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2011 GT shifter issues

Eagle

Nemo me impune lacessit
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After just returning from the power tour with the wife's 2011 GT, I can say for sure the trans is exactly what many owners say... flawed. I logged about 800mi with the car and can now say that I have a fairly good feel for any issues it may have. My issues are with 2nd gear. On several occasions the car felt like it would engage into 2nd gear just fine, then as soon as you let out the clutch pedal it would grind or kick out the shifter. This only happened a handful of times, but always with 2nd gear.

Stopped by the dealer with it yesterday, they're taking it in on Monday to have their "trans guy" take a look. My guess is that it'll come back with a clean bill of health... but I want to log the issue with them now, while its minor and the car is still under 12k miles.

In any case, its interesting that there are so many Mustang owners out there with trans issues, yet Ford continues to deny any kind of problem and blames everything on the owners. I really hope Ford doesn't make me regret our Mustang purchase.

Ford defends Mustang shifter from defect complaints - Yahoo! Autos

Earlier this year, federal auto safety regulators launched a defect probe into nearly 30,000 Ford Mustangs after dozens of complaints about their manual 6-speed transmissions. Now Fordā€™s provided its official reply: Thereā€™s no defect here, weā€™ve fixed what was wrong, and many of the problems are the ownersā€™ fault.

Fordā€™s detailed response to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration filed last month doesn't disclose a specific number of complaints, but does suggest roughly 900 reports to the automaker from 29,807 2011 and 2012 model year Ford Mustangs sold with the MT82 manual transmission. While Ford does face two lemon-law suits to buy back defective ā€˜Stangs, none of the reports blame the shifter for any crashes or injuries.

Ford and Getrag build the MT82 at a joint venture in China; the same design has been used by Getrag in other vehicles worldwide. Since it went into production in late 2010, Ford has made two mechanical changes, fixing a bolt that was prone to slipping out and recommending owners switch transmission fluids. But the complaints continued to grow after those fixes, with some owners flooding forums with reports that the repairs only halted their balky shifting temporarily. Several made videos showing the problems they had in gear-grinding detail, and concerns that a missed shift in traffic could lead to a wreck.

Fordā€™s letter to the NHTSA says while it had a few reports of mechanical trouble, the problem was inflamed by blogs, specifically forums that urged visitors to report problems to NHTSA with the phrase ā€œsafety concern.ā€ Thatā€™s the bright line U.S. auto regulators must cross when deciding whether a vehicleā€™s defect warrants a recall. A car may be riddled with balky parts, but as long as they donā€™t impede on safety, federal regulators canā€™t pressure automakers into a recall. (Automakers can issue their own recalls, often cloaked with the phrase "customer satisfaction campaign" or other such blather, that don't officially count as a safety recall.)

The automaker says the bulk of complaints come from an ā€œincreased social media focus by a couple of dissatisfied customers,ā€ along with ā€œimproper vehicle modificationsā€ and signs of vehicle abuse ā€” like rear tires worn more than front tires from burnouts. It also says "customer unfamiliarity" with the differences between the 6-speed and former 5-speed transmission, along with a skip-shift feature to boost fuel economy, added to the complaints.

With Ford's response, NHTSA now must decide whether to broaden its probe or close it, a call that could take months. Ford maintains the mechanical fixes have reduced complaints, and that for now it "has no plans for modifications."

What a bunch of BS. I also felt the skip shift on a few occasions, but occasions where I'd dispute its necessity. My issue isn't with skip shift though, its with simple engagement of 2nd, even while at a complete stand still.

We'll see what the dealer says.
 

SleeperLS

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Mine hasn't done it in 2nd...only in 4th. I am pretty sure it is due to not having the shifter engaged enough in gear. It is so notchy it is easy to feel that it is shifted into 2nd or 4th when in fact it needs to be pulled into gear a bit more. I pretty much think it is due to how much play is in the shifter. If you put it in gear when the car is off note how much you can move the entire shifter side to side. The car stays in gear but the entire shifter assembly is mounted so poorly it still has a lot of movement. It is this BS that makes me get why shifting sucks with the stock shifter.

I just ordered My MGW shifter a couple days ago. I hear I fixes the issues. If ford isn't going to fix it I sure am.
 

UWISHU1

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Sep 16, 2004
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Mine started whining at 15k miles when driving back from Florida.
I recently installed a (on sale for $125 @ LMR) SVE mongoose shifter and JHR billet trans mount and poly urethane bushing. Shifts are greatly improved and positive feeling.
208b8e2a-3776-9383.jpg
208b8e2a-3788-db82.jpg
 

Pressure Ratio

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Glen Ellyn
Needs more aftermarket shifter. This should have been done a while ago.

