Need help with sticky shifter

[SuperB]

Ever since Vegas my shifter doesn't like to move left and right smoothly.

I showed some of the techs while in vegas and they thought it was the cable or cable housing.

I finnally got the beast in to a dealer, in prep for TX and they can't find anything wrong, other than it's not right.

They said the cable seems fine and there is no binding from the shifter to the tranny. I am not really sure that they checked it out that close.

Now I'm stuck, the dealer doesn't seem to know what to do or does not want to deal with it.

Anyone got some ideas of what to check? I really don't want to deal with another dealer.

The problem seems worse when the car is hot.

I just had all the fluids changed, they did indicate that the trans fluid was starting to gel. (If that's true, everyone might want to look at changing Trans fluid, especially if your going to TX). I do have the trans-cooler installed, but that was done after the track day at Vegas.

I was thinking about taking off the tunnel and seeing if it's gummed up in there, should there be some sort of oil or anything at the shifter?

 

[Howard]

A GT with a "stiff" shifter was recently checked by the GT Guys when they were in NJ. The problem was quickly identified as a bad cable. The diagnosis involved temporarily disconnecting one cable at a time from the trans linkage and moving the cable and the trans linkage independently. Easy enough to do yourself, I think. The GT Guys indicated that cable replacement is not a trivial task.

Howard

 

[PL510*Jeff]

"B" - same thing two and 1/2 years ago.

The cable is routed through the "V" of the engine, and is mounted on short standoffs attached to the engine.

In my case, the soft covering had distorted due to heat, and affected the metal coil and cable jacket itself. In one spot -mid-motor- the covering had adhered to the block and required a chisel to get it off. And thus the binding occurred, making shifting much stiffer and very less fluid.

We were advised to replace both cables. Further advice was given to install the replacements "as is", as they are perfectly correct from Ford. Which we did. No adjustments needed or advised.

Prior to installing them, we wrapped both with a layer of heat blanketing, and covered that with an aluminum Heat tape from the hot rod shop. We chose to cover the shifting cables for their entire length inside the motor. And covered the heat tape with a black covering to keep that "stock from the factory" look.

55k later, and working great!

See you in Texas for :cheers

 

[BlackICE]

You might also check to see of your shifter is aligned correctly. You can adjust the neutral position by changing the cable length. I tried to canting the shifter closer to the drivers side and that resulted in a very difficult reverse shift and a lazy movement back to neutral. Ford as a special tool to check the alignment.

 

[Kayvan]

I had some stiff shiftts and found if I planted pedal all the way to wall, it helped in shifting

 

[Shadowman]

A GT with a "stiff" shifter was recently checked by the GT Guys when they were in NJ. The problem was quickly identified as a bad cable. The diagnosis involved temporarily disconnecting one cable at a time from the trans linkage and moving the cable and the trans linkage independently. Easy enough to do yourself, I think. The GT Guys indicated that cable replacement is not a trivial task.

Howard

Howard

Having replaced cables I can share that the supercharger and the intake manifold need to be removed.

Takes care

Shadowman

 

[nota4re]

I had some stiff shiftts and found if I planted pedal all the way to wall, it helped in shifting

I think I remember reading something very similar to this a long time ago in "The Joys of Sex"


OK, now more seriously...


The lateral side-to-side motion at the shifter translates to the up/down movement at the transaxle and is the duty of the lower cable when viewed at the transaxle. To verify a sticky cable, I would recommend temporarily removing the end from the ball at the transaxle and then testing the movement of the cable.

To do this;

1. Remove the airbox
2. Remove (and don't drop!) the small wire safety pin that secures the cable's ball-end to the up/down shift fork.
3. With a stiff tool, gently pop the cable end off of the ball. Note that even with the safety pin removed, sometimes these cable ends can be stubborn. Try to make sure that the cable end is centered precisely as it will release easier than when it is turned to one side or another.
4. With the cable end removed, you can now test the tension in the cable - which should be ZERO. Note that there is NO spring loading of the shifter even at the shifter mechanism under the console.

Re-assembly is a breeze, save for one tip.
1. When re-inserting the small safety wire into the ball end, remember that the wire has to slide through TWO holes. If you stick the end in one hole (that you can see) and you can't get it to slide in enough to put it in its latched position, it simply means that you missed the second hole. I made it sound hard (sorry) but it is pretty easy to put back.

 

[fjpikul]

And just what kind of "stiff tool" do you recommend Kendall?

 

[SuperB]

Update, I was mistaken on trans fluid.
The tech that worked on the car said:

Your clutch fluid was worse then normal and was gelled in the clutch resevior.

So clutch not trans ;-)

 

[SuperB]

The car was under warranty when the problem was noticed, but the dealer I bought the car from messed up and told me the wrong warranty expire date, so when I went it to get it fixed, no warranty. I left quite upset and have not been back to that dealer.

The new service team also said some of the bolt were wrong for the belly pan and they found rags in the belly pan. So, I am not happy with that dealer and don't recommend any FL owners take there car there any more.

