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Strange things I've noticed after 3,000 miles...

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Alright, I've got 3,000 miles now in a little over 6 weeks. I won't always be doing that much mileage, just did a couple of road trips. Anyway, a few observations and questions.

I've noticed recently that at light throttle, up to around 3000 rpm in 1st thru 4th gear, I can feel this very minor surging/hesitation going on. Almost like the throttle is being minutely adjusted constantly. Very strange. Anybody else seen this?

I've also noticed that I NEVER get the tiny little synchro nibble when shifting from 1st-3rd, only when going from 2nd-3rd. Again, just seems odd. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

Oh, and I still freaking love this car! Even if the tranny is crap.
 
Someone described that phenomenon as trailer hitching I believe. I think they said it had something to do with the way Ford programmed the tune. As far as the nimble I get that occasionally too.
 
Haha love the name! I get the "trailer hitching" in two spots when driving at about 1/4 throttle between 2k and 3k every time.

Is there anything they'll be able to do for it if I take it in? I don't want someone joyriding my car for nothing.
 
CPTMac689 said:
I've noticed recently that at light throttle, up to around 3000 rpm in 1st thru 4th gear, I can feel this very minor surging/hesitation going on. Almost like the throttle is being minutely adjusted constantly. Very strange. Anybody else seen this?

I've also noticed that I NEVER get the tiny little synchro nibble when shifting from 1st-3rd, only when going from 2nd-3rd. Again, just seems odd. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

Doesn't sound like anything to worry about.

With a modern computer controlled engine there are definitely going to be small adjustments being made. Part of the reason all my motorcycles still have good old fashioned throttle cables and carbs. Regular key or TracKey or both or other tune?

Tiny little synchro nibbles are probably not a big deal either, especially when cold. Does it get better after the transmission has warmed up? The difference in going from 1st-3rd versus from 2nd-3rd could be a result of a couple of things such as a difference in MPH when making the shift or even the amount of time it takes to make the shifts. Double clutching should also help.

George
 
OK, so at least I'm not crazy or imagining things. Actually, so far that's been my biggest problem with this car. I'm so unfamiliar with its characteristics that it's difficult for me to evaluate noise, vibration, etc. In a BMW, Porsche or VW I can pretty quickly "feel" issues. I need more time in the seat, not just in my car but other Mustangs also, in order to get familiar with its "personality".

I'm actually putting the exhaust discs back in tomorrow so that I can get a better listen to what's going on.
 
VTBoss302 said:
CPTMac689 said:
I've noticed recently that at light throttle, up to around 3000 rpm in 1st thru 4th gear, I can feel this very minor surging/hesitation going on. Almost like the throttle is being minutely adjusted constantly. Very strange. Anybody else seen this?

I've also noticed that I NEVER get the tiny little synchro nibble when shifting from 1st-3rd, only when going from 2nd-3rd. Again, just seems odd. Anybody have any thoughts on this?




Doesn't sound like anything to worry about.

With a modern computer controlled engine there are definitely going to be small adjustments being made. Part of the reason all my motorcycles still have good old fashioned throttle cables and carbs. Regular key or TracKey or both or other tune?

Tiny little synchro nibbles are probably not a big deal either, especially when cold. Does it get better after the transmission has warmed up? The difference in going from 1st-3rd versus from 2nd-3rd could be a result of a couple of things such as a difference in MPH when making the shift or even the amount of time it takes to make the shifts. Double clutching should also help.

George
Yeah, I was mainly just curious about the throttle. Like I said, it's just odd. However, the tranny is truly a POS. I get the "nibble" from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd, probably on 25% of the shifts. Doesn't matter whether it's cold or not. Did 2 five hour road trips last week. Did it just as often at the end as at the beginning. Also, last week it suddenly started whining. Sounds like I put a blower on the car, except mounted it in the trunk! ;D

It's going in on Thursday to have the tranny looked at. I'll see what happens then. I do love the car and have no intention of selling or trading. However, I will be really unhappy if I have to install a $6500 replacement because Ford cheaped out. I won't do that until later though. It's perfectly drivable, just not up to snuff for what a "track car for the street" should have. If it dies Ford can buy me a new one. When it's out of warranty then I'll put in what shoulda been in there to begin with.
 
Can you describe the nibble? I get a different feel going into gears depending what gear I am coming from. Sometimes after it gets past the syncros (at least I assume that is what the 2 clunks are) it has a third one right at the end plus I have had various other issues with the tranny and clutch/brakes. Sucks because it is such a great car otherwise.
 
CPTMac689 said:
Alright, I've got 3,000 miles now in a little over 6 weeks. I won't always be doing that much mileage, just did a couple of road trips. Anyway, a few observations and questions.

I've noticed recently that at light throttle, up to around 3000 rpm in 1st thru 4th gear, I can feel this very minor surging/hesitation going on. Almost like the throttle is being minutely adjusted constantly. Very strange. Anybody else seen this?

I've also noticed that I NEVER get the tiny little synchro nibble when shifting from 1st-3rd, only when going from 2nd-3rd. Again, just seems odd. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

Oh, and I still freaking love this car! Even if the tranny is crap.

