Official Tremec 3650 Issues Thread

lazerred03 · Oct 16, 2003

2003 gt bad trans

Last night I blew out 3rd gear on my tranny, It grinds really bad going intogear. It never particularly shifted well, it reminded me of a dump truck I used to drive. anyways I want in on this lawsuit, I have 10,500 miles on my 03 GT and I have tranny problems? This is BS, I want something done about this! BTW I live in Florence SC Anyone know of a sympathetic Ford dealer to my problems?

Ken Hoffman

2003 Mustang GT
Lazer Red STOCK

psnous · Oct 16, 2003

BMan5150 said:
For those that 1.) lowered their fluid level and 2.) replaced the synthetic fluid with a regular dino tranny fluid -

How's that working out for you? I'm about ready to give it a try, especially with the colder weather. My 1-2 and 2-3 are grinding a little worse now that the weather's a little cooler.

Works great, after my third warrantied tranny, I put about 100 miles on it and did the fluid change and shifter and absolutely love it, put about 4-5 thousand miles on it since and problems what so ever!!!!

psnous · Oct 16, 2003

stangonline said:
It still kills me that they will void your warranty for having an aftermarket shifter, which actually helps protect the tranny. Sad.

Jeff
www.stangonline.com - Mustang Auctions

Maybe your state laws are different but here they have to prove that a specific aftermarket part caused the part failure. They tried that with me when this first started happening and I said we'll see what the judge says, hired an attorney and contacted the dealer and they changed they're tune real quick.

psnous · Oct 16, 2003

dommustang said:
Hi! I just joined this forum. I just bought a 2003 Mustang GT 2 Weeks ago. I have the grind between first and 2nd. Also second to third can be a problem also. I guess I should have found this forum before I bought. I have no clue what to do. I see others have went to the dealer and they made the problem worse. I have a 1978 Camaro Z28 with a borg warner 4 speed trans. And this thing is great with 58,000 miles on it. I bought the Mustang because Chevy Didn't make a real muscle car. Please Let me Know what you think. Thanks for the help. Dom. P.S. I have only 286 miles on my Mustang GT.

Do the fluid change and get a shifter, should be fine then. Do it now before any damage is done.

psnous · Oct 16, 2003

BMan5150 said:
I read a post on this board a few weeks ago about how someone called TTC directly, and they advised them to reduce the tranny fluid to 3.2 quarts (????not sure on the exact amount) and go with a standard tranny fluid (non-synthetic.) I read a few people's post after they did this who said it dramatically helped the shifting action and pretty much got rid of the grinding. However, I never heard anything after that, and I've tried to solicit reposnses on this board.

Can anyone give us an update on this procedure?

Yes, DO IT!!!!!!! I did after my third tranny and I love car never felt any better even when it was new. I put Royal Purple in it. I don't think it'll hurt. I put a shifter in as well. I put 4-5k miles on it since and no problems at all.

lazerred03 · Oct 16, 2003

Missing the point

I think you guys are missing the point. I'm glad that some of us on the thread have found that changing the gear oil improves the function of the transmission. However it is not our responsibility as consumers to correct for the manufacturers mistakes. I also feel that we need to organize ourselves and present our case to Ford. This is clearly unaccepatable. We are all pretty mechanically savy people no doubt, but what of those who are not? It is our responsibility to speak up for these people who do not know any better than what the dealer and Ford tell them. This is precisely the reason why many people in America chose imports over domestic automobiles. If you like your good old American muscle like I do we need to keep the auto makers from lowering the bar on the quality of their product......

Kenneth Hoffman
Mechanical Engineer
Roller Bearing Company of America

STANG07 · Oct 16, 2003

Twisted said:
After reading several threads on this board as well as others. It is apparent that the Tremec 3650 Transmission has a known flaw. You can call it 1-2nd grind/clunk, cold gear clash, bent shift forks, whatever it is, it seems that Ford Dealers are told to tell you that "It's Normal"

I would like to get a list going of everyone that is experiencing difficulties. It is a long shot, but if we get enough people gathered maybe Ford will do something. Strength in Numbers.

