Grinding noise on 2nd and 4th gear

[Lazyitis]

Just thought I add a short video (recorded with my smartphone today) showing the noise I got from the shift boot. This is 3rd gear at 3000 rpm. Think you can hear the strange grinding noise or whatever you wanna call it quite good ...

Mine sounds like yours but not necessarily doing what you were doing; worst I've ever hear was yesterday doing a gentle pull away in second. Anyway, mine finally went into dealer's today and I was told it was "normal" in that another car they had compared against did the same. I thought I was being fobbed off but they had genuinely made some effort in checking oil, looking for swarf, fouling etc. Whenever I get the noise at its worst it is accompanied by some really bad vibration through the shifter but both vibration and noise can be damped (but in no way stopped) if I grasp the shifter tightly.

Mine is going to a Mustang expert (i.e. unaffiliated to to Ford!) next week and I'll be seeking their opinion.

@Kong76 mine is no pleasure in shifting first or second but if your shift is deteriorating then forks pads might be the issue (from what I have read elsewhere, not based on any expert knowledge).
[MENTION=21057]comm[/MENTION] I guess you must have discussed your problems with a dealer. What explanations/remedies have they offered so far?

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[PatM]

Mine sounds like yours but not necessarily doing what you were doing; worst I've ever hear was yesterday doing a gentle pull away in second. Anyway, mine finally went into dealer's today and I was told it was "normal" in that another car they had compared against did the same. I thought I was being fobbed off but they had genuinely made some effort in checking oil, looking for swarf, fouling etc. Whenever I get the noise at its worst it is accompanied by some really bad vibration through the shifter but both vibration and noise can be damped (but in no way stopped) if I grasp the shifter tightly.

Mine is going to a Mustang expert (i.e. unaffiliated to to Ford!) next week and I'll be seeking their opinion.

@Kong76 mine is no pleasure in shifting first or second but if your shift is deteriorating then forks pads might be the issue (from what I have read elsewhere, not based on any expert knowledge).
@comm I guess you must have discussed your problems with a dealer. What explanations/remedies have they offered so far?

Thanks for the detailed description. Really seems to be the same or at least very similar problem. If I add mass to the shifter by grabbing it, it also gets better but does not go away completely. Just out of curiosity I drove with open shift boot today and there is lots of vibration underneath the rubber boot and depending on which part you grab, push or squeeze the noise gets more or less pronounced.

In general, the noise could also result from something that got loose somewhere between the shifter and transmission resulting in vibration. I will check that by myself this weekend, as I also don't have much trust in dealers. I also have the Barton shifter sitting in my office but I cannot really install it before having this issue resolved. Otherwise I will run in some other, more or less educated discussions ...

Other than that, I still wait for my dealer feedback which I assume will be the "it's normal" statement without any information of course what causes the problem (as no clue at all...) which I like the mostaddle:.
[MENTION=22772]Lazyitis[/MENTION]: Would be nice to get to know the take of Mustang expert on that issue, will also post my findings in case I find something that contributes to solving or minimizing the problem ...

 

[comm]

[MENTION=22772]Lazyitis[/MENTION] Yep, I was given a chance to drive another brand new Stang but it was all the same... now I'm waiting for my friend's 2016 Mustang, which should arrive here in 4-6 weeks, it is also GT manual, so this will be my breaking point what to do next... Oil change didn't help and I don't want to change the whole transmission without a guarantee of resolving this issue :-/

 

[PatM]

@Lazyitis Yep, I was given a chance to drive another brand new Stang but it was all the same... now I'm waiting for my friend's 2016 Mustang, which should arrive here in 4-6 weeks, it is also GT manual, so this will be my breaking point what to do next... Oil change didn't help and I don't want to change the whole transmission without a guarantee of resolving this issue :-/

Thanks, I totally agree, I would not exchange the trans either without knowing exactly what it is. Today I played around a bit and disengaged the clutch in 3rd and 4th gear at around 3000rpm (where the noise is most pronounced) and kept the 3000 in neutral with the throttle. The noise and vibration was still there in neutral without being in gear but a bit less pronounced without load. Additionally, I could get the clunk (usually when shifting from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd when disengaging/engaging the clutch and applying or removing load) just standing at the traffic light, moving into 1st gear and back to neutral and then quickly disengaging the clutch. There is also a slight metallic rotational bang noise with corresponding vibration through the shifter when idling in neutral. Maybe the whole thing is related to the clutch itself ... I will provide updates ...

 

[PatM]

Update ...

I investigated the problem by myself over the weekend and found that the stock shifter is mainly responsible for this grinding/rattling kind of noise at 2500+ rpm due to vibration. As I had the Barton shifter here anyway I just removed the stock shifter assembly and installed the Barton short throw shifter. First thing I noticed was that shifting is much improved and the noise is 60% gone. Nice thing is I can shift through all gears with my elbow resting on the console now. I still could experience some harsh noises in some gears and figured out that this seems to come from the additional spring force pushing the shifter to the right in 1st and 2nd and to the left for 5th and 6th gear (no noise in 6th gear though). As the resistance with all 4 springs in was way to strong for my liking anyway, I removed the 2 top springs. Now the noise was about 80% gone but I still had some kind of annoying metallic "ring" noise in 5th gear which mostly vanished when pushing the shifter slightly to the right. So I decided to just remove all the springs and fully rely on the linkage spring, which is totally fine for me even if I liked the two spring setup better. Additionally, I do not know if, on the long run and thinking about warranty, there could be any negative effect applying additional spring pressure to the linkage and trans. The noise in 5th gear is now minimized to a totally acceptable level as I can barely hear it anymore with windows up and AC off. Maybe it gets a bit smoother over time.

