Transmission questions

[DarkknightGT]

So I've parked the mustang over fear of it possibly being the transmission that is bad. When I bought it, it supposedly had some unknown stage 2 clutch in it. Well about a week into me owning the car the pedal decided to start bouncing back and forth. It also started making this knocking noise, almost like a really bad rod knock that went away when I pressed in the clutch. The car kicks out of 1st and 2nd gear. I've heard that you have to get an adjustable pivot stud in order for a clutch like that to work, to which I can't move the clutch fork back and forth slightly at all, it's pretty much set RIGHT THERE against the clutch at all times. Question is, I have a stock clutch, could it be the clutch screwing it up, or am I heading towards a tranny rebuild? (Hehe, rebuild)

 

[Snorky]

Perhaps your clutch is worn out. Or the fork is off the pivot ball, orrrrr an adjustable pivot stud is needed. I would pull the trans snd examine the pivot ball, clutch fork and clutch disc/flywheel for wear. If a clutch is worn down enough the fork will come closer and closer to the transmission side of thr bellhousing opening

 

[Terrorist 5.0]

Could you remove the inspection cover and take a couple pictures? If your clutch pedal is floppy it could be a couple things. Your cable went out of adjustment or is starting to snap, or your clutch fork fell off the pivot stud. Some pictures would help us determine what you should do next.

 

[weendoggy]

If in doubt about the fork-TO brg placement, look here:


Wrong placement


Correct placement

 

[DarkknightGT]

If in doubt about the fork-TO brg placement, look here:

View attachment 45151
Wrong placement

View attachment 45152
Correct placement

Could you remove the inspection cover and take a couple pictures? If your clutch pedal is floppy it could be a couple things. Your cable went out of adjustment or is starting to snap, or your clutch fork fell off the pivot stud. Some pictures would help us determine what you should do next.

got em for ya!

 

[Terrorist 5.0]

got em for ya!

From what I can see (the pictures aren’t 100% clear but that’s ok), your throw out bearing is placed in the clutch fork properly, and you have enough space for full travel. If you push and pull the fork with a little pressure in and out, up and down, do you get any movement? This is to check that it is still clipped in properly on the pivot ball stud.

weendoggy is pretty good at this stuff. Has an awesome YouTube channel, and I even did a clutch pedal mod he did on his New Edge. Definitely listen to him lol, he has helped me out on the forum with transmission related stuff in the past.

 

[DarkknightGT]

From what I can see (the pictures aren’t 100% clear but that’s ok), your throw out bearing is placed in the clutch fork properly, and you have enough space for full travel. If you push and pull the fork with a little pressure in and out, up and down, do you get any movement? This is to check that it is still clipped in properly on the pivot ball stud.

weendoggy is pretty good at this stuff. Has an awesome YouTube channel, and I even did a clutch pedal mod he did on his New Edge. Definitely listen to him lol, he has helped me out on the forum with transmission related stuff in the past.

It doesn't move at all to be honest. I've tried moving it back and forth but it will NOT move. The clutch is feel is too tall, so it prevents it from moving?

 

[Terrorist 5.0]

It doesn't move at all to be honest. I've tried moving it back and forth but it will NOT move. The clutch is feel is too tall, so it prevents it from moving?

That is a good thing, it isn’t supposed to move. If that is the case, a couple questions to narrow down the issue. Assuming your clutch pedal is stock and you don’t have a MM pedal height adjuster, where does it grab? Do you still have the stock quadrant? I see you have an adjustable cable so at least you can control the clutch adjustment if the quadrant maxes out. Regardless, I am trying to figure out your clutch adjustment based on where your clutch grabs.

If you push the pedal with your hands, do you feel that it is loose for the first little bit? If so, you need to tighten your cable up. That knocking you are hearing is the clutch fork bouncing back and forth on the clutch since your clutch cable may be loose. The fact that the noise goes away when you push the pedal is a hint.

 

[weendoggy]

I agree with fork placement. Looks good. The TO rides on the fingers ALL the time, no "freeplay". Now you can start back tracking to the pedal. One thing I'm not sure of is if you still have the plastic fantastic quadrant, or did you take that out and put a one-piece in when the adjustable cable was installed. I've seen it down half-assed and cause problems. If all is good, check what T-5.0 (thanks for comment) suggests. Another thing to check is the boot area at the shifter. ie: is it tight when shifting, clearance, etc from the lever? All these items are a check and test and after all is o.k. the only suggestion I have left is take the tranny out and inspect clutch, fork ball height and so on. While doing that, are your u-joints good. All this is a "inspect as you take apart" procedure. Worse thing to do is just take it all apart without doing so and wondering what the cause could be. Kinda like going to the doctor for tests to find out what's wrong with you, not implying there's anything wrong with you, just diagnosing. Dr. DiOrio has spoken.

 

[Terrorist 5.0]

Even I was surprised. That cable is supposed to be tighter than most people think. That little mushy spot at the beginning of the pedal people talk about is not supposed to be floppy at all. Just a little less stiff than when you are really pushing it. I set my preload by feel, but check it afterwards. MM suggests 5-8 pounds of force for a half an inch of movement. By feel, I get around 7-7.5 pounds.