I'll start the list:
Name Vehicle First Noticed Problems

Jason Prokosch 2002 Mustang GT 8000miles

JOHN BURLESON 2003 Mustang GT 2500Miles

lazerred03 · Oct 16, 2003

Kenneth Hoffman 2003 Mustang GT 10,450 lost 3rd Gear

Lets Keep this going

damongt · Oct 19, 2003

didnt get my car back yet but i did look at the updated fork. It is like twice the size, obviously stronger than the original. I'm gonna try to get pictures posted to show you guys how it looks. it should definetly fix my problem. i bent the **** out of the first one, it looks bad. the fluid was like molasses when we drained it, right full of brass.

joes snake · Oct 19, 2003

GoosyStang said:
Has anyone seen these pages before?

http://www.bullittarchive.com/reference/TSB/

http://www.bullittarchive.com/Misc/Tremec/

Interesting.....

GoosyStang,

Thanks for posting those very informative articles.

joes snake · Oct 19, 2003

There is one other thing that I wanted to mention. Has anyone ever driven a fox body stang with a Tremec? Those things were clunky and hard to get in gear, but the tranny was practicaly bullet proof.....that is what makes it much stronger than say a T-5 or T-45. I'm not saying that there are not problems but just saying that it was not built to shift like a BMW tranny.

ken44ny · Oct 20, 2003

Twisted said:
After reading several threads on this board as well as others. It is apparent that the Tremec 3650 Transmission has a known flaw. You can call it 1-2nd grind/clunk, cold gear clash, bent shift forks, whatever it is, it seems that Ford Dealers are told to tell you that "It's Normal"

I would like to get a list going of everyone that is experiencing difficulties. It is a long shot, but if we get enough people gathered maybe Ford will do something. Strength in Numbers.

I'll start the list:
Name Vehicle First Noticed Problems

Jason Prokosch 2002 Mustang GT 8000miles

ken o'brien 2003 mustang gt 1750 miles

Skud · Oct 20, 2003

Riley Foster 2002 Mustang GT 11000km

Riley

Jinx · Oct 21, 2003

mustom said:
Just got back from a meeting w/ Ford Field service engineer. He clarified the P/N confusion from my above post:

"AC" rev was for earler builds

"AE" rev is latest

"AB" is for the 6 speed (that's why it's a $1000 more)

He said the trany they took out and put in were the latest "AE" rev. I offered to pay the difference for the six speed, he said no. He recommend I use it and hope it really breaks before the warranty is up, or they come up with a real fix.
.....QUOTE]

If I've heard right??... the Ford Field service engineer told you "hope it really breaks before the warranty is up, or they come up with a real fix." then technically as a representative of Ford, he just admitted that a flaw with the transmission does exist.

wjgeorge · Oct 21, 2003

My warranty claim was denied.

I was able to get the same shift clunk on a T56 (New '03 cobra) on the lot.

On a flat surface, at a stop, put in the clutch and shift into first or second. You'll get a noticable clunk OUT OF THE REAR. You have to release then reengage the clutch to hear the noise again. I was actually able to get my car to move by doing this. Is this "syncro clash"?

Jinx · Oct 21, 2003

Rob Jole, 2003 GT; 6,154 Miles

I've noticed with mine the 1-2 grind only a few times from a cold start. I've also noticed that sometimes when I start up first thing in the morning that in order to get it into reverse to back it out of the driveway that I have to push and release the clutch 2 or 3 times before the shifter will even budge into R.

Hello from the Sunshine State

CuddaWuddaShuda · Oct 27, 2003

Motor mounts

I was on JEGS.COM today and I happened upon something relevant to this thread. This is from a PDF instruction sheet talking about solid motor mounts:

"Solid mounts limit engine movement and make linkages operate smoother."

