Frustrated Beyond Belief

[silvercoffin]

i have had it with my car. I am actually thinking about selling it again.

I spent over $3000 between a new RPM Transmission, clutches and labor and it still doesnt shift right. On the street it is inconsistantly sloppy...sometimes feels smooth as could be and goes right and other times it bumps into gear. This isnt the usual T56 sloppy this different.

At the track I have had better luck with the new trans getting into 4th gear, but I have missed 3rd gear almost every run. This isnt the usual 3rd gear miss. This is 3rd refusing to go in as I sit with the clutch to the floor pushing hard.

What sucks the most is that the guy that did my work doesnt think anything can be wrong except something with the trans, but I think something else has to be wrong.. After the first clutch I had done by this guy I noticed a problem with 2nd gear.. seems to get better as it heats up i thought, but I never had this bad double bump in 2nd before. Now 2nd and 3rd are problematic sicne he installed my trans and clutch.

What really sucks is I just dont have the time and money to get more work done to the car.

What also sucks is that because the car feels ok on the street, shops will drive it and tell me its ok. I KNOW its not ok. I wonder if I even needed a new trans to begin with.

I guess I'll just put it away for the winter and try to forget about the freakin car.

After seasons of 11 sec passes, I ran one lousy 11.9 all season long... and my car is ok RIGHT.

 

[Iron Fist]

Sounds like you have a problem with the valve bodies sticking.

 

[CobraBob]

Where did you buy the transmission? Have you discussed this with them?

 

[ViciousJay]

what parts internally did you go with? mine still feels notchy but not as bad as it did when i first got it.... it takes time to get used to....

 

[Fuerza]

I would contact RPM and discuss it with them. Tell them it wont go into gear in high RPM shifts.

 

[silvercoffin]

...

I WENT WITH RPMS LEVEL FIVE TRANS..ALL THE BEST and 26 spline with steel retainer sleave

I guess ill call them....just did (but i dont know what they can say) the first trans they sent clicked so they sent this one out... I just dont think its the trans because I had similar trouble with my stock trans and both of theirs...although I didnt get the first RPM trans to the track.

On the street all gears feel randomly sloppy.... IM not talking about notchy.. that I like... sometimes it feels like butter (the way RPM described) but then the next shift it bumps once or twice on its way in. Feels like a clutch issue..

My shift fork moves in and out about 1/2 inch. When I move it in one direction it freezes up the forks forward and back movement. Once I free it up and drive the car its shifts great. BUT NO ONE BELIEVES ME and will just take it apart to check this out. Im still arguing with my mechanic about it. He is sure its not the fork...

I just read this ...............

"Attach the new cable to the clutch fork and then route it through the engine compartment and finally through the firewall. Adjust the cable at the firewall until there is little to no play in the clutch pedal, but allow the cable to flex back and forth about 1/2 inch at the clutch fork. Replace the inspection cover and you're done"

What does flex BACK AND FORTH mean? side to side when you are grabbing the cable or in and out like the fork moves?

I am still wondering if its a clutch adjustment but I have gone so tight with it already that I doubt it.

WHAT IS THE POINT OF THE LDC FREEPLAY KIT IFYOU ARENT SUPPOSE TO HAVE ANY FREEPLAY?

Maybe I should pull that spring off the cable and see if it work better without it.

 

[P49Y-CY]

how is it when going into reverse?

 

[flyn high again]

It sounds to me like your clutch cable isn't adjusted properly. Regardless of what RPM says, there is supposed to be approx. 1/8" of freeplay in the clutch cable. Dana can give you much more info than I can. Send him a PM and I bet he can explain things.

 

[Lethalchem]

It sounds like you have an extreme version of what my car does. I don't know a fix for it, but at least I'm not the only one confused about what the issue may be. My tranny is stock. I'd love to find out why it shifts so poorly.

