Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting SVT Transmission Issue

I acquired my 98.5 SVT about 5 months ago, when it had about 29k miles and now it has about 37k miles. I've started noticing the difficulty of getting it into 1st gear and reverse from a dead stop, as others SVT owners have.

Since I'm not that interested in getting 2 or 3 replacement transmissions installed and generally getting the run-around from the dealer (although to this point they have been fairly good to deal with), what precisely should I tell them when I take it in to have the transmission problem looked at?

Many thanks in advance.

Don't take it to the dealer, unless it's broke. My SVT did the same thing @ 48k and I thought my tranny was toast.

I did the “cocktail” and it has been smooth as silk since (I've done 15k on the cocktail). Before the cocktail I would get locked out of 1st/rev about once a week… Since the switch, not one time.

ALSO: BLEED YOUR CLUTCH!!!!!!!!!! and do the tranny cocktail.

I have been blessed with intermittent 1st-Reverse Lockout, and am biding my time collecting info and watching the froum.
But, help me out here... what's a "Tranny cocktail".
I have replaced the tranny fluid with RedLine MTL which worked wonders with my '90 SHO to reduce general obstinacy in the shifting behaviour of that transaxle. Unfortunately the Redline product hasn't seemed to make any discernable difference in the Contour SVT transaxle - certainly no change in the 1st -Reverse Lockout problem.
So whats a "tranny cocktail" - or have I already done it.
Tim
1999 SVT Contour Green/Tan
#2226 of 2760
No mods 'til I get lockout relief.

Here you go.

I also have the 1st reverse problem.

My car is going in this week (hopefully) to get a new tranny. I am not totally convinced it is the tranny, but I will let you know what happens when I get it back.

I am thinking it could be the clutch/pressure plate. There has been some other members that have had tranny replacements, only to have the same problem. It was solved with a new clutch assembly. Search under "svt transmission situation" or something...

Later,
Patrick

Saratoga-

By all means, try the "cocktail" and see if that helps. It did not work for me. After three- count 'em, three- new transmissions, the dealer finally listened to me and replaced the clutch...the car has been perfect ever since, at least as far as being locked out of first and reverse. (Mine was doing it several times a day-very embarassing at stoplights)

A handful of others here have had the problem solved by replacing the clutch. My dealer diagnosed it as an "intermittent clutch failure". (?)

A second symptom to look for to check whether it is indeed the clutch: From now on, when starting your car, leave it in first gear. If, every once in a while, you get a funny little "shudder"...you may even feel the car tugging forward a bit...chances are it is the clutch not disengaging fully. Intermittently, of course.

good luck...if you want, I can supply you with the name and number of my dealer, who has cured two SVTs with the "first-/reverse lockout" this way. Maybe your dealer could give them a call.

Good luck

When I have trouble engaging first/reverse, I push the lever into a higher gear (say, 4th) and, if that doesn't work, I double-clutch. Then it goes into gear fine, if not 100% smoothly. I just accept that as a feature of the MTX-75, and I would expect it would happen sometime on most any gearbox. After all, it is a "box of gears" as the name implies. There is only a finite number of ways the dog teeth can engage the gear.

Personally, I think a lot of people have unrealistic expectations about how a manual tranny should work. In many cases, this probably stems from driving slushboxes first.

Oh, and I do have the tranny cocktail. Doesn't make a huge difference, but I do get a warm, fuzzy feeling knowing Mobil 1 fluid is circulating in there.

Just my $0.02,

Hi Garrick-

Not to start a big feud here, but I've been driving cars and trucks with manual transmissions, including a couple of Formula Ford 2000 race cars (no synchros), for close to 30 years. All have had their idiosyncrasies, but I've never had a gearbox behave the way my SVT's did.

The shifting is still a little "notchy" from time-to-time, and that I am willing to accept as a "feature" of the MTX-75, but I draw the line at being forced to do a song-and-dance every other time I want to use first or reverse

The simple fact the problem was solved should indicate the difficulty belonged to the car, not the driver.

I had a new tranny installed in my 00 SVT at 9400 miles, and now I occasionally have problems going from 1-2 and from 4-5. And then when they installed the new transmission I found out from the dealer that before I bought it as a demo, the dealer had installed a new clutch, pressure plate and flywheel. I now have 18,000 miles on it and do I have confidence in this car? Not really. I am starting to look for another car.

I have absolutely no confidence in the mechanical quality of this vehicle. A shame, really.