My experience with my 2012 GT500 and the second gear grind issue

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So for those of who do not know, but the majority of 2010-2013 GT500's have an issue with engaging second gear at high rpm, basically when banging gears. The car will torque up and then deny entry into the gear. There is now an estimation of over 90% of GT500's in these years have this design flaw issue. Tremec the maker of the transmission states the root cause is Ford's hydraulic clutch design and the "floppy" remote mounted shifter.

So back in April of 2012, I took my 2012 GT500 to the local dealership who is really known as "the performance Ford dealer" as they typically sell a lot of Roush, Saleen, GT500's etc. Their lead SVT tech has also been a friend of mine for about 10 years now.

So I take my stock GT500 in to have the issue diagnosed and yep, it grinds second gear for them. They stated though they are 14 cars deep with transmission issues so either wait a month or so for it to be even taken apart or come back later. So I told the Service Manager, that I planned to mod the car over the summer, he had no issues with this.

I added a Whipple 2.9, Suspension, Long Tubes, tune etc. Car ran pretty good when it wanted to engage second gear, although even when it would engage second, it still had a delay, as you could feel a hesitation before the gear could engage. Keep in mind it would only shift into second about a third of the time. My WOT Box only masked the problem. So fast forward to the last week in November, I make another appointment now that the season is over for it to be finally fixed.

Since they still had an open issue on file from me prior to the car being modded the dealership and the field engineer had no issue in allowing the repair to be done under warranty.

So, the dealership was advised to remove and take the transmission apart to see what the issue was. To their findings they found the teeth on second gear syncro destroyed. They were also made out of brass, not carbon fiber lined. So we can pretty much squash the rumor that all 2011+ GT500's come with carbon fiber lined syncros, as this is not the case. From my understanding it is more of a random thing or just a myth.

Dealer replaced syncros, blocker rings, actual gears etc. Get the car back together, and go for a road test, attempt to slam second, GRIIIINNND.

Dealership calls Ford Engineering and has a lengthy conversation with the SVT looking for a fix as the parts and labor list is well over $2000 at this point. SVT advises dealer that the actual TSB to fix this issue for 2010-2013 GT500's will be released in EARLY January 2013, which illustrates a two step process.

Step 1. Replace syncros, blockers, gears etc.
Step 2. If Step 1 does not resolve the issue, replace shifter and clutch assembly with revised part #, which is to be relased as of Dec 6, 2012. They are currently in production as we speak. Dealer estimates the car will be done before January as my car will be one of the first if not the first to have the revised parts in it.

This being said, I do have a MGW Shifter, CHE K-Member Brace w/Torque Limiters and Steeda Motor Mounts sitting here waiting to go on to see if this will remedy the issue if Step 2 does not work, as I have read the above items have cured it for a lot of other cars.

I applaud my dealer for working with me on this issue and not giving me a hard time due to the mods, even though they confirmed the issue earlier. Below are 2 videos illustrating the 2013 GT500, and how the SVT Chief Engineer states they acknowledge the second gear grind issue on the 2010-2012 GT500 and have fixed it for 2013.

Comment starts at 2:40 in


The second video is a test drive of the 2013 GT500 from Hot Rod magazine, trying to bang second gear and doing nothing but grinding.

You can see at 5:05 in

 

stkjock

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it's not just the 2010+ cars... it's been an issue from the 07s I believe as well
 

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it's not just the 2010+ cars... it's been an issue from the 07s I believe as well

Yep, although it was stated to be a different cause, what that is, I do not recall.
 

stkjock

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as I recall the TSB for it was the clutch and FW only
 

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as I recall the TSB for it was the clutch and FW only

Similar to the 2010+. Ford is showing the root cause now as the clutch not releasing quickly and the shifter moving out of alignment under high load.
 

1 Alibi 2

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Glad to hear your dealer is working with you on this matter.
As they have to resort to step # 2 on yours, will the shifter / clutch be what they put in a MY 2013 car, or something new ?
........... There will be a lot of happy owners when that TSB finally hits the street..
 

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Glad to hear your dealer is working with you on this matter.
As they have to resort to step # 2 on yours, will the shifter / clutch be what they put in a MY 2013 car, or something new ?
........... There will be a lot of happy owners when that TSB finally hits the street..

No, MY 2014 is supposedly what the shifter/clutch is from.

They revised the shifter and clutch for MY 2013, and you can see from the second video it did not do a thing to help, even from the first video the chief engineer stated it would.

So Ford is going to release a TSB in January according to the Engineer on the phone but is currently building revised parts for previous years which will be found as OEM on the MY 2014 car. My dealer is expecting the parts within 1-2 weeks. What sucks is, they won't release the car back to me though as Ford says, do not drive it.

