MGW shifter misaligned after TOB replacement........ Need some help

[slvr08gt]

My car went to the dealer this last week to get the throw out bearing replaced under warranty. Arrived at the dealer to take delivery of the car. Started it and noticed the CEL was on. Told the SA and he ran the codes and determined that one of the o2 sensors needed to be replaced. While I was in the car, I shifted the car through the gears and immediately noticed that reverse just didn't feel the same as it did prior to dropping the car off for service. I told the SA about it and he said he would have his tech check it out as well......

Fast forward a week and I took delivery of my car. When I picked it up, I noticed that reverse still didn't feel right. I brought it up to the SA that it still didn't feel right and he said "Well, your car has an aftermarket shifter, so there's no way we can diagnose it" I argued the fact that it didn't feel this way prior to the TOB replacement but he looked at me like I had a unicorn attached to my forehead. At this point I had been without my car for over a week and was frustrated with a shitty service department and decided to just drive it home.

When I got home I immediately attempted to diagnose the reverse shifting issue.

Some things that I have noticed that are VERY obviously not the same as they were before my car went in to have the TOB replaced:

- Gears 1, 3, 5, and reverse all seem to be more forward in the shifter console
- Neutral seems to sit where 3 used to be
- 4th gear seems to sit where neutral used to be

Gave George at MGW a call to ask him if he had any idea of where I needed to check that would cause an issue like this. He instructed me to check the stabilizer arms since people/dealers have installed them upside down before. He also told me to check the motor mounts and transmission cross member. George spoke with me for about 15 minutes on the phone trying to trouble shoot what it could be. Great guy that really cares about his customers and his products.

The following day I put the car on ramps to inspect the shifter assembly from underneath. Everything looked exactly how it should. Arrow was facing towards the drivers side, stabilizing arms were right side up, rear shifter bracket was tight, and the bolts securing the stabilizer arms to the shifter assembly were tight. I was pretty surprised to be honest. I thought for sure something would pop out at me that was obviously installed wrong. Also tried adjusting the clock position of the shifter handle. No matter what position the shifter handle in, it makes contact with the MGW shifter base and bunches/binds with the MGW boot.

I also checked the transmission cross member and motor mounts to see if they looked uneven or loose. Everything underneath checked out as well
as far as I can tell.

Aside from the stiff/binding reverse engagement, the car shifts great. No other issues

Below are pictures and a couple videos that show currently how my shifter sits in its current state. I'm sure these pictures won't show much but I'm hoping maybe someone might catch something out of place.

Shifter without thin MGW rubber insulator.

Different view of shifter without thin MGW rubber insulator.

Thin MGW insulator installed. Shows that the holes line up correctly with the studs and the shifter itself

MGW shifter plate installed

Different view of MGW shifter plate installed

Shifter handle attached to show it hitting against shifter base ring that the MGW boot secures around.

MGW shifter boot is "NOT lining up with shifter handle shaft as it did before. Shifter is currently in the neutral position in this picture.

MGW shifter boot slipped on to shifter handle shaft. You can see the boot is bunched up a little. Shifter is in the neutral position in this picture.

MGW shifter boot slipped on to shifter handle shaft with shifter handle installed. You can see the boot is bunched up a little. Shifter is in the neutral position in this picture. Picture taken from passenger side.

VIDEO Showing the shifter handle making contact with the shifter base when shifting into reverse.
View My Video

VIDEO Showing the shifter handle takes a bit of effort going into reverse.
View My Video

My next step is to install the factory shifter to completely rule out the MGW being installed incorrectly by the dealer. It's worth mentioning that I found a similar issue with a misaligned GT500 shifter on a different forum. Unfortunately, the OP of the thread never updated it with what the cause was

If anyone can offer any advice on what could or is causing this issue I'm having, I would really appreciate it.

-Nick

 

[86GT351]

Something is obviously not right there. Pictures don't lie. Time to go over the Service Advisors head. Warranty or Cash Pay Job? Really should not matter. They can't claim no responsibility for diagnosis due to an aftermarket part. If they wanted to make that claim they needed to deny the repair up front.

