Advice on 5 speed

BobL

Member
Established Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2021
Messages
32
Location
Foley Alabama. 36535
First I have to say thank you to have responded and have been right on. My 98 Mustang Cobra SVT Convertible has been in and out of the shop the whole month of December. I have had them do a number of things for me, like new calipers, new pressure plate, throw out bearing, shocks, struts, ect. Regarding the transmission, it’s a 5 speed and although they have seemed to replace everything, I have had to take it back numerous times for clutch peddle adjustment, as you had to depress the peddle all the way to floor to some times engage the gear without grinding. They keep telling I need this and that, then they give it back still not done. They have been good to me, but I am tired. The most recent pick up, they finally got it right, almost. But putting into reverse is like grinding hamburgers, in eventually slides in, but only after listening to the gear crunch. No other gear, just reverse, I have replaced everything in the tranny, except the tranny. I know it must be an adjustment, but he mentions it’s easy, just getting under the car to replace a plate. He makes it sound so easy, so why did he not detect it.

Any ideas out there. All other gears are fine, just reverse…

Thanks guys…..Bob
 

cobracide

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2002
Messages
9,236
Location
Somewhere in 1945
1) Try another place, your trans/clutch issues seem to be out of their league. Try an/another- Trans specialist.
2) Clutch cable mods to consider for having more control over cluch adjustment -
2a) firewall adjuster
2b) clutch pedal quadrant
2c) adjustable clutch cable
Steeda makes all the above parts

2d) adjustable pivot ball

The clutch catch point depends on the pivot ball adjustment.
 
Last edited:

5.0 Hatch

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Messages
1,152
Location
Gulf coast
Maybe it was just my luck but I had many mustangs and everyone I had with a grinding trans was something internal to the transmission. Never a clutch, cable, etc.
 

xblitzkriegx

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
May 24, 2010
Messages
1,410
Location
Earth
Reverse in the t45 is always going to give you problems, it's a design flaw.

I had to dig to find this again:

****Unfortuantely the T45 had a design flaw which caused abnormal wear on the reverse syncro and blockers. It is also prone to jumping out of reverse. The design utilises a dual shift fork design and they are prone to being bent which causes uneven engagement when shifting. This uneven movement of the fork is what is wearing out your syncros prematurely.

Yes it can be fixed, but it is going to happen again. Whether it happens again while you own the car depends on how long you keep it.****

That was from a Tremec tech on allfordmustangs back in the day.


Stop forcing the gear, you're damaging the trans. Put the trans in another gear first, then reverse. From a dead stop, most people have the best luck with 4th, then reverse. Sometimes, putting it in 1st, moving literally one inch forward, then reverse will make it drop right in. Sometimes, a bird has to be flying over your house on a Saturday afternoon while a butterfly lands on a flower in a field, then it'll drop right in.
 

Tillerman77

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2016
Messages
452
Location
Minnesota
Reverse in the t45 is always going to give you problems, it's a design flaw.

I had to dig to find this again:

****Unfortuantely the T45 had a design flaw which caused abnormal wear on the reverse syncro and blockers. It is also prone to jumping out of reverse. The design utilises a dual shift fork design and they are prone to being bent which causes uneven engagement when shifting. This uneven movement of the fork is what is wearing out your syncros prematurely.

Yes it can be fixed, but it is going to happen again. Whether it happens again while you own the car depends on how long you keep it.****

That was from a Tremec tech on allfordmustangs back in the day.


Stop forcing the gear, you're damaging the trans. Put the trans in another gear first, then reverse. From a dead stop, most people have the best luck with 4th, then reverse. Sometimes, putting it in 1st, moving literally one inch forward, then reverse will make it drop right in. Sometimes, a bird has to be flying over your house on a Saturday afternoon while a butterfly lands on a flower in a field, then it'll drop right in.
+1
 

xblitzkriegx

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
May 24, 2010
Messages
1,410
Location
Earth
To add a personal note:

I bought my 97 Cobra when it had 20,000 miles on it and it currently sits at 93,000. Reverse was a problem from day one. 4th to reverse works most times. When it's extra cranky, 1st and an inch roll forwards then reverse works 100% of the time.

Recently replaced the clutch with an oem Valeo replacement (not a king cobra clutch). Previous clutch was about 60% worn at 90,000 miles and the new clutch made no difference in reverse engagement.
 

crazycarlo

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2005
Messages
6,116
Location
Savannah, GA
I had my 98 cobra for 7 years with most of them being daily driven and 6 of those being supercharged. Not once did I ever have any sort of issues with the T45. Everyone used to tell me it would break but I never launched the car and it didn’t have drag tires.

With that being said IF you don’t already have th I would highly suggest a Maximum Motorsports stock style clutch cable and an after market firewall adjuster and quadrant. Personally after I saw the quality of the McLeod firewall adjuster it’s all I would ever use for a cable clutch. The clutch quadrant I got a FRPP one on Amazon.
 

Users who are viewing this thread



Top