So in summary, MY 2014 clutch/shifter is different than MY 2013, which is different from MY 2010-2012's

I should've just put a McLeod RXT in it and a MGW and called it a day.
 

slowlyrolling

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Hydraulic clutch? fucking gross. I had SO many issues with the hydraulic clutch system in my 02' F body. The master cyl went out and caused every gear to slightly grind, not really enough grinding to make a huge audible difference, but enough to ruin the transmission (t-56) at 55k miles.

The F body fix is a better master cyl and slave.

Maybe bleed the system? Junk gets stuck in the lines an can cause it to not go in gear due to the clutch not releasing.

Is it only when you're shifting at high RPM's AND shifting fast?
 

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Hydraulic clutch? fucking gross. I had SO many issues with the hydraulic clutch system in my 02' F body. The master cyl went out and caused every gear to slightly grind, not really enough grinding to make a huge audible difference, but enough to ruin the transmission (t-56) at 55k miles.

The F body fix is a better master cyl and slave.

Maybe bleed the system? Junk gets stuck in the lines an can cause it to not go in gear due to the clutch not releasing.

Is it only when you're shifting at high RPM's AND shifting fast?

It is a self bleeding clutch, so I have done the brake/clutch pump method many times without success.

Yes. Same issue I am having as well as thousands of others and it is only the 1>2 shift. Although some say it will happen on the 4>5 as well.
 
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19COBRA93

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Get that CHE brace installed and report back. Don't do anything but that so you can see uninhibited results. I was having very similar issues with my 3650 until I installed that brace. In fact, I feel like it wasn't the brace I installed, but it was Jesus himself that I placed under my car making sure my shifts land exactly where I want them. Every time. Thank you Jesus. Or CHE. One in the same really.

I'm curious to see what changes they make to the shifter and clutch assemblies. I have a '13 clutch sitting here I was going to install when I did my swap, but it didn't make it here in time so I went with a '12 clutch.
 

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Get that CHE brace installed and report back. Don't do anything but that so you can see uninhibited results. I was having very similar issues with my 3650 until I installed that brace. In fact, I feel like it wasn't the brace I installed, but it was Jesus himself that I placed under my car making sure my shifts land exactly where I want them. Every time. Thank you Jesus. Or CHE. One in the same really.

I'm curious to see what changes they make to the shifter and clutch assemblies. I have a '13 clutch sitting here I was going to install when I did my swap, but it didn't make it here in time so I went with a '12 clutch.

Well if you look at my second video the 13 shifter/clutch did nothing. The parts my dealership is getting in, according to engineering are 2014 shifter/clutch. Which is yet again another revision.
 

19COBRA93

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Well if you look at my second video the 13 shifter/clutch did nothing. The parts my dealership is getting in, according to engineering are 2014 shifter/clutch. Which is yet again another revision.

That's kind of my point, I don't think clutch revisions and shifter revisions are going to fix anything. I think it's the uncoordinated movement between the engine/trans assembly and the remote shifter that's causing these shifting problems.
 

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That's kind of my point, I don't think clutch revisions and shifter revisions are going to fix anything. I think it's the uncoordinated movement between the engine/trans assembly and the remote shifter that's causing these shifting problems.

I do not disagree with you. Hence I have a MGW Shifter, CHE K Member Brace w/Torque Limiters and Steeda motor mounts sitting here. If the dealer would release my car, I'd just install those. But the fact is, the uncoordinated movement and sloppy design by Ford, trashed the internals of my transmission when I was racing or doing spirited driving from grinding. So it is good the dealer at least replaced what was damaged.
 

19COBRA93

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I do not disagree with you. Hence I have a MGW Shifter, CHE K Member Brace w/Torque Limiters and Steeda motor mounts sitting here. If the dealer would release my car, I'd just install those. But the fact is, the uncoordinated movement and sloppy design by Ford, trashed the internals of my transmission when I was racing or doing spirited driving from grinding. So it is good the dealer at least replaced what was damaged.

Makes sense. So, are they keeping your car until January when the TSB is officially released?
 

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Makes sense. So, are they keeping your car until January when the TSB is officially released?

If the TSB gets released. Seems like you do some research Ford has been telling dealers there will be a TSB for the past 2 years. I tend to trust my guy at the dealership but now I just find out they plan on storing the car outside during the winter.
 

slowlyrolling

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you realize you have the same in your 06? the 3650 with remote mounted shifter is also prone to 1-2 & 2-3 shifting issues.

Yes, it seems to feel a lot better than my T-56, though. I do miss the cable driven systems in my 99 and 03. I also dislike the shifter system where it uses linkages instead of directly going in to the transmission.
 

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There's got to be a better solution.

I ran the torque limiter solution by them, they'd be willing to try it, but after the new parts arrive. As of right now, they are listed as back ordered.

So whatever part # is in the system for the latest gt500 clutch/shifter, theyre saying they can't get them and don't know when.
 

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