Transmission question

Quik03GT said:

Hey guys, pretty soon I'll be taking my car into the dealer to have them do something with the tranny. It grinds into 3rd pretty badly, but only under hard acceleration. I'm wondering if the dealer will even warranty this problem, seeing as it only happens when you rev the piss out of it and slam 3rd gear. And if they do warranty it, will they take the tranny apart and rebuild it or just put a new one in?


Thanks!

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first check to see if the clutch is adjusted properly. your 03 should have all the updated internals in your tr-3650 so I would start with the clutch adjustment.

99.999999 percent of the time these problems are due to clutch adjustment.

you clutch pedal should be three inches from the floor when the clutch disengages

to test this.

1. put car in first gear at a stop and keep your clutch pedal all the way to the floor.

2. very slowly while watching the tach let the clutch pedal out and see how far you have to let your foot come up when the rpm's start to drop or the car tries to move or stall.. it needs to be around 3 inches minimum.. ford says 2-3 but thats for granny shifting. Mine is closer to 4 inches.


this adjustment is critical because if you need to have your foot to the rug to shift into gear then you are not fully disengaging the clutch. a partially engaged clutch will cause grinding on high rpm upshifts, it can also cause difficulty getting into gear from a stop

Mustang5L5 said:

I think it's '04 that got the upgraded internals because my '03 was still covered by the TSB that replaced the 1st and 2nd gear and related synchros.

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Correct, it's the '04 models that supposedly got the T-3650s with upgraded internals. Lowering/changing my fluid eliminated the occasional third gear lockout I experienced.

3.0L (3.2 quarts) of Texaco (Havoline) DEXRON III as per Tremec tech advice that came out a few years ago.