Took the car to the dealer. Please help

[04silversnake]

I took the car to the dealer to have a few things done. Still under warranty. First of all, not very good luck with the rep. Was not being very helpfull. Well, I mentioned the following:
1. The car is hard to get in gear, specially reverse. I mentioned to him about the TSB 04-13-4. I did a lot of reading on this tsb, but all I saw is squeaking TOB, nobody mentions being difficult to get in gear. The rep said, this car you are supposed to put it in 1st before reverse. Sounds like BS to me. Is this True? Will that be sufficient to perform the TSB?
2. The famous squeaking when turning the terring wheel.
3. Radio clock falls behind approx. 5 mins. per week.
4. other minor things.
I am more concern about the 1st one.

 

[HISSMAN]

Find another service dept.

 

[Cobra03FLA]

Hey buddy take the car to Maroone Lincoln Mercury on Northlake blvd in lake park. They always take care of me and they will give you a rental. (usually a pretty decent one. Eric

 

[BLK04]

I took the car to the dealer to have a few things done. Still under warranty. First of all, not very good luck with the rep. Was not being very helpfull. Well, I mentioned the following:
1. The car is hard to get in gear, specially reverse. I mentioned to him about the TSB 04-13-4. I did a lot of reading on this tsb, but all I saw is squeaking TOB, nobody mentions being difficult to get in gear. The rep said, this car you are supposed to put it in 1st before reverse. Sounds like BS to me. Is this True? Will that be sufficient to perform the TSB?
2. The famous squeaking when turning the terring wheel.
3. Radio clock falls behind approx. 5 mins. per week.
4. other minor things.
I am more concern about the 1st one.

I had the same problem shifting with my car. I changed out the stock quadrant w/ a fiore and also added fiore's firewall adjuster. My car shifts like butter now. As far as good service departments Ive heard good things about Wayne Akers ford on lake worth road, and palm beach lincholn mercury.

 

[CobraBob]

I never heard of having to put your car in 1st gear before reverse. Sounds like the usual dealer B.S. to me. I'd find another dealer. Seems that Eric has a pretty good one for ya!

 

[04silversnake]

I had the same problem shifting with my car. I changed out the stock quadrant w/ a fiore and also added fiore's firewall adjuster. My car shifts like butter now. As far as good service departments Ive heard good things about Wayne Akers ford on lake worth road, and palm beach lincholn mercury.

That is a good solution. As a matter of fact, I should be getting the fiore kit this week. I think this will help a lot, specially that my clutch grabs very low to the floor. But I decided to take it before I install this parts, hoping they replace them while on warranty by the revised TOB in that TSB. If they refuse, I will try another dealer, I am a little far from Palm Beach, but if they dont resove this here, will drive up there.
Thanks,
Franck

 

[04silversnake]

I never heard of having to put your car in 1st gear before reverse. Sounds like the usual dealer B.S. to me. I'd find another dealer. Seems that Eric has a pretty good one for ya!

I have never heard of such thing either, if he insist on that, I will ask to point out in the manual where does it says to shift like that.

 

[N2DAMYSTIC]

Please let me know what you find out about the clock. Mine is doing the same thing?????

 

[tv's 03]

Mine had problem going in reverse.

I received a new trans. My service receipt said a bad sychronizer and bent shift fork

 

[03sn8kbite]

The dealer is bowing smoke up your As*. I have noticed that many Ford dealers will do this. I went through this already. Call up SVT and report this........They will fix your ride.

 

[CWCobra]

I've probably been driving longer than many of you guys have been alive, and this old geezer can tell you that the "shift-into-1st-before-reverse" technique works. I've been driving straight shifts since 1967, and that is a tried and true technique for shifting to reverse when a direct shift won't go in gear. I don't know the mechanical theory behind it, but it works. Some of the vehicles I've used it on: 1969 Dodge p/u. 1982 Supra, 1987 RX-7, 1990 SHO, 1995 Cobra, 1997 Cobra, 2003 Cobra. Try it-it works.

Later,
CW

 

[esqeddy]

Please let me know what you find out about the clock. Mine is doing the same thing?????

This is because you are spending too much time going fast. Einsteins theory of special relativity demonstrates that time is relative to velocity. By going so fast, you have slightly shaved off about 300 seconds of time over a week or so.

Drive slower and the problem won't show up.

;-)

 

[Fleck 5]

The forward to reverse thing does work but it is still a BS answer.

You problem could be the clutch adjustment. These cobras have a self adjusting clutch. I don't think that it works well and can probably lead to premature clutch wear. I know that BMW has had troubles with their self adjusting clutch as my co-worker had his M5 clutch replaced with only 15,000 miles and the dealership covered it even though clutches aren't supposed to be covered under their warranty.

Your manual tells you how to adjust the clutch. If you turn the car off, put it in first gear and lift up on the clutch pedal and you will feel it adjust. Then push the pedal in. Repeat it a couple times to get enough adjustment. I have to do this in mine as the clutch seems to grab too late and it helps some. I think that the guys who are putting a firewall are fixing the self-adjusting problem.

 

[fr03cobra]

mine was hard to get into gear, my wife got it(it had 5 miles on it) while I was oversea's when I got home she had a bruised hand trying to get it into first gear and reverse. Ford replaced to TOB,clutch and tranny under warranty.

 

[03sn8kbite]

I had to play the first to reverse game, but since my tranny was fixed I have not had to do this.........yet :banana:

 

[flyn high again]

The aftermarket clutch adjuster and quadrant will probably solve your problem provided you don't have actual tranny or fork damage. Occasionally the car may be tough to get into first or reverse even with the adjuster. Try pushing the clutch in and releasing and then pushing it in again. That works most of the time. The stock adjuster sometimes works, sometimes doesn't.

 

[JMD0346]

Adjust your stock quadrant. I bet that fixes it.

 

[tomshep]

I've probably been driving longer than many of you guys have been alive, and this old geezer can tell you that the "shift-into-1st-before-reverse" technique works. I've been driving straight shifts since 1967, and that is a tried and true technique for shifting to reverse when a direct shift won't go in gear. I don't know the mechanical theory behind it, but it works. Some of the vehicles I've used it on: 1969 Dodge p/u. 1982 Supra, 1987 RX-7, 1990 SHO, 1995 Cobra, 1997 Cobra, 2003 Cobra. Try it-it works.

Later,
CW

It has to do with the synchronizers in the tranny--or lack of in reverse. Synchros can be thought of as "pre-gears" that stop the actual gears from spinning and align them so the gears can mesh and engage properly. Reverse does not have a synchro so there are times the gears don't line up properly. However, by going to a synchro gear and getting engagement and then going to reverse you line the reverse gears up.

Tom

 

[FireRed04Vert]

It has to do with the synchronizers in the tranny--or lack of in reverse. Synchros can be thought of as "pre-gears" that stop the actual gears from spinning and align them so the gears can mesh and engage properly. Reverse does not have a synchro so there are times the gears don't line up properly. However, by going to a synchro gear and getting engagement and then going to reverse you line the reverse gears up.

Tom

NOT TRUE on our trannies! The T56 has synchros in reverse. Don't believe me? With the car slowly rolling forward, shift it into reverse...it will go just fine with zero grinding. Your service rep is FOS.

If your problem going into reverse is getting the shifter into the reverse gate, have them look at the lockout solenoid. I had mine replaced. You can still get it in reverse when that fails, but you really have to smack the handle over to override the lockout solenoid.

 

[lucafu1]

Reverse never had synchros in the old trannys like the T-5. Going from 1st to reverse is a old school 5.0 trick.