The category of "linkages" includes your shifter and clutch - two areas highly relevant to the problems discussed here. As I have posted many times, I think many of the problems discussed here are due to improper drivetrain alignment, and the first thing all of you with shifting problems should check is your motor / transmission mounts. The text above is the second quote related to soft mounts / shifting I have posted - both from reliable sources. Furthermore, Mustangs are well-known for excessive drivetrain play. I am not suggesting anyone switch to solid motor mounts, but I do think you need to ensure your drivetrain movement is within specs. To my knowledge, none of you have followed my advice and that is why I don't take this thread seriously at all.

Why is no one listening? I can think of two explanations: 1) some of you have already ruined your transmissions and changing the mounts won't help that 2) some of you don't like me. As far as #1 goes, all I can say is that you need to be dilligent with your dealers and bring problems to their attention early on (as opposed to complaining about them here or trying to correct them with aftermarket parts.) As for #2, I understand that alternative viewpoints are rarely popular, but I must also point out that they are often true.

The other thing I will point out is that many of you are taking a basic maintenance issue and trying to turn it into a recall. I think you are giving a great transmission a bad name, and really detracting from a positive aspect of the Mustang (the 3650), which should be praised, not criticized.

Twisted · Oct 28, 2003

Missing the point!!

CuddaWuddaShuda,
You may be absolotely correct that the mounts are the cause of this, you maybe completely wrong. It doesn't matter what the cause is, FORD IS FAILING TO FIX IT!!!!.

I have been to the dealer 3 times for this issue. Same answer, no trouble found. "It is normal." Why would they have a service bulletin to lower the fluid level and change to synthetic. Do you think Ford engineers would check the transmission mounts and add that to the TSB if that could be the cause???

Also, this grinding/clunk only happens when it is cold. If it was poor alignment of the mounts the problem would happen all the time.

CuddaWuddaShuda · Oct 28, 2003

Twisted said:
CuddaWuddaShuda,
You may be absolotely correct that the mounts are the cause of this, you maybe completely wrong. It doesn't matter what the cause is, FORD IS FAILING TO FIX IT!!!!.

I have been to the dealer 3 times for this issue. Same answer, no trouble found. "It is normal."

I agree that you have been let down by your dealer. And I am not denying there is a problem here. But I don't think the root cause if the transmission itself. I think the problem is a breakdown in the maintenance (and in some cases the operation) of the vehicle. The fact that dealers aren't looking into something as simple as drivetrain play, and are instead disassembling or replacing transmissions, or ignoring the problem altogether, speaks volumes about where the automotive industry in this country is headed.

Twisted said:
Do you think Ford engineers would check the transmission mounts and add that to the TSB if that could be the cause???

People working in large corporations have a tendency to "complete" one project and move on to another. The people who designed the T3650 and the '99 Mustang are working on other things now and will not be rewarded by Ford for "wasting" any more resources on old products. We are a civilization with an amazingly short attention span, and large corporations are on the cutting edge of that trend.

Besides, human beings have an amazingly high threshhold for idiocy these days. One would think the Russians would have bothered to build a concrete wall around Chernobyl...

Twisted said:
Also, this grinding/clunk only happens when it is cold. If it was poor alignment of the mounts the problem would happen all the time.

It's true that this problem is aggravated by the cold. But that doesn't mean that it's not an alignment issue. All materials change shape (contract) in the cold. Motor mounts are no exception, and that affects alignment.

BMan5150 · Oct 28, 2003

Twisted said:
I have been to the dealer 3 times for this issue. Same answer, no trouble found. "It is normal." Why would they have a service bulletin to lower the fluid level and change to synthetic.

What is the TSB # you are referring to? I've not heard of an official TSB from Ford that advises the techs to lower the trans fluid level and switch to a sythetic. That doesn't even make sense since our trannies come from the factory with a synthetic oil.

Please post the TSB # you are referring to. The only time I've ever heard of this advice was when someone on this board called TTC Automotive directly and they advised him to switch to a DYNO oil and also lower the fluid at the same time. And I've tried to solicit some long-term updates on the few people that heeded this advice but got no response.

Official Tremec 3650 Issues Thread

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