PSA - Manual Transmissions

[Rob_R]

I was under the driver side dash on my Mach 1 and I noticed a wire harness with a non-protected bundle of wires behind the clutch pedal. The harness is routed so that it is pushed and flexed to lay flat against the firewall when the clutch pedal is depressed. In other words, the clutch pedal was hitting the unprotected bundle and flexing/pushing it into the fire wall.

I don't think the wire bundle will last very long with that kind of contact and flexing shift after shift. To remedy the situation, I forced the bundle up out of the path of the clutch pedal and tie-wrapped it in place. I discovered this a few months ago and I forgot to mention it here. You may want to check your car for the same wire routing.

Sponsored

 

[Pittpa]

Thanks. All this time I thought my garage door opening when I pushed the clutch pedal was a feature.

 

[Noleftist]

I was under the driver side dash on my Mach 1 and I noticed a wire harness with a non-protected bundle of wires behind the clutch pedal. The harness is routed so that it is pushed and flexed to lay flat against the firewall when the clutch pedal is depressed. In other words, the clutch pedal was hitting the unprotected bundle and flexing/pushing it into the fire wall.

I don't think the wire bundle will last very long with that kind of contact and flexing shift after shift. To remedy the situation, I forced the bundle up out of the path of the clutch pedal and tie-wrapped it in place. I discovered this a few months ago and I forgot to mention it here. You may want to check your car for the same wire routing.

I have a MACH 1 with a lot of $ sunk into it with the POS 10R80.
I am seriously thinking about converting it to something else that is more reliable/stronger.
What do you think of your six speed manual transmission?
What are the weaknesses?
for now, I am assuming it would be cheaper to have my car converted to a better transmission than trading it or selling it.
thank you.

 

[Rob_R]

I have a MACH 1 with a lot of $ sunk into it with the POS 10R80.
I am seriously thinking about converting it to something else that is more reliable/stronger.
What do you think of your six speed manual transmission?
What are the weaknesses?
for now, I am assuming it would be cheaper to have my car converted to a better transmission than trading it or selling it.
thank you.

I love the 6 speed manual trans in the Mach. My background is I have only owned manual transmission equipped vehicles since 1976 and I feel the Mach 1 has a great manual trans. Full disclosure - I did purchase a Jeep Gladiator with an auto trans in 2023, so my streak is kaput.

The only weakness may be in the linkage as some Mach 1 owners are experiencing vibrations and growling that seem to be due to a combination of drivetrain alignment and linkage. From what I understand, it is fixable. There are excellent aftermarket shifters available for this application.

I can't answer your question about converting your car to a better transmission. There may be some on this forum that have experience on this subject.

 

[skinnyb]

I love the 6 speed manual trans in the Mach. My background is I have only owned manual transmission equipped vehicles since 1976 and I feel the Mach 1 has a great manual trans. Full disclosure - I did purchase a Jeep Gladiator with an auto trans in 2023, so my streak is kaput.

The only weakness may be in the linkage as some Mach 1 owners are experiencing vibrations and growling that seem to be due to a combination of drivetrain alignment and linkage. From what I understand, it is fixable. There are excellent aftermarket shifters available for this application.

I can't answer your question about converting your car to a better transmission. There may be some on this forum that have experience on this subject.

I have a MACH 1 with a lot of $ sunk into it with the POS 10R80.
I am seriously thinking about converting it to something else that is more reliable/stronger.
What do you think of your six speed manual transmission?
What are the weaknesses?
for now, I am assuming it would be cheaper to have my car converted to a better transmission than trading it or selling it.
thank you.

I agree, the 10R80 is problematic at best. I had the 10R80 in my 22 GT, it would shift brilliantly at times, and then act like it was on a 3 day drunk bender sometimes too. I LOVE the Tremec in the Mach 1, even though the shifter made all kinds of wierd noises at times. MGW shifter fixed that right up .... As for swapping to a manual, that would cost WAY more than its worth, would be much better finding a Manual Mach 1 and trading . Thats what I did, went from a 10 speed GT to my Mach 1... I paid DEARLY but I am much happier now...

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

I have only bought autos for family cars. I, personally, have never bought an auto for any vehicle that was mine. That means since my first car in 1972.
I know, I know, autos shift faster, are programmable, and on and on. I have just never achieved the same connection to the vehicle with an auto. Just might have something to do with being the son of a son of a Teamster. It’s a good thing gas and diesel came along or I would be hitchin’ horses.
Oh, and the ones that run on lightning? Just not even interested.

 

[Charlemagne]

I have a MACH 1 with a lot of $ sunk into it with the POS 10R80.
I am seriously thinking about converting it to something else that is more reliable/stronger.

What's broken with your 10R80 and why didn't you fix it? Mine works great and is fluid as butter.
If you don't like it, remove the bolt-ons, sell the car and buy a manual, easy fix

 

[Noleftist]

What's broken with your 10R80 and why didn't you fix it? Mine works great and is fluid as butter.
If you don't like it, remove the bolt-ons, sell the car and buy a manual, easy fix

This is just a couple of the videos that educate about the poor choice of materials used, faults. and poor design of the 10r80/10L80 transmission:
The first video is one of a series by SIU.

mine is supposed to be repaired under warranty. The problem is the dealers, not using any of the upgraded or updated parts and will probably only last another couple thousand miles before it craps the bed too.
I was talking to my local transmission shop that a number of the auto repair and performance shops around here recommend again yesterday. They recently installed 3 new from Ford complete 10r80 transmissions. 1 transmission lasted a month. The other 2 lasted 2-3 months! before they failed!
These 3 transmissions were put in stock vehicles no performance upgrades!

