Long time no chit chat, hope y'all are up to no good
Seems my clutch finally has gone out, there's a horrific cat-being-gang-raped squeal with the clutch pedal engaged and my latest drive saw the pedal itself "flapping" and smacking my foot while in gear and driving down the road.
I know the TOB is a goner, and with 126k on her I may as well go the full clutch kit. With no power adders, and none in the immediate future I'm looking at the Exedy Mach 350 Stage 1 from AM.
So I've got a few questions if you don't mind helping me figure out:
1. In these kits that come with the TOB and pilot bearing, should they be replaced instead with FRPP parts? It would seem to be the case, especially since the "buy me" link for the clutch kit offers the FRPP TOB for a nominal fee. Just wanting to get confirmation since I'm already gonna be all up in there.
2. Follow up to #1, would the same logic apply to the pilot bearing too?
3. Is there a need to do anything with the clutch cable, fork, and/or quadrant? I realize nobody here has a clue about the current condition of said items, but from a "since I'm already here" standpoint, is this something else to consider or not? I've inspecting the cable where it mates with the firewall, and it's not loose or frayed or anything as far as I can tell, if that helps.
1/2. Every forum I have been on has recommended OEM for TOB and pilot bearing. Frpp is not technically oem...
3. If i was you I'd replace the fork and the pivot stud while you're in there at least....the others (cable and quadrant) can be done any time. But if you have the cash on hand do them as well... but with the cable again oem -or- maximum motor sports. Quadrant you could go with any of the reputable aftermarket a lot of personal opinion there...i personally went maximum motor sports
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Definitely replace everything that you would need to remove the transmission to fix, with the best quality parts that you can afford.
Things like the cable, quadrant, etc. are relatively easy to replace later on, if they are all in serviceable condition at the present time.
Been a while, life/work/family....haven't been posting here of late but come back on occasion for some help with brakes or that GDamn plastic intake.
Anywho, I dont think it's necessary to do the cabling or anything external to the engine/trans just yet, but the ADD in me says "in for a penny, in for a pound" so we'll see lol.
Took me some digging to find but here's the FoMoCo p/n for anyone interested in the future: F7ZZ-7548-AA
Also some additional snooping shows no tangible benefit with FRPP over the OEM, thanks for pointing that out and saving about $20 on the bill.
Looked at the fork and pivot stud option and I can see the logic in doing those parts as well while things are torn apart. With so many miles on her, what's the likelihood of both needing to be done at all?
The CFO is happier with a $300 parts bill over an $1100 shop bill, but still....
If it were me I'd replace both the fork and pivot stud. With that many miles on them better safe than sorry. Clutch forks can get bent, the TOB retention clips can snap off, and the groove that the pivot ball stud sits in can get chewed up. Likewise, the pivot ball stud itself can get chewed up. I think a new fork can be had for like $50 and the pivot stud is like another $10-12. Depending on how particular you are, you could also use new bolts for the flywheel and pressure plate mounting bolts. But as you can see it starts to add up.
For me and my money/time, I replaced anything that couldn't be done with the Trans on with new while it was out.
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I'm still going with the Exedy clutch kit, and w/o my alldata working I can't pull up the OEM p/n for the pilot bearing, so going with the FRPP part.
Exedy and pilot bearing coming from AM, just as soon as they provide the discount code lol. Other parts came elsewhere at a real good price too, about $139 shipped and all OEM.
Anyways, great suggestions and thank you again FoS. Target install date is next weekend and I'm kinda hoping the exhaust needs replacement so I can slap on a prochamer
Good luck with the install...make sure to have plenty of beer (or your favorite beverage) on hand. It's really not that bad of a job, especially if you've got an extra set of hands in a helper. Bonus if you have access to a lift and air tools, but not ultimately necessary. Just also make sure you've got a few long extensions and ujoint connecter to get at then top two trans bolts.
A good way to get just a little extra clearance there....take out the bolts to the Trans mount after you have the drive shaft off. The engine should rock back slightly....you can even (very, very carefully and gently mind you) jack the front of the engine up to give a little more room.
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I should be alright for tools, including the extensions, may need to borrow a bigger torque wrench but my next door neighbor has pulled his truck engine 3 or 4x in the past couple years so Im quite confident he would have any spare tool req'd. Hoping to bribe him with beer too lol
One last thought on this install....the flywheel was turned at 80k and with (correction) 121K on her now is it recommended to have it resurfaced or no?
