Second Gear


fjpikul

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jan 4, 2006
11,490
Belleville, IL
Viper, I've got just over 12K miles on my car, almost all highway, and it still catches just a bit when cold. The tranny cooler doesn't help. There are many, many old posts about this. You may have to look in the archives.
 

Viper

FORD GT OWNER - U.K.
Aug 9, 2008
164
Kent UK
I couldn't easily find anything in the archive.

I feel comforted by the comments here but it seems the main criteria here is "when cold" Surely my gearbox is warm after a run?

Or do any of you guys still get the crunch when warm?
 

AtomicGT

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Apr 12, 2006
3,032
Los Angeles
Had the exact same problem. I unfortunately started out in 3rd instead of 1st putting my car up my driveway into te garage. It smoked the clutch a little and after a while the slight grinding from 1st to second disappeared. Probably completely unrelated. However, I did also find that double clutching when the car was cold also reduced or eliminated the problem. It also goes away over time and miles. 2000-3000 miles on the car and it should disappear.
 

Fubar

Totally ****** Up
Mark II Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Aug 2, 2006
3,979
Dallas, TX
It also goes away over time and miles. 2000-3000 miles on the car and it should disappear.

My car has 11k on it and I still get a little crunch when it's cold. I have been told that a twin turbo kit will solve the problem. I may have to give it a try.
 

911teo

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Jan 5, 2007
628
Surrey, UK
I still get the crunch. 15k miles on my car. I shift 1st-3rd for the first 10 minutes of driving. It takes mine more than 2-3 miles to get warmed up.
 

HeritageBruce

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Mar 13, 2006
748
Southern CA
When shifting cold, I press the shifter against the gate into 2nd, blink one time, then nudge the shifter into second firmly. No grind, no noise every time. It seems like just waiting a brief moment does the trick for me.
 

FORDGT001

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 9, 2005
300
I shift first to third until the car is really warm, It takes a long time for it to warm up so it will go into second.
 

DWR46

GT owner
Mark II Lifetime
Feb 20, 2008
119
I agree with Heritage Bruce, the secret seems to be a slight delay in neutral between 1st and 2nd. When cold, I shift 1st to 3rd for about 5 miles (a transaxle cooler is of no help here and actaully would make things worse by delaying the warming of the oil). It appears that the Ricardo is very similiar in shift characteristics to the old Borg Warner T-10, in that the delay in neutral actually causes a mismatch in gear speeds that then makes the synchros work harder, but more effectively to engage 2nd gear. This is why almost nobody complains about a crunch when downshifting into 2nd. In this case the gear speeds are mismatched by definition and the synchros can get a good grip on the slider and there is no crunch. It seems strange for the shifts to be smoother with a deliberate mismatch, but that is what happens in the T-10, when you delay the shift into 2nd, they always shift smoother. Just my observations.
 

Black GT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jan 2, 2006
771
Thats nice I am having a Cool Tech tranny coolier being installed.....