I don't do anything that requires more than a screwdriver and subsequent band-aide, so I'll try showing the service guy exactly what I experience.

The mention of melted cables is what the GT techs had said in Vegas, but I can't see/feel what they were talking about. Not real excited to hear the amount of work involved (and probably cost) in replacing cables that SHOULD have been under warranty.

 

[jaxgt]

Brian
I know of a very good Ford dealer here in NE Florida who I am very happy with, as well as a very bad dealer in S.Florida one should avoid like H1N1.

Feel free to PM me for any recommendations.

 

[Kayvan]

I would go with a recommended Dealers per our list, and get it fixed ASAP.

A sticky shifter will decrease your driving enjoyment; and in an emergency situation could limit your reaction time, or lead to a catastrophic damage if you mis-shift in frustration.

Ford has also made folks "Whole" on warranty claims; esp. if you can document the mis-communication or note your problem via the Dealer Service Survey Questionaire or Dealer Sale Survey. You should get one in the mail; or can request one from customer service; Ford looks at these seriously and a regional rep will follow up....bad service does not go un-noticed.

I know you might not be the "complaint letter writing" type...but these are form check-boxes with room for a sentence to describe issue. Its collated by computer, trips red flags, and gets noticed by management.

Bottom line, nothing should limit your enjoyment/safety of the GT.

 

[BigBrain]

Reverse Shift Issues

I have two, a stock 2005 and a twin turbo 2006. I have only had the 2006 for a few miles. In relation to you comment, in the 2006, 1-4 feel good, I have not spent much time in 5-6, reverse is very difficult to get (like linkage is bent - understanding that the GT uses cables). In the stock 2005, reverse requires a little wiggle and then goes in.

This car has had mods including clutch and the turbo setup. Do you think that this is the same problem that you experienced? I have the CD with the manual that explains adjustment and the tool. I just do not want to go and purchase the tool if I do not have to - it has pretty limited (but important) uses.

Thoughts?

 

[Shadowman]

I have two, a stock 2005 and a twin turbo 2006. I have only had the 2006 for a few miles. In relation to you comment, in the 2006, 1-4 feel good, I have not spent much time in 5-6, reverse is very difficult to get (like linkage is bent - understanding that the GT uses cables). In the stock 2005, reverse requires a little wiggle and then goes in.

This car has had mods including clutch and the turbo setup. Do you think that this is the same problem that you experienced? I have the CD with the manual that explains adjustment and the tool. I just do not want to go and purchase the tool if I do not have to - it has pretty limited (but important) uses.

Thoughts?

Do your gals have the OEM shifter or the Ford Racing short shifter.

I ask because to use the tool you need to have the OEM shifter in place.

PM me and I will be glad to assist

Takes care

Shadowman

 

[paul b]

Going back to the clutch fluid, if it was the old dealership that checked it, you may want to have it rebled and verify the correct fluid is used.

 

[BigBrain]

The 2005 is stock and in general without issue. The 2006 with the mods has the issue. I would guess that it has a stock shifter - everything looks and feel the same. Everything except reverse feels good. Lethal Performance did all of the mods less some fabrication. Getting information out of the original owner is like pulling teeth.

 

[Shadowman]

The 2005 is stock and in general without issue. The 2006 with the mods has the issue. I would guess that it has a stock shifter - everything looks and feel the same. Everything except reverse feels good. Lethal Performance did all of the mods less some fabrication. Getting information out of the original owner is like pulling teeth.

After reading your original post followed by this one it maybe as simple as the 2006 having a Ford Racing shifter.

With the OEM shifter it feels as described; it is a IMO crisp simgle act that migrates the gal into reverse however with the Ford Racing short shifter this act can by some standards seem/feel more difficult.

If you look under the rubber boot there are threaded holes in the top of the OEM shifter however on the Ford Racing short shift this is not the case.

It would be great if another Ford GT owner in your area was able to meet up with to compare.

As shared, I will help if asked

Takes care

Shadowman

 

[BigBrain]

I will pull the boot and check. My 2005 is stock and I have a diagram of a stock setup. I will see if this is the same in the 2006 car and post the details.

Thank you for the help on this issue.

 

[Shadowman]

I will pull the boot and check. My 2005 is stock and I have a diagram of a stock setup. I will see if this is the same in the 2006 car and post the details.

Thank you for the help on this issue.

When you view under the boot at each of the upper four corners there will be blank threaded bores on the OEM shifter and none on the Ford Racing short shifter; these threaded bores are used when attaching the alignment tool.

Takes care

Shadowman

 

[BigBrain]

Sorry for the delay, we had a death in the family.

I pulled the cover and it is not a stock shifter. It is anodized blue with linkage to the left. It does not look like it has much of any adjustment up top. I cannot post the picture, just a link. I can email a picture if you provide me an email. My email is lhewitt@hewitt1.com.

Since the weather has been colder, it seems to shift much more easily.

Thank you for the help.