Mustang Evolution Forum banner

Clutch/Shifter

3K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  SpectorV 
#1 ·
I worked my whole life to finally afford my first and only (dream) car…My 2000 Mustang!!! However, the 5-speed gearbox is incredibly not smooth. Moving the lever through the gates can only be accomplished by applying force to the lever I have never been required to use in my experience of stick shifting. The lever does notch into place with a satisfying sequence of double-clicks after every throw, however, often times the lever won’t even go into the gear (especially gear two).

Also, because I am not a racer, I greatly enjoy the stock clutches performance; meaning the distance between it being engaged and not engaged to the gas pedal is sufficient to accommodate my driving needs. However, I would like to reduce the amount of force with which the pedal springs back against my foot. Since I drive about 3 hours in heavy traffic 6 days a week, it would make for a much more pleasing driving experience.

On a related note, I drove a colleague’s Acura RSX Type-S several days ago, and noticed the ease with which the shifter was thrown and the gentle spring to the clutch pedal. My question, is what can be done to emulate the Acura’s shifting feel and how do I reduce the spring to my current clutch while maintaining it’s stock performance?

I thank you for the time you have given to reading and responding to this long post. Also, I look forward to conversing with fellow mustang enthusiasts in the future.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Sounds like you need a short throw shifter, check out the site sponsors, someone will chime in here in a minute with more info on these.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I would, in fact, prefer to keep my shifter stock, but my main concern is to incorporate a shifter that properly goes into all the gates, which as of right now it is not. So if I was to install a short shifter, which one would provide the most stock like feel (ie. longest shift throw), while improving the lever entrance into each gate.

And most importantly, how do I reduce the strong spring of my clutch pedal while maintaining it’s stock performance?
 
#7 ·
i think with the acura, that is just the feel of a fwd car...correct me if im wrong but it probly felt rubbery and didn't feel like there was any metal down there like the mustang.

i notice sometimes when i am driving hard and shifting into second at very high rpm's it takes more force to get into it, is that what you're talking about, or just regular shifting all the time?
 
#8 ·
the stock shifter takes less efford than any of them due to its longer shift handle, this makes you have more leverage on the tranny and it shifts smoother, a new shifter makes you have a much more positive feel for the car and to me is much easier to drive with. The notchy shifts in the tranny are normal, this is wht you get when you ACTUALLY drive a car with a shifter in the tranny... not a long ass bar that connects a FWD tranny to the shifter. The transmission is directly be low the shifter so your right on it.

If you have severe notchy ness shifting gears, takes alot of force to get into the next gear then it sounds to be like your linkage is not right or your clutch is going bad.

the stock v6 clutch is EXTREMLY light and takes VERY little pressure to operate compared to the gt model. It is more than some other cars that have hydrolic clutch's but its still not very much.

for your position I would first and formost make sure my clutch cable is correctly set up and my fork arm is set correctly in the transmission. You want to make SURE you have plenty of cable when you shift gears.

I would consider putting on a new clutch cable it may really smooth things out clutch petal wise. Do this with or before the next step.

You can for sure fix the problem by simply buying a clutch cable adjuster and a firewall adjuster for your car, the final peice is a petal hight adjustment kit from maximum motorsports for reasons I wont go into here ( ill link at the bottom for you )

This will allow you to custom taylor your clutch to your needed and also will give a longer life of course. If you adjust the clutch the way I have listed in my article, www.mustangevolution.com/articles/clutchadjustment , you will be sure you have the correct clutch set up and mark off the clutch cable and set up from potential issues.

The above items are pretty darn cheap, now if nothing works its time to check the clutch. The stock clutch parts are also pretty darn cheap to get as well. www.gefracing.com has them, ive priced them and i was amazed. They are a ford dealership out of georgia that has a nice website. Simply go there and call them since they dont list oem ford stuff on their site now, but definatly give them a try.

You will need to replace everything, its so cheap and its also cheap insurance.... so do it ALL!!!!! this includes:

Resurfacing the flywheel if it can be or buy another (they are cheap)
Pressure Plate
Clutch Disk
Fork Arm
Throwout Bearing
Pilot Bearing
Check bearing retainer on input shaft for scratches, only replace if needed
check input shaft end play
Finally make sure your clutch cable is new

These parts are cheap and if you are going to do a clutch install you had better do them all , since the labor is far more than the parts and you dont want to have a throwout bearing go bad a week after the install cuz you were to cheap to pay 35 dollars for now... now its time to spend 250 again... or more :) lol dont let that happen.

Your problems are more than likly pretty easy to fix so dont freak out just yet, I have been though 5 throwout bearings from fords wonderful quality work and parts... fun stuff.

read the article above and then come back with some replies and we shall do some more digging.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top