I literally have all of those issues that you described. I have just over 2500 miles in 10 months of ownership. I also have that nice rear end whine from around 78-85mph. I'll be bringing it in for it's first oil change very soon, and can't wait to hear what excuses the dealership comes up with :(
 
CPTMac689 said:
Yeah, I was mainly just curious about the throttle. Like I said, it's just odd. However, the tranny is truly a POS. I get the "nibble" from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd, probably on 25% of the shifts. Doesn't matter whether it's cold or not. Did 2 five hour road trips last week. Did it just as often at the end as at the beginning. Also, last week it suddenly started whining. Sounds like I put a blower on the car, except mounted it in the trunk! ;D

It's going in on Thursday to have the tranny looked at. I'll see what happens then. I do love the car and have no intention of selling or trading. However, I will be really unhappy if I have to install a $6500 replacement because Ford cheaped out. I won't do that until later though. It's perfectly drivable, just not up to snuff for what a "track car for the street" should have. If it dies Ford can buy me a new one. When it's out of warranty then I'll put in what shoulda been in there to begin with.

Ah, it is starting to sound like you may have some issues that require further investigation.

You're doing the right thing in having it looked at, especially since the "nibble" does not get better or disappear altogether after you reach normal operating temperature. (Un)fortunately, if it does it about 25% of the time, it shouldn't be too hard for a tech to duplicate. The whine could be transmission related, but I also wouldn't be surprised if it was coming from the final drive.

One other thing I forgot to mention. When I had TracKey software installed, I noticed a very slight (almost imperceptable) hesitation when quickly going to WOT from around 3000 rpm with the red key. After I doing the 5 minute cam position relearn procedure with the grey key (as outlined in the TracKey instructions), it seems to have completely vanished.

George
 
I haven't done the Trackey yet because the dealer will not call me back on it but I have done the idle relearn to try to fix the hesitation to no avail. Mine doesn't seem to be present at WOT, just about 1/4 throttle or so.
 
I'd call another dealer, maybe they are ignoring you since they don't know how to do it. It only takes an hour so even if it is a bit of a haul to get to another dealer you can just stay and watch. I didn't go to my usual dealer for it because they had never installed one.
 
I think that's why. They said they had done one before then tried to tell me I had to buy and program a whole new key in order to do it.
I just laughed and told them to research it and give me a call. That was about a month ago. I might just take it 2.5 hours to Albuquerque to get it.
 
Well, she's in the shop today to get the tranny looked at. (Not so) patiently awaiting the verdict...

Oh, it's a Roush dealer and I spoke with their Roush/Performance tech. Seemed to be a good guy and he and the dealer are very mod friendly. He also mentioned that the "trailer hitching" seems to be fairly common on the new 5.0 engine, particular due to its aggressive engine management computer (by that I mean very actively making changes as opposed to older, more passive systems). After thinking about it, it makes sense that it would be more noticeable with a manual vs automatic. No torque converter to absorb the feeling of constant, minute throttle adjustments.
 

batman48195

I never get tired of driving it!
CPTMac689 said:
Well, she's in the shop today to get the tranny looked at. (Not so) patiently awaiting the verdict...

Oh, it's a Roush dealer and I spoke with their Roush/Performance tech. Seemed to be a good guy and he and the dealer are very mod friendly. He also mentioned that the "trailer hitching" seems to be fairly common on the new 5.0 engine, particular due to its aggressive engine management computer (by that I mean very actively making changes as opposed to older, more passive systems). After thinking about it, it makes sense that it would be more noticeable with a manual vs automatic. No torque converter to absorb the feeling of constant, minute throttle adjustments.

Mine does the surging cold. If I let it warm up for about a minute so the fast idle goes off, it does not do it often. I can probably make it do it. Once it is warmed up, I don't notice it though.

Brian
 
Alright, so, dealer says, "Transmission shifts normal". Rattle underneath when starting out, "gear rattle, normal". Whine from rear end, "3.73 noise, normal". :-\

They were pretty good about agreeing with me that it may the early signs of something that may come up later. I would prefer to have the 2-3 gear addressed before floating metal takes out other gears, but I will admit that it is very intermittent and the tech probably didn't encounter it. Not the answer I was looking for but not entirely unexpected either.

I did have the clutch assist spring removed while it was in the shop. Definitely an improvement. It feels like a real clutch now and does seem to have less issues. Maybe it's in my head or maybe the change actually did help matters. I forgot to ask the tech if he did his tranny check drive before removing the spring. Either way, the take up and feel is much more consistent. However, the feel is so different that I lurched and stalled it a couple of times like I had never driven a manual before before I got used to the new weight and feel!
 
CaliMR said:
Can you describe the nibble? I get a different feel going into gears depending what gear I am coming from. Sometimes after it gets past the syncros (at least I assume that is what the 2 clunks are) it has a third one right at the end plus I have had various other issues with the tranny and clutch/brakes. Sucks because it is such a great car otherwise.

Cali,

Sorry for the slow response. Yes, that sounds very familiar to what I experience. It's just a quick "catch" or "nibble". Instead of just feeling the "notch" from going through the gate into the selected gear I will occasionally get that extra catch. I know it shouldn't be there but really can't pin down what it is. I'm not gonna stress about it anymore for the time being as my functionality is fine. I'm gonna start down the shifter/clutch hose/torque limiter/driveshaft path in order to get all of the slop out of the system. After that's done I will have a much better idea of whether or not I have other issues. I doubt that I will upgrade the clutch. If I decide to dump that much money into it than I will just go ahead and bite the bullet and do the T56 swap.
 
Thanks CTPM, that is similar to mine except mine does cause issues when it hangs up on the nibble and won't go into gear/kicks out of gear.
 

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