Transmission question on 2010 manuals

[ivoryowner]

I just bought a new V6 Premium 5-speed manual. I'm having problems shifting it into reverse.
Sometimes, it will go into reverse easily, sometimes it's a little difficult and sometimes it won't go in at all until I shift (back) into first and/or release the clutch.
If I follow the instructions in the owners manual (it states to put it in neutral for at least 3 seconds) I have more times where it won't go into reverse than if I leave it in first immediately after starting the car.
I've been told (by the dealership) that "ALL Mustangs have had this problem for years".
Any suggestions?

[lowflyn]

You might need to adjust the clutch. If I recall correctly the S197 models switched to a hydraulic clutch which may require bleeding occasionally.

[OsirisGuy]

I have a hard time going into reverse sometimes as well. A safety on the transmissions was that the car will not shift into reverse unless it passes through straight from neutral. So basically you can't be in 5th gear and forget you're in and go to shift to "6th" gear and destroy your drivetrain when your car goes from 50 MPH forward to reverse.

You'll probably have to find that "sweet spot" that the car decides is neutral to go into reverse.

And yes my car is a cable clutch and in '05 they went with a hydraulic clutch.

[SpectorV]

+1 on adjusting the clutch to ensure you have full range as you push the petal down. Reverse has no syncros if I remember right so that could be the issue. Never ever put it in reverse while moving. Is it worse in the morning when its cold?

[ivoryowner]

It's not worse (or better) in the morning. I have this problem when I'm at work (I go to lunch pretty much at exactly the 4-hour point), or if I just run into the store for 10 minutes. I've been told that there's a possibility of adjusting the "throw out bearing fork", but I've also been told that my car's fork isn't adjustable.

[SpectorV]

there has to be adjustments that can be made, ive just never done them myself

[ivoryowner]

I'm more inclined to think there is a DESIGN change that needs to happen. I've owned two Mustangs that didn't have this problem and a Contour. The '77 Stang I had, you had to "push" on the shifter, my Contour, you had to "lift" the boot (I don't remember what I did with the '81 Stang). Why the new Mustangs are like this is simply frustrating. The dealership has told me that there's nothing they can do, no adjustments, etc. I'm trying to get an idea if I'm the only one who thinks this way, or if other owners have the same problem, they're just "living with it" and haven't told the dealer and/or Ford. I'm also beginning to think that I'm getting the brush off since I am female and everyone thinks they can feed me a line of bull and I'll just back down.

[Zebs5408]

i wouldnt touch anything im sure u got some kinda warranty lol, how is the performace on the 10' v6s? i here there no joke

[ivoryowner]

I've tried to take it to the dealership for warranty work. They tell me "it's working fine." And, I think that the pick up in this car is wonderful!!! Other than the reverse problem, I LOVE the car!! Actually, I have a hard time keeping it within the speed limit. (Which is 70mph most places here.) I did get it up to 90 (briefly) and I was surprised that I wasn't being vibrated out of my seat. I also found out that there is a limiter (sorry, can't remember the other word they used and I guess I watch too much NASCAR) that I wouldn't be able to top 98ish. I haven't tried, don't plan to either. I had an '04 V6 automatic and I was getting REALLY disappointed with the performance of it when I was trying to accelerate. With the '10, I just drop it in 4th and take off. I thought that maybe my issue with the '04 was that it was getting "old" and I had 75k on it and it was an automatic, but I rented a '10 last year when we were on vacation and it was an automatic and had as much pick up as my manual. I'm sure most "motorheads" would prefer the V8 - especially since the '11's will have a 5.0 instead of the 4.6, but I like getting 20 mpg instead of 20 gpm.

[OsirisGuy]

I just had a thought, you wouldn't happen to have an aftermarket shifter would you? I'm sure you don't and I that's the case, do you or anyone else know how man pieces the whole shift linkage is? I'm talking about the shifter arm itself. I'm thinking that S197 had a single one piece arm down as opposed to the two piece arm in the previous years.

Basically what I'm getting at is the bolts on my shifter sometimes loosen from the vibration and after a while it gets a little, "sloppy", going into gears, mostly felt on reverse.

It might be a long shot but it could be one more thin to rule out.

[ivoryowner]

I'm not sure if my car is one-piece or not. I'd have to ask the dealership. I realize that it's one more thing to rule out, but I've had this problem since day one and I'm not sure how a car with less than 100 miles would have a problem with "loose bolts". I'm not ruling anything out at this point. Currently, I'm at about 1600 miles and the issue seems to getting less frequent, but it hasn't completely gone away. I'm having problems 1 out of 10 times instead of (up to) 2 out of 3 times.
I'm waiting for the "engineer" to contact me to discuss the situation and I'll have to see what happens there.

[upton7]

I have trouble shifting into reverse all the time i either drive forward like an inch or just shift into all gears then into reverse.

[99ford]

Are there any other dealers near where you live? Sometimes I find service departments to be lazy.

[ivoryowner]

upton7 - My whole point in all of this is that I don't think I should have to "play" with my car/gear shift to get into reverse. I never had this problem with my other Fords, so I think that they should be able to figure out a fix to the problem. Maybe if more owners (espeically of newer - hydraulic clutch - cars) contacts them, they would sit up and take notice and realize that there must be a solution to this problem.

99ford - I did contact the dealership in my town, I won't let them touch my car. I live in a small town and if I take it there, the only thing they would do is use my car as a guinea pig and they specifically told me that they wouldn't be able to tell me how long they would keep it, nor if they would be able to do anything about the issue.