Mine lasted a couple thousand miles before it started having problems!
It has been in for repair 5x. They tried software fixes, I kept getting told it just needed to learn my driving style etc. So my car with 9000 miles on it now has been in the shop for 40 days and I am guessing maybe more months.
The dealer said they would need my car at least another month. My impression is that there’s so many of these transmissions that have sh*t the bed that they can’t keep up with replacing or repairing.

In my opinion, the transmissions all need to be recalled,and all the faulty parts replaced with the properly designed and made parts!

 

[Noleftist]

What's broken with your 10R80 and why didn't you fix it? Mine works great and is fluid as butter.
If you don't like it, remove the bolt-ons, sell the car and buy a manual, easy fix

SUNCOAST has a full transmission that comes with upgraded parts for about $12 K.

 

[Charlemagne]

Yet 10R80 handles 800 hp fine unlike the commonly used manual transmissions. Again, what's broken in yours and why did the warranty not cover it?

How much is new one btw? How many of them you can buy for $12k? And how many people had to replace a transmissions of all of the sold ones? I think it's a pretty solid transmission. And I know a few things, I own a DSG one in VW which had several major repairs already

 

[robvas]

Yet 10R80 handles 800 hp fine unlike the commonly used manual transmissions.

how many 1/4 mile passes do you have on yours at 800hp?

 

[WildHorse]

Yet 10R80 handles 800 hp fine

So does the MT82. Till the clutch says otherwise. Your 10R80 @ 800 is overheating the intermediate clutches & the forward planetaries @ that HP level. Suggest to change the trans fluid & filter at least once a year, and use a fluid rated for extreme conditions.

 

[Noleftist]

Yet 10R80 handles 800 hp fine unlike the commonly used manual transmissions. Again, what's broken in yours and why did the warranty not cover it?

How much is new one btw? How many of them you can buy for $12k? And how many people had to replace a transmissions of all of the sold ones? I think it's a pretty solid transmission. And I know a few things, I own a DSG one in VW which had several major repairs already

It is good that you are one of the lucky ones.
One trans is 12k, from COASTAL
Like I said many times before, my transmission/car has been this time, the 5th time at the dealer for 41 days as of today at this dealership alone. Like I said before, after many unreturned phone calls, I finally got the Service Manager on the phone and discovered he didn’t know what was going on with my car. He then proceeded to lie to me and told me he would call me back once he found out what was going on with my car. Since he proceeded not to, I decided to try and talk to his supervisor the director, I was sent to his voicemail. I left him a message. He never called either.

So I then proceeded to drive there try and talk to them face-to-face and see if they still had my car. I needed to know what if anything was going on with my car, or if it had been stolen or if it had been crushed or what.

I proceeded to talk to the transmission mechanic he told me that they were just going to put the same exact parts back in my transmission but new. I asked specifically about the updated/upgraded parts that Ford had and he said no they would not use those parts. My logical thoughts are that seems stupid. Why would they put known-faulty parts back into my transmission again.
I asked if I bought the upgraded parts when he finally took my transmission apart and then put it together together. Would he use those? He said no.

At some point, I found out or figured out that they hadn’t even ordered the parts yet and they probably still have not as of today, December 28, 2024.
They I’ve had my car since November 19, 2024. I would not be surprised if they have my car for more months. The mechanic said they would have it for at least another month.

I do not know exactly what is wrong with my transmission. The dealership has not taken my transmission apart, or told me yet. They did try putting a new valve body on it, but said that did not fix it and that there was internal damage.
I would suggest you watch the videos from Southern Illinois University about the Ford 10r80 and the GM 10L80 transmission, it will educate you about the many known faulty design and parts used in the transmission. I and the dealer to this day do not know, if it is the: known CDF drum failure, or if it is the known faulty valve body, or the faulty valves in the valve body or the known P3 gear, or the known trashcan/housing or the other three or four names of the piece. Or ALL the above parts and maybe more that have worn each other down and then filled the valve body with the metals.
Again, people do not take my word for this watch the multiple videos from SIU and then the Flying Wrench and others so that you can be educated about the 10 speed transmission whether it is from Ford or GM.
Gm just had a recall approximately a week ago on theirs.
again, it is difficult for me to understand how both Ford and GM could’ve made this transmission together and for it to be so bad.

 

[Noleftist]

When I have talked to the multiple transmission shops and repair or performance shops around me, they all say the 10R/L80 is crap. And this is putting it nicely.
Not a single shop has said that it is a great trans or even good or even mediocre!
actually, I forgot one guy said that he thought it was a good transmission, but the software was crap. Watching the educational videos about the transmission leads me to believe it’s not just software problems.

 

[WildHorse]

10R/L80 is crap

The 10L80 is light years ahead of the 10R80. The L80 has a much better valvebody & software.
The VB is something none of these youtubers get into.

Sponsored