Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting SVT 1st/Reverse Problem

I'll tell my story at the end of this post, to spare those who'd rather not read it.
After much bickering, the local dealership (Gabus Ford in Des Moines) has called in a Ford field rep. to look at my 1999 SVT. I would like to bring with me:

1)a list of owners who have had this *specific* problem (difficulty shifting into 1st/Reverse).
2)If it's fixed, and if so what was done and by whom.

It's appreciated, and I will followup.

Now for the ranting
-Brought the car in and told them the problem. They spent 2 minutes driving it around and couldn't reproduce (duh, it's intermittant). Told them it's getting worse anyway so I'd bring it back.
-Brought it back in 2 weeks later and was able to reproduce. Incompetent service manager tried the Jedi mind trick on me and attempted to convince me it was normal--as if after 2 years I had no concept of what normal is.
-They somehow came to know that an "updated" tranny was available. Yeah!....installed it a couple weeks later. Told me it shifted a little rough but to give it some time. Not only does it shift a little rough...but it had the same problem
-A gave it a few weeks (knowing better than to give them ANY reason to dismiss me) and called back to explain the problem. Incompetent service manager wants me to AGAIN prove to him that the problem exists. Apparently he has become aware of my excessive-compulsive desire to be without a car, miss work, and bicker with idiots...all without reason. I got the general manager involved. He too wanted me to prove that the problem existed. HERE'S THE GREAT PART....he gets in the car, starts it up, and HE CAN'T GET IT INTO REVERSE!!! Beauty. I thought I had FINALLY made my point. However, after driving around for a few minutes he has the audacity to pronounce, "I think that may have just been because I'm not used to shifting this car". LOL. He decides we need to bring in a Ford field rep to look at the car. He's not bringing the rep in to figure out what's wrong though...he's bringing in a Ford field rep to determine whether there even IS a problem. Apparently neither of them qualifies having difficulty shifting into 1st/reverse as a "problem". So NOW, on a dime I have to demonstrate the problem to yet another Ford representative. I can only asssume that their hoping one of these times I won't be able to reproduce the problem and they can say "looks ok to me".

And these people wonder why former Ford buyers move on to Acuras, Toyotas, and VWs after tiring of Big Three Service Manager Combat.

Most people log these shifting problems when the engine is cold. When the visit is scheduled, leave the car at the dealership over night... Take your keys with you so they don't move it. Make sure the district guy is the first to start and try the reverse and first gear out. To solve this problem, many have switched to synthetic fluid wth a friction modifier added to help smooth cold start shifts... solved the same problem in my '99 SE MTX.

Hi Brad. Hey, a fellow Des Moines resident. Yeah, I would say it happens most often after a cold start. However, it does it other times too. When the general manager couldn't get it into gear it was a "warm" start. Of course, he just wasn't familiar with shifting the SVT It's almost comical they way Gabus has treated me. Where do you get your car serviced? --well, provided you don't do *everything* yourself . I'm going to print out your post for reference.

As soon as the tranny is fixed, I will be selling the SVT and buying a new vehicle. Ford is the only domestic manufacturer I would have ever considered....and now they're history. I will only be looking at imports from now until the day I expire

Matt-

I have exactly the same problem (see postings under "SVT Tranny Situation" for all the details).

There's another 99 SVT owner here in Ottawa with exactly the same problem. We go to the same dealer. That dealer is about to replace our transmissions...for the third time!!! Supposedly the latest revision to the MTX-75 is designed to address this exact problem. We shall see.

Fow what it's worth, our problem with being locked out of first and/or reverse occurs at any time, whether the car's warm or cold, and only from a stop, after sitting in neutral, at a traffic light, for instance. If I'm downshifting from second to first, it never fails to "snick" in smoothly.

Bought the car from Gabus, serviced there once, will never be back again. Serviced once at Grease Monkey on Merle Hay, will never go back again. Serviced once at Dewey, will never go back again. Since then, all service is done for the one time fee of $20 set of ramps and a $3 filter wrench. Like Terry says, "Buy the tools and avoid the fools"...

Anyway, we're having an area meet on July 14th if you're in the area at all. Picnic is at Cottonwood, auto-X during the day at Marshalltown, cruise at Porky's or maybe a run out to the new indoor carts... You could compare your tranny to ours if nothing else...

Matt,
This is exactly the problem I'm experiencing with my SVT...I haven't had the time though to take it in to my dealership to get fixed yet...but once I do, if you could email me the list you compile it would really help me out. Good luck man...I've read a ton of threads on this problem and 75% of the time it seems the owners are never completely satisifed with the fix. I hope your not one of them.

Jonah Collier
Fort Wayne, IN
2000 T-Red SVT
#2077 of a build of 2150

I too have the same problem.

1999 SVT with 31,000 miles on it.

I took my to the dealer about 6,000 miles ago, and they couldn't reproduce the problem. In fact, they told me their tech shift the car 160 times, and found nothing... Yeah right!

I haven't taken it back since. I am a bit worried though, because some SVT owners have said the new tranny is just as bad if not WORSE than the old one...

Keep us posted.

Patrick

I'm on my second tranny and still the same problem. 1st and reverse are terrible and third is REALLY notchy. I have to be very careful to get all the way into third. However, it isn't always bad, and I know the day I bring it in, they'll say its fine. I can't afford to waste any more time at the dealer.. (i've been in for 4 other problems that they can't seem to diagnose)

I fully expect that when it gets cold again the transmission will be useless, and I'll have to bring it in again. Hopefully they will know how to fix it by then.

I really like this car too much to give up on it