The shifter is a pretty good unit stock. Most after market shifters are not replacing the whole assembly. MGW is the only one who makes a aftermarket shifter that replaces the "shifter box". I drove one and I would be PISSED if I spent that much money and got the results I experienced.

I did the shifter bushing and shifter simular to what Angel did. It made the throws shorter (20%) but didn't change the feel of the shifting much at all. Again with the stock :shifter box" why would it?

No idea what China is all about... We'll see what Ford says. If they say it's fine, then it's bushing and shifter time.

You may want to do the braided stainless steel clutch line mod. The stock fittings have a small orifice. This limits the amount of fluid to the throw out bearing. It is a proven mod for these cars. As well as other hydraulic clutch cars. I think it helps disengaging the clutch faster in the pedal movement. What little issue I had with notchy shifting was cured by this mod. The pedal no longer has to go all the way to the floor to get a clean gear change.

Never seen that before and that's horrible. Never heard a cust complain and we have sold lots of 5.0's. I would be pissed if my car did that and I didn't abuse the car.

I can do that with any car if I don't pull it all the way in gear. It is not fully engaged for some reason. Being there is no external adjustment it must be a issue inside the trans. Unless the driver is stupid and not operating the trans correctly. Which you would think would be hard to do. But people seem pretty stupid now a days. :picard:
 

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Glen Ellyn
I drove my buddies car a couple of weeks after he installed it. First off it was LOUD! Humming noise in or out of gear. In normal easy driving shifting into the next gear caused a loud banging noise. That there alone I would take it out of my car.

The car has VERY close gates. And the offset 2-3 gate is nice to accomplish that gear change. But not needed as I never missed a gear with the stock shifter. All that would not bother me except that means the neutral gate was very small as well. So besides having a very notchy feeling I did not like that it was hard to find neutral. More times than not I felt the shifter was bound up in the middle of a gear instead of easily getting into neutral. Several gear changes up and down around town I found myself with no clue if I was in neutral or a gear.

For the cost of it I would never buy the current design of that shifter. I thought the stock shifter and Steeda bracket (poly bushing) was very good. It was precise with out feeling notchy and made no noise. Adding the $125 upper shifter was nice for the 20% reduction in the throw. But I bought it more for price of mind. I am rough on the shifter. The stock upper shifter has a thin stamped steel plate and plastic housing. I would be worried about breaking it under hard use.
 

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Glen Ellyn
He isntalled the heat shield and sound deadening the sell as an option. He said he wrapped the shifter brace to from the trans. Said that helped with the humming some.

I posted on SVTP about my experience. In a thread where someone else posted very similar observations. I took a beating from a lot of people. Some admitted they had the same issues but told me I just had to accept it and move on. Sorry I refuse to accept a a poor performing product. If they choose to do so then fine. Don't tell me I have to do so. The best were the ones who said I didn't know any thing and didn't know how things work. I laughed my ass off and just unsubscribed from the thread. Bun of idiots that assume my low post count means I know nothing about cars, physics, harmonics, sound waves and so on. If I wanted to waste my time I could have posted for days about that shit where I know no one would have a clue about.

That site pisses me off. hahaha I already disproved a mechanical engineer over there in another thread. That was awesome. At least he manned up and admitted he was wrong. Even though he fell back on the excuse that the thing we were talking about was not his field of study. I told him I was a drop out with no education in the field other than what I have read on my own and real world experience. lmfao It was entertaining at least. None of the other jack asses in the thread egging the guy on or talking shit said any thing after he admitted he was wrong. Imagine that. lol


ANYWAYS.... haha

Ya, You may like the MGW. If not many out there would love to be able to buy one right away if you don't like it either.
 

SleeperLS

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very true, I guess we will see here. It either meets my expectations and I use it or I can sell it right away and just eat a little bit of money. I really just want something that feels more solid and gives me a bit more confidence when I am banging trough the gears.

Really I am sure there are some serious MGW leg humpers out there. It looks to be a high quality shifter, but if it doesn't perform well then it kind of defeats the purpose.
 

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Glen Ellyn
You may be happy. If not maybe a shifter bracket alone will work for you. Or maybe a bracket and cheap shifter will. Hard to say until you try them out.

They people who complain about the issues but accept that is still a good shifter I think are just trying to justify to themselves that the expensive purchase was a good one.

To each their own. Everyone is entitled to their opinions I guess.
 
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