2016 Mustang GT - Lost 4th Gear on First Track Day

Let me start off by saying that I know the MT-82 is not a great transmission. That said, wasn't expecting to lose forth gear on track.

The car has around 500whp (N/A), and only has 4500mi on it. Before this weekend, it had only ever seen hard driving in 1st and 2nd gear, as it was primarily an autocross car.

As I was pulling on to the front straight at NCM yesterday I went to shift into 4th and got nothing. Because of the way the engine revved I at first thought I missed it, but no, 4th was completely gone and I had to head in. The car made it back home, all other forward gears and reverse work fine. The transmission is making some odd rumbling noises that it didn't before, so it's definitely not 100%...



Has anyone else had this issue? Probably will just ditch the MT-82 and go for a Magnum.

Nothing wrong with a Magnum... ;)

Broke a shift fork pad/shoe would be my guess. They're made of delrin or some kind of plastic.

aleccolin said:

Broke a shift fork pad/shoe would be my guess. They're made of delrin or some kind of plastic.

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Thanks for the info!

I wonder if it's better to upgrade this one to remove the plastic shift fork pads and shift stop, or just move to the Magnum? As I look more into it (now that I know what I'm looking for), it doesn't seem like a lot of issues with the actual gears?

Upgrading the MT82 may not save a whole lot of money if you’re paying a shop to do everything, but if you can at least pull and reinstall the trans yourself I’d say stick with it and just fill with BG fluid. That’s assuming this is actually your problem.

aleccolin said:

Upgrading the MT82 may not save a whole lot of money if you’re paying a shop to do everything, but if you can at least pull and reinstall the trans yourself I’d say stick with it and just fill with BG fluid. That’s assuming this is actually your problem.

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I should be able to tackle the removal and installation, I'm more concerned about breaking something else - I don't want to make a habit of it. :-)

aleccolin said:

Broke a shift fork pad/shoe would be my guess. They're made of delrin or some kind of plastic.

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I thought shift forks controlled two gears each. There are a few postings on here with photos of a broken gear but those might be F/I cars.

One thing I should add - the shifter still slots into 4th just fine, there just isn't anything there. I can free rev in 4th like it is in neutral. Not sure if this is an indication of anything.

Maybe the shift fork bent. Or maybe the teeth on the 4th gear broke. There is a few photos of that for 3rd/4th. Although I am not sure how that happens. I would think the dog teeth on the gear would wear down or sheer first. What kind of clutch do you have ? You buy the car new ?

mustang1 said:

Maybe the shift fork bent. Or maybe the teeth on the 4th gear broke. There is a few photos of that for 3rd/4th. Although I am not sure how that happens. I would think the dog teeth on the gear would wear down or sheer first. What kind of clutch do you have ? You buy the car new ?

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No, I did not buy the car new. I'm currently running an Exedy twin disc setup.

You need to drain the trans and probe with a magnet

Rexpelagi said:

No, I did not buy the car new. I'm currently running an Exedy twin disc setup.

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maybe the previous owner didn't shift very good causing metal fatigue.

aleccolin said:

You need to drain the trans and probe with a magnet

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Yep, that's what I'm thinking too.

mustang1 said:

maybe the previous owner didn't shift very good causing metal fatigue.

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It's possible, but unlikely, it was a dedicated autocross car (1st and 2nd gear) before I bought it (trailered), and I bought it with 1400mi on it (now at 4500mi).

Rexpelagi said:

Yep, that's what I'm thinking too.

It's possible, but unlikely, it was a dedicated autocross car (1st and 2nd gear) before I bought it (trailered), and I bought it with 1400mi on it (now at 4500mi).

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Maybe it is a manufacturing defect.

I am not sure how to compare transmissions. There is torque rating, and gross vehicle weight. For example, from the tremec website:

Tremec TR6060-C 2.66 ratio, 560 lb ft, @ 5291 lbs (max gross vehicle weight, for reference only. Not applicable to a specific application)

Not sure what the specs are for the MT82, but a google search returned this from (svt) forum:

(MT82) "The trans specs are 396lb ft of torque with a gross weight of just over 9300lbs.

Well, surprising no one, I have confirmed the MT-82 is indeed garbage. It's never a good sign when you pull the drain plug and nothing comes out... I had to clear the debris with my finger for the fluid to even drain.



I see a Tremec in my future...