TriShield

Justin Hyde — The 2011 Ford Mustang debuted last year to glowing reviews and strong sales. But over the past several months, hundreds of owners have complained of broken manual transmissions — a problem Ford has yet to rectify.

On one Mustang owners forum, reports of the problems, possible solutions and complaints to Ford have grown to 2,700 postings, affecting owners of both the V6 and high-powered V8 versions. Fifteen owners have lodged safety complaints with U.S. regulators, saying balky shifts and grinding gears pose a safety hazard in driving. While Ford has offered several potential solutions to owners and reached out to those who complain, many say the problems go away after a repair, then return.

While manual transmissions are an endangered species among U.S. new car buyers, about a third of all 2011 Mustang owners — nearly 22,000 vehicles — wanted to stir their own gears, according to one leaked Ford production summary. It's the buyers who've owned Mustangs for years, spend up to $35,000 for their ride and act as Ford's best evangelists for life with a pony car.

The most common complaint is hard shifts between first, second and third gears, with grinding in other gears. One Mustang owner put his transmission on video — saying the problems had persisted even after six trips to dealerships, two new transmissions, three new clutches and 42 days of the car in the shop:

I'm not exaggerating when I tell you I thought I was gonna get killed tonight. Being on the highway and losing the ability to shift with 3 lanes bearing down on me was enough to make me realize this: A lemon is one thing... An anomaly. This is not an anomaly.

Another owner told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the transmission wouldn't shift in traffic:

My car's shift lever became stuck and wouldn't go into gear and I had to force it back to the neutral position while coming to a stop light.. The manual transmission in my 2011 Ford Mustang GT has been whining and grinding gears since the clutch was replaced due to a design flaw (only to get the exact same clutch assembly), and will be going back to the dealer March 29th to hopefully get the trans replaced (w/ the exact same trans that has all these known issues). I imagine this would happen again between now and when the car is taken to the dealer, this is my only and first brand new car, I shouldnt be having these dangerous problems, let along taking my brand new car to a dealership to keep getting repaired over and over again because the failing parts are just being replaced w/ the same parts only to fail over and over again.

The MT82 transmission in question is built by Ford and supplier Getrag at a joint venture in Nanchang, China — a point that has only added to the ire of some customers. And it's not the first time owners of that transmission have reported trouble shifting; the same problems were reported by owners of Land Rover Defenders.

Since the first complaints surfaced last year, Ford has attempted to soothe angry owners and quietly offered several possible fixes, from replacing bolts in the flywheel to new clutches to even swapping out the transmission fluid. While some of those repairs have satisfied customers, several report that the problems returned — especially the balky 1st-2nd shift.

We asked Ford for a comment, and we'll update when we hear back.

1CAMWNDR

iTrader: (21)

Welcome Ford fans to 4th gen F-body issues. My Formula had 6 transmissions replaced under warranty also. Some rebuilt, some brand new. I really hate that these Mustang trannies are built in China though.....

Z Fury

iTrader: (1)

Hopefully Ford steps up to deal with this. This is unacceptable in any vehicle, regardless of its maker.

Tainted

iTrader: (9)

nows the time for everyone to go race that new 5.0 and hope it spews its guts everywhere

Mystic 98 TA

iTrader: (4)

In a way I'm not suprised. 2011 was the first year for that drivetrain combo if I'm not mistaken. First-year models tend to have some issues pop up from time-to-time. Not terribly surprised or worried by it. My guess is that Ford will issue a recall sooner or later for it.

If we look way-back-when, the 2005 Mustang GT had a recall with some sort of front suspension issue which prompted a recall. Comes with the territory.

***^ that was not meant to be an assault on mustangs. Just a reference to a first-year car recall that i think of.

7998

iTrader: (1)

Lets tell it like it is and use the correct title. Faulty Chinese-built transmissions plague new Ford Mustang
http://jalopnik.com/#!5792482/faulty...w-ford-mustang
Yet again Chinese made garbage.

It'llrun

Judging from the amount of chatter I've seen, I don't see this problem as "plague" material. That said, I also think most problems are the result of that darned skip-shift crapola, which most drivers simply aren't ready for in the least. Ford should've just stuck with the Mexican made Tremec!

Wnts2Go10O

iTrader: (12)

see what happens when you dont use a 6 speed tremec >.>

ThisBlood147

I still don't know why they didn't just use a variant of the Tremec used in the GT500. Sharing gearboxes between two trim models seems like a win-win to me. Guess there's more to it than that.

I do agree with It'llrun though......I wonder how much these problems are related to the skip shift feature in those Getrags.

It'llrun

Ford must have gotten some REALLY SWEET DEAL on the Getrag! I can't see any other reason to not have used the long proven Tremec. If this "problem" gets serious, they'll probably wish they had paid more for the good one, which I'd bet is a bit heavier and possibly wasn't instantly available with the gear ratios they wanted for this high revving engine.

Ruthless Robbie

who's fault is that???


FORD


you should get mad at FORD for being cheap and whoring out their parts to chinese companies with reputations for making shitty products





.

It'llrun

Getrag actually has a very good reputation, all things considered. The only other real option was Mexico... Not much difference, though most of us are far more familiar with the Tremec, which is definitely a good unit, albeit rather pricey.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Finally get a decent motor and they can't get a tranny thats worth a ****. Its pretty damn ironic if you ask me.....

7998

iTrader: (1)

Do they really or do they have brand recognition? My only experiences with Getrag is in one of the BMW's I had and a Dodge Cummins. The one they put in the Cummins was ****, and the BMW don't make enough power to hurt it.

I think Mexico is way better than China.

jmurray87

iTrader: (1)

I think America is way better then both China or Mexico.


But I sometimes forget that we never make our own stuff anymore.

WSsick

iTrader: (13)

TR6060 ftw

Tainted

iTrader: (9)

Last set of tools I bought that were "Made in the USA" fell apart worse than the jap crap. i dont think america has it anymore for producing high quality anything. sorry!

Latch

iTrader: (8)

All cars have a weak link of some kind... like the 10 bolt in our cars for instance. That being said I'd rather the rear be the weak link than the trans.

BizZzatch350

iTrader: (33)

The Supra's ran Getrags ad they are strong as hell. My Sierra had constant problems with the drive shaft and it took the dealer 3 warranty claims to make it right

99Hawk262

iTrader: (19)

I'm sure Ford will fix this....the car is stellar in pretty much every other way. Not a huge deal IMO. Sucks for the owners that are dealing with it....but hey, they still have a badass ride.