch to disengage but the customer seemed ok with it??? I guess some people don't power shift?

a large percentage of mustang owners drive 1 mustang and does not know the difference between driving a car with a good adjustment compared to a serviceable adjustment that will get you by. I have worked on and driven hundreds of mustangs and I can tell you that even a brand new factory quadrant the adjustment is still going to be off but serviceable. For regular grocery getting driving this is ok but when you shift at high RPM's and you need that little bit extra clutch air gap for a smooth 1-2 shift you will be glad you invested in a firewall adjuster and learned how to use it.

My last mustang ( 01 gt with T-45) made all kinds of noise when up shifting especially in cold weather or at high rpm's sometimes it even binded up in first or reverse... I got it at a steep discount because some idiot mechanic that should sell his tools told the previous owner that the tranny was junk and it was going to cost thousands to fix.. I did the trick in that article I posted and it was as good as new and shifted butter smooth.. later I added a firewall adjuster and got it spot on for perfect blend of air gap at high rpm's and clutch wear.

its maxed out on the quadrant, its at the end of the teeth. i know i need a new quadrant but i thought it was strange that i couldnt adjust it anymore. thats why i thought it could be something in the cable. i know these suck stock and wasnt trying to say youre wrong. i was just thinking maybe something else like a bad cable was the cause. because of it being at the end of the quadrant itself. whats the deal with that?

notchiness in t-45 only while moving

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