Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General This gear thing is getting to me! PLEASE READ

wouldnt bad motor mounts cause that?

I find it harder to get a smooth 1-2 shift with the A/C on. What typically happens is the revs are still high when I let the clutch out, and the car lurches forward as she matches revs.

Without the A/C, she shifts sweet as honey with just a little patience and a light touch. Once the synchros engage fully, the lever practically jumps into gear. I'm gentle with my baby!

i have the same exact problem in my 98.5 svt with shifting from 1 to 2. i am getting used to it now, just letting the clutch out a little slower than going into 3 through 5. it doesnt go into 2 as smoothly as the other gears. dunno why really. i thought it was the clutch going bad but i guess i was wrong. i also noticed that once the car has been driven around a bit the shift into 2 gets better, its at its worst point when the car is dead cold. its a very minor problem in my car, i dunno how bad yours is...but just let the clutch out a little slower when going into 2 thats all. it'll wear out your clutch a little sooner but oh well. gotta upgrade the clutch eventually anyway... come to think of it, i heard something about ford coming out with some new tranny fluid (been out for a while now) that was supposed to help get into 1st and reverse on cold starts...maybe this would help out here too??

i only have 4 stars now... i had five, someone must not like me...

there SVTour98, i just gave u a better rating. =)
as for the forum, i have difficulty from 1-2 then also from 3-4. it sux. i thought that it was my tranny, but it turns out that it's just getting "broken in". yet it's not as clean as it used to be. i have noticed that it's a lot smoother after about a half an hour of driving. don't know if this helps to solve the problems, but just thought i would try to help. hope that it does.
spec 23

Hey thanks for the rating Specialist23. I gave you a 5 also! I feel much better now...

Hey thanks for your responses. I guess I don't have a defective SVT, makes me feel better, anyways I drove it around tonight and had a great time. I was messing around with one of those Harley Davisons F150s. I wasn't racing him, just playing around. I kind of felt like it was the big serious dog and I was the little dog going around him barking and wagging my tail. LOL

Anyways can someone rank me also?

SVT10,

The SVT is very different than any other manual car I've driven. It's been the hardest for me to learn how to drive smoothly. I've never done exactly what you say, but my wife has and one other person too. I believe the light flywheel is the cause of this bucking. I haven't tried nor do I care to figure out the exact method of repeating the bucking. But a little variation in clutch take-up should eliminate it.

Aaron

I've always chalked this up to some inherent
capacity for driveline lash in the car... it
takes a bit more care and attention to really
get the shifts smooth (compared to something
like a BMW, where the shifts are just second-
nature, smooth as silk). The SVT 2.5 is also
a pretty high-strung engine with very direct
throttle response... it is easy to "buck" the
car if you're stabbing at the controls or not
paying attention to the shifts... at least at
first.

T.

Think it has a lot to do with the numerically high, low final drive of 4.16? My worst problem is when exiting parking lots and suspension is bouncing. Could be clutch, too, because at 41K miles mine is not as strong as it once was and the car is smoother now.