Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting I HATE SYNCHROS!!!!

k, I didn't take that personally, but just some info for ya here.

I don't mean ripping fast, I'm talking any faster than normal shifting. I did not abuse my tranny, never have, never will no matter what vehicle I drive, when I shift fast I don't "slam" it into gear. Also I have done the throttle hang fix. Now another thing is I bought my vehicle used, I have no idea how the owner before me treated it, he could have beat it for all I know.

And last but not least, I'm not complaining, syncros go on every transmission, If I came across as complaining, I didn't mean to. Everyone knows, since Terry's infamous speech at spring zing (wasn't there but have heard bits and pieces) that this tranny doesn't take very well to abuse. This is a high maint. car, I'm okay with that, it ain't no honda. But it sure is a heck of a lot more fun than one.

Actually it is shift by wire, well cable atleast as opposed to the bars on the older ones. 98+ I believe is cable, I know my SVT is.

I didn't abuse mine either and I don't give a damn how you shift, you shouldn't be having problems at 30,000 miles!!!!

Terry, I am having some difficuly with my tranny and since you are the guru thought I would ask. Many, many times as I am driving and I come to a spot where I need to put her in reverse she just won't go. At the same time that this is happening if i try to put in first to get away from the spot, it won't go either. After many presses of the clutch and some patience it goes into a gear. My dealer is awaiting an ESP rep to give the go ahead to tear it down, but right now they say that the synchros for 1st, 2nd and reverse are shot. Does this sound right? Or could it be something else.

Thx for any tips you can offer.

Fern

The 2000+ / 'Focus' MTX75 selector forks and shifter tower cure the rev/1st problem ...but...there was a batch of bad SVT clutches that also gave bad gear engagement,a TSB was issued on these I beleave....

Originally posted by SVT power:

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Actually it is shift by wire, well cable at least...

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D'OH! Ya got me there. In that respect, we all have drive-by-wire throtles too.

Now, here's the provocative question (brought on by SVTFern's post): Are some of these reported synchro issues actually incomplete clutch disengagement? That, in my mind, is certainly one cause of the "difficulty engaging 1st / reverse" syndrome. If you start the car with the shifter in first or reverse and the car "rocks" a little bit and it's hard to pull the lever out of gear, then for whatever reason your clutch hasn't completely disengaged. I encounter this every so often (even after bleeding my clutch with a vacuum pump), and double-clutching usually does the trick.

I guess the flaw in my logic in trying to apply this to the synchro question is that a partially-engaged clutch would create problems with ANY shift, not just 1-2 or 2-3.

EDIT: And Terry, can you give us a TSB number for that? I can't find it on ALLDATA, at least not for 1998 'Tours.

Hey....
I just got done repairing the same symptoms, but it WAS NOT the syncros.

Shifting fast into 2nd, was IMPOSSIBLE (nearly).. slow was allright, and it would grind sometimes even when I thought that the gear was all the way "in", and let go of the clutch.

The shifter tower was the culprit( the bolt had sheared, and there WAS no shifting, when it finally broke), and Terry sent me another one for CHEAP. I had the mechanic install, and payed labor only... walked out of the door for less than $300, parts and labor...

Ironically... after posting my trouble, and terry recommending to go easy on it, I started babying her, and THAT is when it broke. so.. moral: fix it... NOW.. before you are stuck and have to tow it, and be without.. worth it, trust me..

Ray

I had the "1st/reverse" problem. Dealer gave me three - count 'em - three new trannies, to no avail, before they finally agreed to consider the clutch as a possible cause.

New clutch - problem vanished, and has not re-appeared.

The clincher on this one was the little "yank" the car would give on occasion when starting in 1st or reverse. Obviously the clutch was not engaging (disengaging? I can never remember which is which) fully all the time.

I don't know anything about a TSB on this...perhaps it was issued after mine was fixed (july 2001).

Originally posted by steener:

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I had the "1st/reverse" problem. Dealer gave me three - count 'em - three new trannies, to no avail, before they finally agreed to consider the clutch as a possible cause.

New clutch - problem vanished, and has not re-appeared.

The clincher on this one was the little "yank" the car would give on occasion when starting in 1st or reverse. Obviously the clutch was not engaging (disengaging? I can never remember which is which) fully all the time.

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Bingo... That's what I'm seeing. Since it's an intermittent problem at this point, I'll just keep an eye on it. For now, when it happens, a loooooong double-clutch is enough to help things sort themselves out.

Just wish I knew exactly what part of the system was causing all this... Your experience suggests a defect with the clutch plate, unless the dealer told you they found, say, a leaky slave cylinder while replacing the clutch.

I don't remember them saying exactly what was wrong with the clutch, but IIRC, the parts list on the work order didn't mention anything other than the usual clutch bits; nothing about master/slave cylinders.

Mine was intermittent too...used to drive me crazy, never knowing when I'd get stuck at a stoplight wrestling with the gear lever while the guy behind me leaned on his horn.