Couple of moans...

Hate to post these kinda threads but seeking advice/reassurance/peace of mind.

1. went to fill up tonight and as I opened the petrol cap/door it kinda clicked and felt like something snapped. Now it doesn't seem to sit as flush as it did before; couple mm out at the top and couple in at the bottom, very noticeable to me at a glance. Checked old photos on my phone & it was definitely nice & flush before.

To save me faffing around and posting a video. I found an old one from some US guys; https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32636&highlight=gas+door+hinge
20 seconds in - mine moves like that now & isn't as smooth as before. Has anyone else come across it? Consensus on that thread seems to be its an easy dealer fix, but the thought of going back in to Ford scares the sh1t outta me quite honestly - especially for a simple thing! Just wanted to see if anyone else has had this in the UK...

2. The gearbox is getting on my t1ts more & more as time goes on. Is it just me or does the manual just feel shit? Buttery smooth shifts is what I was hoping for, seems I have quite the opposite. Low gears (1,2,3) is real clunky & jerky, I get that metallic whirring noise when coming off the clutch (which several people have told me is "normal" including Ford) I'm sure it would sound nasty to someone from the outside. Changing gears in general is just a bit noisy - feels like everything is 50 years old down there. I've never driven any other sports cars (other than the EB) so I don't really have anything to compare it to - not even driven another S550. Is it just the characteristics of the gearbox? The Coyote motor? Or have Ford given me a Mustang that fell off the trailer???

Sorry for the rant - feeling stressed about the whole thing :rant:

fill flap fix yourself just buy the part and do it safer than trusting ford.

gear box is more interesting yes it is a clunky piece of shit 99% of the time but its also built like a tank and like a tank you expect it to be less smooth. Now some mt's i'm aware of have had problem spider had his entire box replaced because it was whirring like a trooper if i remember rightly.
1,2,3 will be buttery smooth at WOT just not so much trying to pootle part of me says its just the nature of the beast I've had other cars with much much worse boxes for pootling but I also know there's a few things you can do to improve it. a fluid change solves alot of the noise and clunking but some will never go away. I'm fairly sure alot of the clunkyness is down to shitty ford tolerances and alot of it is drive line shock between box and diff along prop shaft.

Ditto the advice on the flap. Talk to Dave about exotic box fluids.

My manual box is clunky in gears 1,2 and 3 too, especially going from 1st to 2nd there’s a very audible clunk both inside and out of the car, not sure if it’s the same box on the Ecoboost though, Focus RS box is much nicer.

The G/Box is basically shyte but put in some BG Syncro Shift 11 ... I am pretty sure its available in the UK as the the rep from BG who sold me mine used to be the rep over there. You will notice a big improvement in selecting, especially when its cold, gear changes become a lot smoother. I've been using it now for just over 13000 kms and couldn't be happier.

When i had my 15 it was notchy and you could hear and feel the gears when it was cold.It seemed to improve when it got warm but i kind of got use to it.The new one feels alot smoother but I'm not sure if they improved the gearbox for the 18.

Thanks guys, that has settled my mind a bit. I did recently read up on changing the fluids so may give that a go. There's actually a nice little write up on https://www.americanmuscle.com/s550-mustang-mt-82-transmission-explained.html
@hinch you are right - it's the pootling around that really highlights it.

Caught a youtube vid last night where a guy had taken off the door/hinge assembly. I'm all for DIY but it looked like a bit of a pain in the ass & not really something I would like to try myself. That said, I sure as hell wouldn't take it back to the last dealership I went to. I remembered this morning that Ford in Hungerford are well set up for the Mustang & have good experience. Not sure if they will do warranty work :shrug: I'll give em a call I think. Very convenient for me as I work a 10 min drive away.

[ame]

Found another vid this morning too;

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For reference, this is the fuel door now...as you can see - sticking out slightly at the top & the opposite below.

Ive got no complaints on my gearbox, feels pretty tight.

I'm on 28K and mine's been noisy since about 10K. Running BG oil in it did absolutely squat. Still noisy, still clunky.

It's the same box they use in Transits...

[MENTION=16001]avocet[/MENTION] the MT-82 on the S550.2 uses some aluminium shift forks (Which are currently breaking on the regular). MY82 on the 550.1 uses steel I believe. (Loads of US guys mentioning this on various FB groups).

For ref; MT-82 notchy here as well, added quirk of the car.

The gearbox needs modding if you want a nicer feel. Its just the way it is.

Ive gone for:

- Steeda spring and perch
- Steeda triax short throw
- Steeda support bushings

Its 10x better and is longer an annoyance.

For the ultimate experience you need to change the oil and buy one of the following:

- Barton shifter
- MGW shifter

Kristian87 said:

2. The gearbox is getting on my t1ts more & more as time goes on. Is it just me or does the manual just feel shit?

Click to expand...

The MT-82 is as rough as guts.

I only tolerate it because I'm driving a Mustang.

I have a better gearbox in my tractor :lol:

Update: taking it in to Ford Hungerford for an initial look Thurs/Fri. Provisionally booked in for the warranty work 26th July - giving them enough time to grab the part

Appreciate all the posts re gearbox - feeling better already! Glad to have learnt that the fuel door thing is an easy part swap too.