 

[skwerl]

Somehow the transmission is sitting 1/2" further forward than before. I'd look at the engine and transmission mounts.

 

[86GT351]

Somehow the transmission is sitting 1/2" further forward than before. I'd look at the engine and transmission mounts.

What is crazy about that is everything would have to be way off then. Can't just be one mount. Obviously the trans is hard mounted to the engine so if one moves so does the other.

 

[skwerl]

Loosen the engine and transmission mount bolts by 1-2 turns. Start up the car and with the parking brake on torque the engine in 1st and reverse a couple times. Then rev it in neutral a couple times. Kill it and then tighten all your mounts. This should settle the engine and trans in their natural resting position.

 

[86GT351]

Loosen the engine and transmission mount bolts by 1-2 turns. Start up the car and with the parking brake on torque the engine in 1st and reverse a couple times. Then rev it in neutral a couple times. Kill it and then tighten all your mounts. This should settle the engine and trans in their natural resting position.

Exactly. If that does not work then the only other thing it can be is the shifter itself.

 

[slvr08gt]

Somehow the transmission is sitting 1/2" further forward than before. I'd look at the engine and transmission mounts.

I've recently found out that the transmission cross member mount has to be mounted facing a certain direction (there's an arrow that has to face the front of the car).

If this mount is facing the rear of the car could it move the transmission forward more than it needs?

I haven't had a chance to get back under my car yet since it's raining outside(no garage FTL, lol).

-Nick

 

[slvr08gt]

Here's how the cross member is currently mounted/installed:

Here's some pics of the MGW shifter assembly from below:

Anything look out of place?

-Nick

 

[slvr08gt]

I just searched at pictures of other mountedGT500 cross members and confirmed that my cross member is flipped upside down. Damn Ford techs, lol.

Will flip it right side up and report back.

-Nick

 

[slvr08gt]

I just searched at pictures of other mountedGT500 cross members and confirmed that my cross member is flipped upside down. Damn Ford techs, lol.

Will flip it right side up and report back.

-Nick

Just re-installed the cross member right side up. Shifts PERFECTLY into reverse now. All the gear positions have also returned to their normal positions as they were prior to it being at the dealer.
When I flipped the cross member, I didn't flip the bushing/mount in the center of the cross member because it stayed in place when I dropped the cross member.

I was pretty amazed how much I had to raise the transmission to compensate for the cross member being flipped right side up. From what I could tell, a cross member flipped upside down lowers the tranny about 2-3". That can't be good for the angle of the DS on the tranny side.

FWIW, the factory cross member when mounted correctly reads "FRONT" with an arrow pointed at the direction of the engine. The opposite side of the cross member does NOT read "FRONT" and only has an arrow pointing in the direction it should face.

-Nick

 

[skwerl]

Good catch. I had forgotten about Ford's reversible transmission mounts. You'd think they would make them so that they only fit the correct way. Wouldn't take much to add a little tab somewhere so it wouldn't sit against the frame if it is installed upside down.

 

[slvr08gt]

Good catch. I had forgotten about Ford's reversible transmission mounts. You'd think they would make them so that they only fit the correct way. Wouldn't take much to add a little tab somewhere so it wouldn't sit against the frame if it is installed upside down.

I know right. They should just stamp them with "TOP" and "BOTTOM" and an arrow facing the proper direction IMO. Either way, she's good to go now

-Nick

 

[golkhl]

Happy to hear that you figured it out. George at MGW is awsome. Pretty sad that you have to redo the work of a certified Ford Tech(wonder what his response would have been if you took it in and showed them that the crossmember was installed upside down).

 

[slvr08gt]

Happy to hear that you figured it out. George at MGW is awsome. Pretty sad that you have to redo the work of a certified Ford Tech(wonder what his response would have been if you took it in and showed them that the crossmember was installed upside down).

Oh I know exactly how he would respond. It would go just like this:

Me: Hey there certified tech. Did you know you installed my cross member upside down when you put my transmission back in?

Hawaiian Ford Technician(Speaking in his glorious Pigeon slang): Ahhhhhhhh Shoots brawda, my bad. I knews it hadz to be somthin cray like dat.

Me: