Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Transaxle The transmissions on these cars suck!!!

What is most annoying with the MTX-75 tranny problems, it is not the fact that one should fix them after a failure, it is rather the fact that it seems that NOBODY (even Ford's engineers) seems to know what is going on when they break down.

INCOMPETENCE is the key word in this matter. How many horror stories have we heard about multiple tranny replacement that didn't fix the problem before noticing that, after all, it was a clutch problem...? How many times dealers had to call Ford's engineers for help, ending up without any help...?

SECRECY also seems to be another key word when it comes to discuss of MTX-75 reported chronical problems. How many times CEGers have reported tranny problems that have been «fixed» without actually knowing what exactly has been fixed or replaced?

For example, does anyone really know what causes and what is the cure of the many times discussed 1st/Reverse problem?

And finally, don't forget the tranny specialists who would always tell you: bring me your tranny, I will fix it, but I am not willing to tell you what I did to fix it...

I don't know what is the percentage of MTX-75 that have developped problems during all these years. IMO, it can only be one of two things: these trannies do have a design defect, OR the drivers don't know how to use a stick and therefore the trannies are subject to drivers' abuse. But then, if these trannies are so bad, why Ford is still using them?

I dont know how bad they can be since my parents have a 95 mystique with over 160K and it is still on the orginal tranny and clutch and my 2000 with 79K has not had problems yet. I have taught 2 people to drive stick on my car and 4 people have learned on my parents mystique (including myself) so maybe we are just lucky or something.

The problem with these trannies plain and simple is that they have shitty synchros. And the V6s suffer more abuse that the Zetecs for those who don't experience any problems.

I love my MTX-75. It's had the crap beat out of it. Wheel hop so bad it should have broke 10 trannies, power shifting, miss shifting, and other fatal handling along the way.

It's taken it like a trooper and never complained once (except for a broken shifter cable - I blame my heavy hand and the B&M's revised geometry for that)

I drained the fluid at 1000 miles and have been running the Mobil 1 "cocktail" ever since. I change it once a year (nearly 3 years & 27k to date)

I am also now going to find the largest piece of wood I can find and knock on it profusely, but I just thought I should give props to at least the revised MTX-75 anyway...

Originally posted by DemonSVT:

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I love my MTX-75...

I am also now going to find the largest piece of wood I can find and knock on it profusely...

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You are not alone! Glad to hear something different from the regularly reported moaning stories...

Mine was also great until I started drag racing. A couple of 3000-4000RPM launches fixed my differential real good. I'm not mad about it though...gave me an excuse to send it to Terry and get a Quaife installed. Turns out I had a couple of worn synchros anyway.

The MTX-75 tranny is made in Bordeaux, France. We (in North America) are luckey to have had a manufacturer offer a manual transmission on a V6 Front Wheel Drive in the '90's. I think I remember seeing the specs - the maximum 'allowable' torque is only slightly more than the SVT maximum torque. Long live European drivers love for manual trannies!

Captain Bart,
No mistery with an MTX75,all my repairs the customer is told exactly what is wrong & why.You may want to spend some time with the Ford CD to fully understand the workings of the MTX.Yes it has had many internal mods,changes & upgrades on components since its start and not all MTX's are the same .Most dealers prefer to swap rather than repair,I know the failure modes of these transmissions because,in most cases,we strip & repair,without that the dealer cannont give you a definative 'why'...I have offered many times to have seminars on the MTX but it appears that most owners will not invest time or money in this level of understanding....its not a 5 min 'how too' to explain all the issues etc with the MTX75...

Hi Terry,

Thank you for your response.

My reaction to this forum has been more induced by the amount of complaints reported in CEG's forums than by my personal experience. Actually, I love my SVT and IMO the transmission, while far from being the smoothest, is very satisfactory. After driving my son's Porsche for a couple of days, believe me I greatly appreciate the «smoothness» of the SVT's transmission when I drive it again...

What bothers me most is that it seems that we have so many solutions to apparently the same reported MTX-75 problem. And some of these solutions include the stunning multiple replacement of the tranny without an obvious consumer satisfaction.

In fact, I can't believe that these trannies are so bad and I wonder if the reported problems are not in reality a consequence of abuses these cars are not designed to handle. I remember one of your interventions in CEG's old forums about the Mondeo transmissions. In response to a british fellow, you were wondering if the tranny problems on this side of the ocean are not due to our general misuse of the stick.

Thanks again for your response and I always appreciate your contributions to these forums.

Originally posted by contourcross:

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I think I remember seeing the specs - the maximum 'allowable' torque is only slightly more than the SVT maximum torque.

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Actually depending on the year (revision) the MTX-75 is capable of handling 220-235 lb/ft of torque (per specs)

The SVT (or normal Duratec) makes only 165-169 lb/ft.

However several folks have had more torque than that running through there MTX-75's to date. Some in short spurts (Nitrous) and a handful all the time.