Tranny Problems
 

I own a 96 Cobra with 24,000 miles on it. Just recently when ever I take my car above 6,000 miles and go to shift from first to second quickly it grinds. If I shift at lower rpms or take my time putting it in to gear it doesnt do it. Only in racing situations, and only first to second. Its the stock shifter, so would a b&m ripper, or equivalent help this? Or do I have serious problems?

Thanks for the input guy and gals...

I recently had that same problem in my 96 GT. Whenever I would shift from 1st to 2nd above 300RPM's it would grind. I thought it was the shifter. Changed that and it still did it. Next I went and bought a clutch kit. When I took to a local shop to have installed the guy drove it and said the clutch is wearing out but it is not the problem. I am not sure what he did but he said he adjusted a cable and then didnt even charge me a penny. He just warned me about the power that I had and said be careful, I think it was cause of my age. My best advice is check the quadrant. The stock one is plastic and can break easily or thats what the man said. Now the car only grinds once a week and now I am sure it is the clutch beause it does it in all gears. Hope I was of some help.

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96 GT: MAC CAI, 87MM MAM, 70MM TB, MAC 2.5" h w/cats, American Thunder catback, 373, FMS pulleys, Ripper Shifter, PPIII, 160 thermostat.
Yet to put on: MAC control arms/lowering springs, Steeda timing adjuster.

Thanks alot I sure hope that is all it is. You mentioned you are young, I get a lot of trouble too about my car for my age, I am 21.

On all Cobra models, the tranny will grind shifting from 1st to 2nd gear when in high RPM, because the stock Cobra tranny is too weak for the power that a Cobra motor puts out, and this tranny is made only for the GT models, so I guess Ford should have a recall on this!

Proud owner of a 98' Cobra

It's called crappy synchronizers. Your 1st to 2nd gear synchronizer is the problem. The synchronizers in your tranny stops the internal gears from spinning when you push in the clutch so you can shift gears. When you are shifting at your 6000 rpms to seconds and it grinds it is because your synchronizer did not stop the spinning gears quick enough before you shifted and therefore you "ground the gears". This can be caused by a synchronizer not operating at 100% or your shifting, as in letting off of the clutch too quickly before you have it in gear and you hit spinning gears. The synchronizers, especially the 1-2 sychro, aren't noted as being very good in the T45 trannies in the 96-up GT's and Cobra's. Be careful. They will go out fairly quickly. Especially if you run the car hard alot or shift hard alot. Take it easy when shifting. Don't jerk the shifter into gear (this of course being for regular driving). Your synchro is the problem.
Now in Waldoo28's case it's most likely the clutch since it does it consistently in all gears.
The T45s in the GT and Cobra are similar but they are not the same. The gears and synchros as spinning very very fast at 6000 engine rpms. If the synchros are starting to go bad, especially the 1-2 synchro which seems to be the first to go in both transmissions, it will grind very easily at those rpms. Mine had to be rebuilt at 42000 miles and it hadn't been driven that hard at all.

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1996 Mustang GTS

Thanks once again for all the info. Does anyone know how much a tranny rebuild will cost me? Or perhaps just new first to second synchros?

Just depends on where you have it worked on. Ford is going to be a bit higher priced but it will also have a 12 month/12000 mile warranty on parts and labor. Just call around and take the car around and get it checked out and get prices from different tranny shops. The synchros, I don't remember exactly, aren't very much. Your biggest expenditure will be in labor costs.

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1996 Mustang GTS