MT-82 1st, 2nd Lockout and Missed 3rd Poll

[TheLion]

How many of you have actually had issues with 1-2 lock out and missing 3rd gear and what rwp / tq are you at? I'm really contemplating taking off the BlowFish direct mount bracket, the shifter buzzing at certain RPM's and much added valve noise which resonates through the transmission tunnel i'm not a fan of.

I'm curious if the 1-2 lock out issue and missed 3rd gear issues with the MT-82s, which are supposed to be adressed in the S550, are more common with GT's which are modded and the older S197's vs. the S550 ecoboosts. Obviously the torque curve is quite different on the ecoboost as well as some differences in gearing which may affect the occurrence of this issue which I never actually had.

The two things I dislike about the BlowFish bracket is the shifter buzzing and the injector, valve and fuel pump noise, I can hear every single tick, tock, knock and other various engine noises produced by these components, which while normal, starts to become irritating on a daily driver. I do like my peace and quite for long trips and daily commutes.

I'm thinking rather than messing with trying to dampening the sound with more foam to account for the shifter turret sitting lower, I might be able to just get away with the stock mounting solution since I'm still on a stock turbo with a tune (all other mods are not really power adders, but addressing cooling issues, such as the FMIC, Radiator and thermostat).

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[wildcatgoal]

MGW shifter. No buzzing. Problems mentioned solved. /thread

 

[TheLion]

I've been kicking myself ever since I went down this route because the cost would have been the same (the Steeda Tri-axes + BlowFish bracket = MGW)...I think I'll end up giving the stock bracket a try as I never had an issues with it prior to installing the BlowFish bracket even tuned. If I have issues then I might have to go the MGW route.

 

[Fast64ranchero]

I used to miss 3rd all the time, at that time I was about 360whp. I installed a MGW shifter and all the shifting issues are gone

 

[Tommy V]

Im well over 600rwhp and have stock trans/shifter/and clutch and might have missed a gear 3 times with atleast 50 track passes and who knows how many pulls on the street.The only thing i dont like about the mt82 is how it shifts when trans is cold.Probably a better fluid would take care of that.

 

[Terminator2]

I have zero issues with either of my MT82s.

 

[robwlf]

im stock power lvls. and i never have a issue with the trans at all . im going to see how she acts in the colder weather.. im prob going to change the trans and diff fluid next spring anyway so

 

[BmacIL]

im stock power lvls. and i never have a issue with the trans at all . im going to see how she acts in the colder weather.. im prob going to change the trans and diff fluid next spring anyway so

BG Syncroshift II helps in the cold weather for sure.

 

[dsp4848]

I'm currently at stock power levels (not for too much longer though) with the stock shifter, trans, fluids, and clutch and I have no issues with my MT82 either. 1-2 shift I have zero problems with. Upon cold start, it won't be as smooth as when fully warmed up, but I never get a 1-2 lock out. 2-3 shift I rarely have issues with. The only times I can recall I've gotten lockout from a 2-3 shift is when I catch myself gripping the shifter wrong or too tightly.

 

[Fast64ranchero]

Im well over 600rwhp and have stock trans/shifter/and clutch and might have missed a gear 3 times with atleast 50 track passes and who knows how many pulls on the street.The only thing i dont like about the mt82 is how it shifts when trans is cold.Probably a better fluid would take care of that.

Over 600whp? What's your track times/mph?

 

[TheLion]

Just an update, I took off the BlowFish bracket last night (but left in the Steeda Tri-Axes Short Throw), it deffiantely makes the care "feel" smoother as there's virtually no vibration in the shifter. That vibration made the engine feel very gritty and un-refined (I realize this is primarily perception). Of course no buzzing noise at any RPM.

It's also makes the interior quiter, I don't hear as much of the ticks, tocs, clicks and taps of the injectors, fuel pump and maybe some valve noise (aka there are less perceived gremlins in the engine now), although there is still plenty of it which still audible to a degree. I also hear less drive train backlash, mostly just the Torsen thud as it un-sticks and the normal thuds when shifting gears while not moving.

I also did a few WOT pulls 1-3, and 3-4 (during merging) without a single issue. I will note this, I did miss 3rd a few times with the bone stock shifter (before any upgrades at all when I first got the car), however I think that was due more to the factory shift knob which felt small in my hand and made it more difficult to hold the shifter comfortably. After installing the classic Pony Tri-bar knob, which is noticeably larger, I feel like I can more accurately align the shifter and have thus far had 0 issues.

I think the lesson learned here is, if it' isn't broken, don' fix it. From all of your reports, Ford seems to have done a pretty good job in refining the whole MT-82. Sure it's not perfect, but I've never driven a perfect car...ever, I think they did a pretty good job on the factory setup. If I ever do have issues I will just go with the MGW setup, but I don't think it will come to that.

Regarding cold shifting, try AMSOIL Sever Gear oil, AMSOIL lubricants have VERY good cold flow performance. Not only are they some of the best in terms of lubrication (wear reduction), boil off, alkalinity etc, they also have some of the best cold flow of any oils on the market which was important in a 4 season climate, especially where we regularly see 0F-20F in Jan-Feb. Some times it's not convenient to warm up the car. Using their engine oil also helps cold starting as the cold cranking viscosity puts less load on the battery and starter as well as reduces wear. Supposedly around 60% of engine wear actually occurs during cold starts due to poor oil flow.

 

[Tommy V]

Over 600whp? What's your track times/mph?

So far 11.03 at 130 mph.Car is 4060 pounds with me in it.First problem i was having was i messed up on my plug gap and at first car ran good but starting breaking up at higher rpms.Plug gap was a good bit too wide!!!!.also im on stock clutch still and even though it hooks great out the hole,its not recovering inbetween 2to3 shift and 3to4 shifts,logs show a good bit of slipping.Actually going back tonight since i fixed the plug gap issue and lund had to tweak the tune because the gap made that much of a difference.If clutch holds it should have no problem doing a 10.8 or 10.7 on drag radials.Also on stock pp wheels.

 

[347CobraII]

I haven't had problems I've had 2011 GT and current 2015gt. But 15gt does shift better than 2011 GT did.

 

[Fast64ranchero]

So far 11.03 at 130 mph.Car is 4060 pounds with me in it.First problem i was having was i messed up on my plug gap and at first car ran good but starting breaking up at higher rpms.Plug gap was a good bit too wide!!!!.also im on stock clutch still and even though it hooks great out the hole,its not recovering inbetween 2to3 shift and 3to4 shifts,logs show a good bit of slipping.Actually going back tonight since i fixed the plug gap issue and lund had to tweak the tune because the gap made that much of a difference.If clutch holds it should have no problem doing a 10.8 or 10.7 on drag radials.Also on stock pp wheels.

Your current 11.03 would put you at the fastest manual trans ecoboost car currently. Nice.

 

[terryz]

With stock power level and stock shifter, I found that the transmission becomes smoothier after 12k miles, it feels almost like the linkage is no longer too tight and easier to put in gear. For the first a first thousand miles it was a little notchy espcially after cold start.

Maybe sometime people mod shifter too early?

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