As a conclusion, my take on it right now is that shortly after installing my Magnaflow Street Catback, the rattling/grinding like noise developed because of the more intense vibrations introduced by the x-pipe especially. This does of course mean that even with the stock exhaust it could develop over a longer period of time but is maybe not that pronounced. The stock shifter and especially the reverse lockout is really bad from that perspective.

Regarding my clunking problem when shifting (engaging/disengaging the clutch manly from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd), I have been told by my dealer that Ford has problems on several cars with clunking (I assume due to excessive play) on both ends of the driveshaft, meaning either transmission or differential. For the trans it could also be the throw out bearing. So I will drop it off at the dealer next week and they figure out on which end the problem is in order to decide on the path forward. I honestly like this approach much more compared to just exchanging something on pure spec.

Seems to be a bit long winded, (my apologies:hail but hopefully also provides some helpful information ...

 

[NO_PLATES]

I investigated the problem by myself over the weekend and found that the stock shifter is mainly responsible for this grinding/rattling kind of noise at 2500+ rpm due to vibration. As I had the Barton shifter here anyway I just removed the stock shifter assembly and installed the Barton short throw shifter. First thing I noticed was that shifting is much improved and the noise is 60% gone. Nice thing is I can shift through all gears with my elbow resting on the console now. I still could experience some harsh noises in some gears and figured out that this seems to come from the additional spring force pushing the shifter to the right in 1st and 2nd and to the left for 5th and 6th gear (no noise in 6th gear though). As the resistance with all 4 springs in was way to strong for my liking anyway, I removed the 2 top springs. Now the noise was about 80% gone but I still had some kind of annoying metallic "ring" noise in 5th gear which mostly vanished when pushing the shifter slightly to the right. So I decided to just remove all the springs and fully rely on the linkage spring, which is totally fine for me even if I liked the two spring setup better. Additionally, I do not know if, on the long run and thinking about warranty, there could be any negative effect applying additional spring pressure to the linkage and trans. The noise in 5th gear is now minimized to a totally acceptable level as I can barely hear it anymore with windows up and AC off. Maybe it gets a bit smoother over time.

As a conclusion, my take on it right now is that shortly after installing my Magnaflow Street Catback, the rattling/grinding like noise developed because of the more intense vibrations introduced by the x-pipe especially. This does of course mean that even with the stock exhaust it could develop over a longer period of time but is maybe not that pronounced. The stock shifter and especially the reverse lockout is really bad from that perspective.

Regarding my clunking problem when shifting (engaging/disengaging the clutch manly from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd), I have been told by my dealer that Ford has problems on several cars with clunking (I assume due to excessive play) on both ends of the driveshaft, meaning either transmission or differential. For the trans it could also be the throw out bearing. So I will drop it off at the dealer next week and they figure out on which end the problem is in order to decide on the path forward. I honestly like this approach much more compared to just exchanging something on pure spec.

Seems to be a bit long winded, (my apologies:hail but hopefully also provides some helpful information ...

Any Updates???

My car is making the same noise but with an added metallic noise that makes it pretty embarrassing to shift. :(

 

[PatM]

Any Updates???

My car is making the same noise but with an added metallic noise that makes it pretty embarrassing to shift. :(

Ok, the dealer had it for one week in order to figure out the clunking and the metallic kind of grinding noise at around 3000 rpm. Bottom line is, they exchanged my clutch. After picking up the car I still had some clunking but it is much less pronounced, so definitely an improvement. I only have clunking now when I am not shifting the right way for some reason but I can live with it as it is right now as this usually not happens at all.

The grinding kind of noise more or less completely vanished also but I cannot tell (indeed I highly doubt it ...) if that is because they exchanged the clutch. Maybe there was something else loose (trans mounts etc. ...) and the issue was fixed as they had to remove and re-install it. However, even with AC off and windows up I can only hear engine sound and my exhaust roaring, maybe some really minor additional rattle from somewhere which I can barely hear.

However, the main issue of all the rattling was the stock shifter assembly with its plastic reverse lockout collar, which is just crab. Especially after installing my Magnaflow exhaust which of course introduced more vibration this was horrific. I installed the Barton shifter and Aluminum reverse lockout collar which separates the shaft from the collar with an inner O-ring which made a huge difference in both noise (real quiet now and even reduced nvh for me) and shifting experience. I also exchanged the trans fluid to BG Synchroshift II and the shifts are really smooth now, only minor harshness when warming up from 1st to 2nd gear.

Hope that helps ...

 

[jasonstang]

Mine is also doing exactly what OP is doing. It gets worse when the temperature is lower.
Just another quirks of the MT82.

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