2001 focus zx3 manual trans clunking barely engages

[tmittelstaedt]

I can tell you this with both my Focuses - both MTX-75's. When I got both the shifters had a lot of resistance in them. And on one the shifter tended to pop out of 2nd gear With that particular one, the clutch wore out and when I replaced the clutch, I made sure to get every bit of fluid out of the transmission, (since it was out of the car it was easy to tilt it) and I replaced it with the $20-a-bottle Ford synthetic manual transmisison fluid. The change in the shifter feel was like night and day and it stopped popping out of 2nd. I had half a bottle of the stuff left and I put it in the other Focus since I noticed it was a bit low - and shifting also improved although not as much.

I would possibly consider TRYING Amsoil Manual Transmission & Transaxle Gear Lube 75W-90, or the Royal Purple MaxGear 75x/90. But you really have to be careful with the fluids in the MTX-75. ATF is too thin and won't lubricate well, this trans must use a gear oil. But, regular dino gear oils are often high-sulfur and those will ruin the MTX-75 as they will corrode the transmission.

The Amsoil states "protects brass synchros" and the RP gear oil says "it is non-corrosive to soft metals, brass, copper, etc.) in their sales literature. THAT is what your looking for in any MTX-75 fluid. Fluids like Redline MTL and other hypoid gear lubes have high sulfur content and will oxidize the transmission. This has been argued over almost a decade ago since Ford used this same transmission in the Contours and a lot of people raced them. The fact is that Ford has a lot of trouble with the MTX-75 in the beginning because they didn't recommend a special fluid. Ford ended up having their synthetic manual transmission fluid engineered specially to solve these problems.

Frankly I don't understand this interest in the non-Ford fluid. The Ford synthetic fluid can easily last 100K miles in an MTX-75 and at max you use 3 bottles of it. The Amsoil and Royal Purple and other suitable fluids cost almost as much as the Ford fluid you may save $5-$10 a bottle. So for a trans flush that will last easily half the life of the transmission your going to save $15 by using aftermarket fluids that aren't engineered for this trans? WTF is that all about? Is getting the Redline sticker out of the box so you can stick it on your bumper really that important?

You should try dealing with a Chrysler 41TE one of these days if you think paying the premium to Ford for their ATF is that bad.

[FoMoCus]

I missed a little bit of a tiff on here I see. I was referring to the transmission fluid though, not the clutch. I bled the clutch but that wasn't the fluid I was referring to. I got the Ford manual transmission fluid today. 21 dollars a quart. So I filled it up, put the battery back in and fired it back up. It started fine, backed out of the garage on its own power, and the clutch felt great. However I did notice a slow drip from the drivers side where the cv axle goes into the transmission. I have that seal but for some reason didn't change it. Anyway, took it for a test drive, after about 3 minutes of driving through the neighborhood I was making a left turn when it stalled out. I restarted it, and the transmission wasn't doing anything. As in, the shifter was in gear, the shift linkage all the way to the transmission is good, and I can shift it by hand from under the hood, but it doesn't grab in any gear. No grinding sounds that I can hear, just nothing. The fluid was leaking out of that seal a little quicker at that point, but no more than a steady drip and with the minimal driving I had done, it couldn't have lost more than a quarter of a quart. If I put it in gear and attempt to accelerate the car doesn't move but the speedometer does climb. So my thoughts are either the drivers side CV axle popped out (which seems unlikely, as the splines on it are quite long) or the replacement transmission went out. Possibly the linkage broke inside the transmission? If that's the case I won't be fixing it again. I've already deemed this job too much of a pain to repeat. If it's something I can fix by any means short of removing the transmission I'll do it, otherwise I'll sell it and hope to break even. Does anybody have any ideas what would cause symptoms like this?

[FoMoCus]

After doing some research, which didn't take long as you can see, I think the shift tower roll pin broke. When I took the shift cables off the do the swap I did mess with the adjustments on accident thinking I needed to depress them to remove the cables. So I'm guessing that although the gears seemed to select pretty well, doing that mis-adjusted the cables and put extra stress on that pin and it sheared. Since I can pull the shift tower fairly easy, I'll do that this weekend and have a look. If that's not it I'm at a loss. But if that is the case, another trip for Ford's tranny fluid and a cv seal replacement will be next on the list. Ughh..

[sailor]

Ughh....

Think a NICE CLEAN pan to catch that pricey fluid would be on my mind at that point, unless the new fluid comes out grungy I might just re-use it....

Absent the seal leak you wouldn't be draining it at all....

Good luck! Let us know how you make out.

[Oblivion]

Originally Posted by FoMoCus

After doing some research, which didn't take long as you can see, I think the shift tower roll pin broke. When I took the shift cables off the do the swap I did mess with the adjustments on accident thinking I needed to depress them to remove the cables. So I'm guessing that although the gears seemed to select pretty well, doing that mis-adjusted the cables and put extra stress on that pin and it sheared. Since I can pull the shift tower fairly easy, I'll do that this weekend and have a look. If that's not it I'm at a loss. But if that is the case, another trip for Ford's tranny fluid and a cv seal replacement will be next on the list. Ughh..

The shift tower? If you don't know how to remove it: It's REAL easy.
I removed the center of my cabin long ago. I don't use those "cup holders" anyway. I don't have the rear seats in either.

Here's a video showing how to disassemble the shift tower plate (which is like $35 for a new OEM one?):

YouTube Video

Good luck.

[FoMoCus]

It's finished! I took the shift tower out of the transmission, and it appeared fine but I replaced it with the one from my dead transmission anyway. Put it back together, and no change. Then I got underneath and looked at the drivers side cv, and it had popped almost completely out of the transmission, hence the leak. I took the driver's side back apart, and the cv shaft splines were smoothed out on the last 1/8 inch or so. It was barely connected and after it rounded the little bit of grip it had, the transmission was no longer outputting to the wheels. Since only the last 1/8 inch or so of splines were worn, I reinstalled the cv, fully seated this time, and buttoned it all back up. No leaks, and no problems. I didn't even need to change the seal, it was only leaking because the cv was not engaged far enough. I've been driving it the past few days with no issues aside from a little trouble getting into second and reverse due to misadjusted cables. I've adjusted them a few times but I think the cables just need to be replaced.

The car is running great though. All the work has finally paid off. Thanks for all the help and motivation guys!