Question about Shifting procedures on 02 GT

If you only had the car for a few weeks and your not used to the mustang shifter,they are really sloppy from the factory. But you may have something wrong with yours. It shouldn't be that hard to get it into gear, even in 50 degs and it's an 02..I would put in an aftermarket one for sure.

After market shifter for sure, stock s--ks!!! I can shift with anyone, and miss third often... I've put up with it for a year, and getting it done VERY shortly...

derek02gt said:

Ive been told not to ride the clutch alot is this true?in my old ls1 I had my foot on the clutch at stoplights sometimes just waiting to ease it into first.is this a bad thing to do with the mustang, also, when switching gears, is it recommended to press the clutch all the way down?or just half way?or does it not matter?

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With any manual transmission, it's not a good idea to either ride the clutch (drive with your foot on it while it's engaged), or to hold it in continuously and needlessly. Wears out the throwout bearing. No good reason to do either. Of course, if you find yourself in a situation where you really feel the need to make a quick get-away, have it in gear with the clutch in. But if you're just sitting at a light whiling away the hours - take it easy on the clutch springs and throw-out bearing.

As far as pushing the clutch down only half way, there are down sides both ways. Excessive clutch travel is harder on the clutch (springs and throwout, again) than it needs to be - loads both of them up more than necessary. On the other hand, not pushing it in far enough to completely disengage is going to make shifting harder (you sound like you're experiencing that), and be harder on the synchro rings in the trannie. The answer is to push it far enough to shift smoothly, without too much over-travel. On a stock car, especially if you're trying to shift fast, I'd just push it all the way to the floor. It's too hard to coordinate a precise distance in a rush - you're faster just slammin' it to the floor and hammering the shifter. (Hammering the shifter, by the way, is much better done with an aftermarket shifter - the stock ones a bit too vague.) If you're really hung up on pushing it only far enough to fully disengage it (which isn't a bad idea), an old racer's trick is to mount an adjustable stop (a nut welded to a plate, welded to the floor, with a bolt sticking out of it - maybe 1/2 inch diameter or so) below it on the floor to limit travel. Then you simply adjust to to where it needs to be, and use continue using the "slam it to the floor" routine - but you've made "the floor" adjustable. But you may have just added another, more frequent, service issue. Either making sure on a more regular basis that the clutch adjuster in the cable assembly is adjusted more regularly, or adjusting the stop, or, possibly even both. That, and you've now got a bolt sticking through the carpeting.

Get yourself a new shifter (Tri-Ax or Pro 5.0 or the like) - you'll like it a lot better - much more precise - you just pop it into 1st gear, and then row it back and forth - the spring pressure finds the gates for you (and they're much closer together - so it doen't take much to pop it into place - the springs do it just fine).

Have fun!

By the way...50 degrees isn't cold. Trust me. (I've been driving my '02 in 20 below weather the last few days. That DOES make it shift a little stiff - and ride a little stiff!)

If you've seen the Tremec 3650 thread, then you are aware of some of the problems with that transmission. The 1/2 and 2/3 shifts in my '04 are definitely notchier than in any other car or truck I've had. However, I don't feel like anything is grinding or abrading; it's just not as smooth as I'd like.

At the same time, after reading some of the 3650 horror stories, I will keep knocking on wood like crazy

As far as the shifter goes, the throw on the stock shifter is too long, but I'm not putting in a tri-ax or Pro5 until I feel reasonably comfortable that the shift forks or synchros are not going to crap out me. Don't want to void the warranty, and I know an aftermarket shifter will do just that.

nm im retarded

Just another note about sitting at a light with the clutch pedal depressed: it loads the crankshaft thrust bearing something awful too. You're basically trying to push the crankshaft out of the front of the engine, applying an axial load directly to the thrust bearing. Engine revs are low, oil pressure is low and the thrust bearing, AFAIK, is not pressure fed directly.

It may not be a problem for the 4.6 but hey, as Huck noted, there's no reason to otherwise do this so just don't