 

[BAFRAID]

Do you have an aftermarket firewall adjuster/clutch quadrant? If not, I would highly recommend getting one (still waiting to get one for mine). Everyone I have talked to that has had shifting problems got these parts installed and said the car was a completely different animal. VERY smooth shifts, no grinding, no hesitation. I'm ordering one pronto....

 

[big blue oval]

Well......... concidering that all things are correct, clutch, trans, shifter ect.....There is another issue you can investigate. Although it's virtually impossible to check on the T-56 set up in these cars....Bellhousing Index... all belhousings need to be checked for proper indexing to the block, what that means is the centerline of the bellhousing has to be with in +or- .005 or .010 total missalignment with the pilot in the crankshaft. If the missalignment exceeds .010 it can put a side load on the input shaft witch can prematurely wear the mainshaft to inputshaft rollers and input shaft bearing or impose a side load on the mainshaft causing all kinds of strange shifting issues especially when warm. Unfortunately the bellhousing on these cars is impossible to check due to the fact that it is a slpit bell, with the engine side having way to big of an opening to use a dial indicator on, not to mention it's irregular shape. If all else fails,Trans, clutch,shifter ect... replace the bellhousing.

 

[silvercoffin]

...

I have an adjuster, quadrant I bought them when I first started having trouble with my original trans. I also have a pro 5.0..the second one i bought to make sure it wasnt the shifter.

I have had the cable to 1/8 inch and it still didnt shift right.

RPM hasnt told me anything.. What I quoted earlier was MMFF Magazines write up.

JDM ENgineering repsonded to me and said the same "NO SLACK IN CABLE BUT NOT TOO TIGHT"

That doesnt help much does it?

I am going to take the LDC freeplay kit out and try with out it. The spring doesnt stay straight on it so maybe thats doing something weird.. I doubt it because my original stock trans was shifting bad before I put the LDC kit on.

HMMmmm seems like only thing left is clutch fork... stange how when I push it in the car shifts better..

I am noticing a chirp now when I press in the clutch.

 

[Cobreezy]

I'm having the same issue. :mj: Two weeks ago, I had the clutch cable replaced with a stocker. The aftermarket cable was frayed at the clutch pedal end and was about to snap. :cuss: It caused the car not to get into gear and I would have to pull over to adjust the firewall. After the replacement, the shifting was a lot better and I noticed that the clutch engaged about half way, where as when I had the bad cable in, the clutch engaged right away. Well, today I noticed that the clutch seemed to engage close to the floor again. Not quite at the floor, but at about a couple of inches from the floor. I also have the LDC free play kit. I'm replacing the pilot bearing, TOB and sleeve soon cause my car is chirpin like there's no tomorrow. I'm guessing this is a common problem with those that have switched to the 26 spline input shaft?:shrug:

 

[BAFRAID]

I have an adjuster, quadrant I bought them when I first started having trouble with my original trans. I also have a pro 5.0..the second one i bought to make sure it wasnt the shifter.

I have had the cable to 1/8 inch and it still didnt shift right.

RPM hasnt told me anything.. What I quoted earlier was MMFF Magazines write up.

JDM ENgineering repsonded to me and said the same "NO SLACK IN CABLE BUT NOT TOO TIGHT"

That doesnt help much does it?

I am going to take the LDC freeplay kit out and try with out it. The spring doesnt stay straight on it so maybe thats doing something weird.. I doubt it because my original stock trans was shifting bad before I put the LDC kit on.

HMMmmm seems like only thing left is clutch fork... stange how when I push it in the car shifts better..

I am noticing a chirp now when I press in the clutch.

