MGW shifter breaking shift forks ?

[krishelnino]

I'll start off with a little background. I shift around 4k rpm on the street for daily driving and high RPM shifts once in a while so I don't abuse my car often. I got a MGW X-Spec installed 2 weeks ago to eliminate the lockouts and sloppiness of stock shifter. I gotta say the MGW shifter feels amazing and only regret not aving it done sooner. The same day after installation i did some spirited runs and I noticed really bad clutch/grind noise when upshifting above 4k rpms releasing the clutch and giving throttle. Here's a video of the noise.



I did some digging and looks like many people have the same noise. I had it before as well but didn't bother me enough so never paid much attention to it. I thought it might be because of the twin disc clutch. Anyway last week I was due for an oil change and took my car in. I showed them the video and they agreed it looks bad. They drove it 4 miles the next day and got a text saying the 5th gear was grinding really bad and they have to take apart the transmission. Today, they said some parts have to be ordered and the transmission has to be repaired, said something it's going to be a huge repair job. So i stopped by the dealership to see what's going on, and they're saying the aftermarket shifter broke 4th and 5th gears. I wanted to take a look at the parts list and could see 3rd and 4th gear shift forks along with some other parts were ordered. When i questioned them about the known TSB, they're saying it's going smoothly as of now however Ford might deny the claim under warranty when they send them pics of shifter.

The other issues i'm having is vibration from driver floorwell and pedal area when going above 70mph and it gets really bad around 85-95 mph. I already road force balanced wheels 3 times and got a alignment, i'm starting to think it's a driveline vibration/imbalance. There's also a passenger seat creaking noise that happens all the time. They said they can't get to these issues until the transmission is repaired first.

They're saying it's going to be atleast 4 weeks since they're backed up a lot and they can't even provide me a loaner during this period. It sucks because this is my only car and i"m worried if I escalate the issue now, would it be denied, considering there's already a TSB out there for shift forks (mine is a MY18 built in Feb 2018)? I already had my car down for a week early this year due to a VCT solenoid replacement. I hope this isn't a precedent for arising issues later down the road.

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[usgiorgi]

Did you have the grinding noise before you put the MGW in? It sounds like it only happened after you installed the aftermarket shifter. If that's the case, they're 100% in the right to deny the warranty because it sounds like the shifter caused it.

 

[krishelnino]

Did you have the grinding noise before you put the MGW in? It sounds like it only happened after you installed the aftermarket shifter. If that's the case, they're 100% in the right to deny the warranty because it sounds like the shifter caused it.

Yes i've had the noise before as well, and i don't think MGW shifter had anything to do with this. maybe i should've mentioned this at previous service visits however this only started bothering me since few weeks. I wonder if it's even the shift forks that's causing this noise ?

 

[usgiorgi]

Yes i've had the noise before as well, and i don't think MGW shifter had anything to do with this. maybe i should've mentioned this at previous service visits however this only started bothering me since few weeks. I wonder if it's even the shift forks that's causing this noise ?

Ah ok, in that case it's an unrelated mod. I have nothing but awesome things to say about MGW, I'm currently using it in my car.

 

[Elp_jc]

Unfortunately, it might not be unrelated. Remember the MGW is tying the shifter to the transmission, therefore is going to transmit all of that vibration somewhere, and it seems to be where you're having it. Remember reading about that not long ago. That's why I don't even want to mess with it. I read about all of that before buying the car, and other than the slightly annoying 1-2 notchiness and 2-3 'nibble', the car shifts great for my needs. And those 2 things might go away on their own, or maybe sooner with the help of better fluid (will try it at 1K miles). But the bottom line is I read of so many potential issues with aftermarket shifters and/or transmission braces (both the 2 and 3-hole variety), that I didn't want to do ANY of that. Fortunately, the car felt good enough in stock form during the short test drive that I went ahead and bought it. Once I pass break-in, will be able to do the final shifting test. Hope not to have issues, and neither that ultra annoying high-rpm noise, which by the way, I read it was due to the dual mass-flywheel, and not the dual-disc clutch, but who knows.

As a final thought, you should have removed the shifter before going to dealer, to avoid possibly getting warranty claim denied... although an astute tech would easily noticed you had one before, so might have been a waste of time anyway. Who knows. Good luck, and please keep us posted.

IMPORTANT EDIT: Forgot to mention the shift forks are very poorly welded. Saw a video somewhere, and they only have 4 freaking tack welds at each corner. If the tranny comes out, take them to a welder and do FULL welds all around, and you'd never break it again. The guy said they were very robust otherwise, but the welds were the weak link BY FAR. Based on the pictures, I agree with the guy. It was on Youtube. Oh, and also change ALL plastic parts, which are super cheap. With those cheap mods, you'd leave the tranny internally super rubust. Hope this helps.

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