I have that clutch and I hate it compared to how the stock clutch felt. It's a little lighter, but that could have just been the old OEM cable/quadrant setup that made it feel heavier. I think the clutch is fine, I just don't care for the on/off feel compared to stock. I'll go with something different on the next go-round. Also, I have both FRPP pilot and throwout bearings and they are working fine for me. I've got about 22k on my setup now. One of the biggest improvements on mine was when I ditched the FRPP quadrant and adjustable cable and went with the Maximum Motorsports cable, quadrant, and firewall adjuster kits. It's much smoother with it and the cable was thicker and better quality.
But when that happened to mine I did everything. Ford TOB with a Mach 400 clutch. New pivot stud, and a new clutch fork, quadrant, firewall adjuster, and new cable. Clutch fork I got ended up being trash, so the stock one is back in the car. I love the Mach 400 clutch. With the new cable it feels lighter than my stock clutch, and grabs a bit higher, instead of on the floor.
I haven't done the work yet, that's slated for this weekend because ain't no football to occupy my time with.
Got the fork, pivot stud, and TOB in the mail yesterday. Now just waiting on the pilot bearing and clutch kit to arrive.
Have decided to wait for the remaining clutch work, as in "everything in the engine bay" for now, but the thought did cross my mind. Napa doesn't turn flywheels anymore at least not in my area, so I'm still checking around for that.
Fingers crossed it call still all get done in one weekend.
I was calling around for a bit yesterday on this, and no joy with a shop opened on Sat/Sun. No worries, found a shop and taking Monday off to sort it then
All parts should be OEM (not FRPP, OEM) from a dealer. The clutch... Exedy 350 is fine. I like the 400 myself but if you don't plan on boost or nitrous then 350 is more than enough.
One other thing... If you do wind up getting a new flywheel, not sure what year you are but be aware that 99-early 01 were 8 bolt 10.5" units and 01.5-04 were 6 bolt 11" units (except the cobra and manual mach). If you are a 10.5" clutch, now is a good time to upgrade to an 11". You don't need to do anything except have a flywheel set up for 11" clutch and the 01.5-04 clutch.
That too, a lot of places here won't do it anymore. Say just buy a new one and take the old one to a scrap yard.
You an get repro flywheels for both sizes that are fine. For a street car, OEM iron style especially with the lighter cast crank. You actually can tell if a motor has a forged crank vs cast all things being equal the way it spins up. True story. Another plus for the 03/04 Auto Mach1 TBTH. For the power levels they are at and the automatic, light cast crank makes way more sense.
So there was a minor delay in start times, actually finished pulling the flywheel about 30mins from kickoff. Found a shop in Fort Worth that will do the job, dropping it off man~ana, finishing up the whole job next weekend. Have new/OEM pivot stud, clutch fork, TOB, and pilot bearing ready to go in, plus the Exedy 350 kit.
Got the pilot bearing pulled, thank you Auto/Reilly's for the tool rental.
Flywheel actually looks pretty good, no noticeable grooves but turning anyways.
Trans fluid looks like less viscous motor oil, all black and manky, that's getting replaced now too. Looks like she takes between 3.0L (TR3560) and 3.6L, would love to have some confirmations on type (Mercon, Mobil1, Royal Purple) and quantity if you please.
Pulled this from elsewhere on the mustang fora, stating the workshop manual recommends:
MERCON® Multi-Purpose (ATF) Transmission Fluid XT-2-QDX 3.6L (7.5 pt)
Car has 122k on the clock, and has had some difficulty shifting in colder weather, plus a little "whiney" (radio is usually up so i generally don't hear it, but the whine is there).
I put in just shy of 3.2 quarts of Mobil 1 ATF in mine. It shifts about the same as with Mercon 3, but shifts better in cold weather. You can also use GM Synchromesh, according to Tremec.
Pennzoil Synchromesh from Autozone or wherever. 3.2 quarts of it. Its in yellow bottles. That is mother's milk for these transmissions. Just remember this is not synthetic fluid so you should be changing it fully at least once a year. Which is stupid easy in these cars... pull shifter, drain, put drain plug back and 3.2 quarts dumped right in via the shifter hole.
For a weekend-only project, she took a few weekends (started Super Bowl Saturday) but finally put the last bits on, fired up, and took her for a test drive around the block.
Went with the Synchromesh and zero noise shifting. Matter o fact, it's even improved the shifting dynamics, although that could just be the ancient sludge that was previously there.
I gotta say, having never done this before, I am so pleased with the results! Took my time, maybe too much time, but I've learned a lot about my ride and already scheming for the next set of mods.
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