You're saying when you push in the CLUTCH FORK or when you push in the clutch? If you're saying you have to push the clutch fork back up into the bell housing because it's not hooking onto that ball correctly, that could be your problem right there. I had the same thing happen to my clutch fork, one of the prongs got a little bent and it wouldn't grab that ball and stay up in the bell housing. As a result, the fork wasn't engaging the TOB properly and was in fact bouncing off the side of the bellhousing when I had the clutch pedal pushed in. I could hear this "pinging" sound, very regular, very consistent, and when I checked it out it was the fork bouncing back and forth. I replaced the clutch fork with just a stock Ford part, and now that it grabs that ball properly, it works perfect. You could be putting quite a bit of strain on your TOB if that fork doesn't line up properly. Check it out and see what you can figure out. The clutch fork isn't really that much, I think it was like $40 from the dealer. Hope it helps, Let me know....

 

[jm@ReischePerf]

Seems like the clutch cable has to be pretty tight to be able to get enough disengagement for these cars to shift properly. My clutch ended up engaging pretty close to the top of the pedal before it started shifting better.

 

[silvercoffin]

...

Hmmm thats interesting... I do get a ping sound now every time I touch the clutch and then it goes away.

My mechanic says its not the fork. Hes sure its ok. So I guess I have to get someone else to take it all apart again for me which isnt going to happen until next season. This sucks.

I called RPM and they dont answer and dont return my call.

They never called me after I returned heir first trans to them because it clicked all the time. They were supposed to let me know what was wrong with it and whether or not I coudl keep my stock trans to make up for the extra labor. I already payed twice to have the job done because of that....now im going to pay someone again...assuming i can get someone to take it apart when it seems ok on the street.. I know the fork is only $40 but I will have to pay someone to take everything apart again.

Ill probably have to wait until I blow up the throw out bearing or clutch before Ill be able to get someone to actually take it apart. FFFIn car

 

[04torchred]

If your cable is falling out of the clutch fork that sounds to me like the clutch is adjusted way too loose. Can you jack it up and get us a picture of it. Where is the clutch picking up off the floor if you hold your foot on the brake and just slowly let the clutch out until it starts to grab and almost stalls. Sorry to hear about the problems.

 

[BAFRAID]

^^^+1 Jack up the car, take off the dust cover for the clutch fork (1 10mm bolt I believe), and take a picture. That might help out a little more. Also, while you're under there, try and move the fork side to side in the bellhousing. Not front to back like it normally operates with the cable, the other way. Let us know what you find out....

 

[03yellow]

Iv'e been thru 3 clutches so far. As they were going out the each had simular issues as you are having now. I'm currently running a RAM clutch and its the best o far

Try speed shifting....If you cant do it....Its generally your clutch and TOB.

I'm sure your replaced your TOB with the new clutch..correct???

Its very, very rare that these trans go out... or have issues.

I'm betting on a bad TOB or the clutch was not installed correctly or needs adjusting.

Hers how I adjust my clutch cable for a starting point. I pull on the cable from the engine side till I feel some solid resistance(you'll feel it stop fairly hard) Adjust until cable pulls away from the firewall about 1/8 to a 1/4 of an inch of play.

 

[03yellow]

I noticed you have the DFX clutch. That could be your issue. The the disk pucks fall apart quickly. Mine lasted 6 months when HPP pulled it out, we all responded the same way..what a piece of junk....very poor quality disk. Heat was being transferd everywhere;my tob was cooked.
I'm much happier with the RAM clutch.
Centerforce does make a good clutch but its not the DFX...you need more surface area on the disk, not the small pucks that fall apart.

I'm having the same issue. :mj: Two weeks ago, I had the clutch cable replaced with a stocker. The aftermarket cable was frayed at the clutch pedal end and was about to snap. :cuss: It caused the car not to get into gear and I would have to pull over to adjust the firewall. After the replacement, the shifting was a lot better and I noticed that the clutch engaged about half way, where as when I had the bad cable in, the clutch engaged right away. Well, today I noticed that the clutch seemed to engage close to the floor again. Not quite at the floor, but at about a couple of inches from the floor. I also have the LDC free play kit. I'm replacing the pilot bearing, TOB and sleeve soon cause my car is chirpin like there's no tomorrow. I'm guessing this is a common problem with those that have switched to the 26 spline input shaft?:shrug: