2011 MT82 gearbox failure - Installing Tremec Magnum XL

[lbj]

How was it?

[2007tungstenGT500]

Thanks, yes I understand now about the issues with a Chinese tranny in my GT350, and am glad I have not tracked it yet, since I just picked it up late June and was breaking it in. But, I am just thinking ahead about my real track car, the ZR1, and worrying that with a Mexican tranny it is just a matter of time before it goes too??? I have put out the question about TR-6060 failures and problems to the ZR1 group, I'll see what I get. Maybe I am just worrying needlessly, but all this foreign made stuff makes me nervous, I prefer American quality but it seems people like Tremec and Getrag try to hide where their products are actually made, that seems dishonest to me.

 

dude, whether it is assembled in mexico or china or outer space is of no relevance to this discussion. the faulty transmission itself was engineered in the united states. the choice to stick with a sub-standard transmission after dramatically increasing the car's horsepower was made by an american citizen - in the united states. the TR- 6060 specified by Ford's Special Vehicle Team (SVT) for the Shelby GT500 is not in anyway related to this problem.

[MMcGuirk]

How was it?

Fantastic, I have in car video I will post as soon as I get it posted on Youtube that rely shows how good the Magnum XL is.

[lbj]

Yeah, I wanna see it for sure.

 

My car is on the lift, the MT82 just came out and the Tremec is going in soon.

 

How's 4th gear working out. Is it too tall?

[JeffJ]

2015 5.0 has a Getrag backing it up. Interesting.

[MMcGuirk]

Yeah, I wanna see it for sure.

 

My car is on the lift, the MT82 just came out and the Tremec is going in soon.

 

How's 4th gear working out. Is it too tall?

No, for me it is a perfect transmission - road and track

[MMcGuirk]

2015 5.0 has a Getrag backing it up. Interesting.

Interesting... with the upgraded 5.0, I wonder if they have beefed up the MT82. My 2011 was only rated for 390 lb ft.

[JeffJ]

Interesting... with the upgraded 5.0, I wonder if they have beefed up the MT82. My 2011 was only rated for 390 lb ft.

Agree, with all the issues out there, with possible class action, etc, I can't believe they would not do something in the new car. I wonder if they did or not. Everything I read just says Getrag so far, does not mention if it's the MT82, however it probably is.

[mikeljgt500kr]

2015 5.0 has a Getrag backing it up. Interesting.

Another big mistake by Ford. When will they ever learn from the previous problems with this trashy Chinese thing?

[07SGT2899]

how do you know its not a revised design? ford did that 4 or 5 time over the course of time they used tremec transmissions

[MMcGuirk]

Agree, with all the issues out there, with possible class action, etc, I can't believe they would not do something in the new car. I wonder if they did or not. Everything I read just says Getrag so far, does not mention if it's the MT82, however it probably is.

Jeff, I read this morning that Ford upgraded both auto and MT82 trans for the new car. The auto now has paddle shifters

[lbj]

Unless they beefed it up substantially to handle 600HP, it still won't work those of us like me with high powered mods.

I just can't fathom that whatever they did would work for my application.

 

And that's OK. Ford is not responsible for what mods and power levels I do.

 

IMO, the design of the Getrag MT82 is fine, the problem has always been in the execution of the building of it.

 

I babied mine and it still went TU at 8K miles.

[lbj]

The Magnum XL is going in currently.

 

Question for McGuirk:

 

While the lower gear ratio XL kit comes as part number TUKT 12021, the transmission itself does not show those part numbers, and instead shows TUET 11940 B.

 

Does your transmission with the 2.97 first gear show the decal on it that says that?

[lbj]

Well crap, the XL Magnum went in, but the mechanic tells me the new transmission is whining.
Not a good sign.

He is having someone he knows who has an XL Magnum bring theirs in to the shop to see if both transmission sound the same or not.

Maybe we got a bad one, and if the whine is not normal, it will need to be warranted and replaced.

I am not liking what the mechanic just told me over the phone.

I had so looked forward to getting past the transmission problems I had, but now, it appears that history is repeating itself.

Damn, just damn.

At this point and how I feel, I may just dump the Mustang entirely and just forget about owning a performance car at all.

I may have to take a big hit financially and just get out from under this whole thing.

[DubbsFaris]

Well, I would look at getting the mechanic to discuss with the builder. There are many possibilities here, but owning one of these cars does not come without some level of commitment. There is a reason most vehicles with this kind of performance cost more than double what we get to pay, and I dont know any one of THEM that arent somewhat "High Maintenance".

 

If you are looking to have a worry free car, then yes, maybe performance cars arent for you. I hardly ever see a Prius in the shop, but Ive never seen a driver of one with a smile on their face.

[lbj]

At 58 yers old, i know all about commitment.

 

I've haven't even had my car here at my home in a driveable condition more than one half day in the last 30 days.

 

First it was a clutch, then a mere 10 miles, later the transmission blew.

Now it's a new Tremec transmission along with another new clutch and there seems to be an issue with the new transmission.

 

It's getting ludicrous. There's only 8 thousand miles on the car.

[mikeljgt500kr]

 

If you are looking to have a worry free car, then yes, maybe performance cars arent for you. I hardly ever see a Prius in the shop, but Ive never seen a driver of one with a smile on their face.

 

Hee hee. Reminds me of my avitar tag line: " I don't always downshift, but when I do it's near a Prius so they can hear me hurting the environment" I always have a big smile when I do it and look at the Prius driver as his doors get blown off. He or she doesn't…..

 

But, since I have this crappy tranny, guess I should be careful….

 

And if you want to hear a story about getting a new car and having it in the shop from day 1, just ask me, my latest car buy was a doozey...

[07SGT2899]

new tremec transmissions require a break in and are usually whiny until the get broken in properly. did yours come with any break in info?

[lbj]

Negative, no information regarding break in.

 

Rob brought in another Mustang he did the same conversion on. The whining sound is the same for both cars, with mine whining slightly less.

Apparently, what is being heard is normal.

 

One more slight problem needs to be overcome at this point, namely the starter is not engaging properly and has to do with the bell housing provided. We may need to get another bell housing if the holes or something were drilled improperly on the first one.

 

I feel a little better at this point and we're inching closer.

 

Both Rob and I are a little sensitive to sounds right now, given my old 3:73s whined and my old MT82 howled like a son of a bitch after something in it let go.

[lbj]

 

Hee hee. Reminds me of my avitar tag line: " I don't always downshift, but when I do it's near a Prius so they can hear me hurting the environment" I always have a big smile when I do it and look at the Prius driver as his doors get blown off. He or she doesn't…..

 

But, since I have this crappy tranny, guess I should be careful….

 

And if you want to hear a story about getting a new car and having it in the shop from day 1, just ask me, my latest car buy was a doozey...

 

Funny.

[lbj]

I received a call that my GTS is ready for me to test drive it.

 

There were some starter issues where it wasn't engaging properly and 20 thousands of an inch of material was removed from some backing plate or something and works fine now.

 

If the weather holds up and the streets dry, I am hoping to go down and test drive it tomorrow or Friday.

[lbj]

I went down and test drove it today. It does shift like butter.

It is going to take some getting used to because the feel is so different. I will be doing the MGW short throw when they come out.

4th gear kind of sucks in comparison to the MT82's fourth gear, but gears 1 through 3 with the 4:10 rear gears are peppy enough.

I am going to hold off on the accelerator recalibration for now. On the way down to test drive it, I got to thinking that going away from 1 to 1 on the pedal might make the Mustang a little jumpy ie push pull at constant speeds, so I will leave it alone. The car is smoother at constant speeds than before.

The Tremec is not perfectly quiet but more quiet than my MT82 was and is quiet enough.

I don't get that blender sound through the stick like my MT82 always had.

All in all, I think it's going to work out well.

If I had left the 3:73s in, I would definitely have been unhappy.

[mikeljgt500kr]

Interesting you mention shifting smoothness and noise. My GT350 shifts smooth as silk, and there is no noise at all, deathly quiet there. Maybe mine is not so bad after all? I do hate 1st gear and 4 th gear compared to the Tremec in my ZR1, and 6th is not nearly tall enough in comparison.

[lbj]

My old MT82 whined a lot when new but shifted well. Then the whine went away and it shifted like crap.

Then it wailed big time and shifted like crap after it blew.

 

I really liked the1.32 ratio of the 4th gear in that MT82 though.

[mikeljgt500kr]

I guess I am too much of an old school type, since I had never had any tranny before that didn't have a 1 to 1 4th, I really got used to it.

[lbj]

Here's my take on the XL Magnum so far...

 

I got the lower gear close ratio Tremec in. I think it's the same one McGuirk has.

 

It's definitely taller than the MT82 was.

Upshifting and downshifting are really smooth, though there is noise upshifting in that it's a direct shift, not a remote, which insulates against sounds. No more blender sound though.

I am glad I went to 4:10s because I would have been majorly disappointed in the power here at altitude had I stayed with the 3:73s. I still may go to 4:30s.

I am shifting less because of the taller gears.

I am still able to break loose the tires in 1st and 2nd. I can get a little slip in 3rd. So, the power is there.

In an overall sense, I think my car is a tiny bit slower than it was with the MT82.

The shifting and finding the gear slots is a bit vague in my opinion, and with time, I will become more adept and used to how the Tremec shifts.

 

Uhmm, yeah, I need the new MGW short throw for this transmission when it's released. Currently, the throw is longer than I care for.

 

There is one negative right now. When my Mustang came back to me after SA modded it, there was a rattling sound in the 1500 to 2000 RPM range.

I used to think it was engine knock, but the reality is that it is a drone/vibratory sound from the exhaust system and the Borla axlebacks.

Now that the taller Tremec is in, it has changed the load on the engine thru said RPM range above, and at around 1800RPM, that old rattling sound is magnified into a slight vibration. I can feel and hear it passing up thru said 1800RPM.

I suppose I can get used to it in the same way I got used to it after SA modded it, maybe. We tried relaxing the mounts of the entire exhaust system today, but there was no change. We're still working on this problem.

 

Ya know, if I could get an MT82 that was rated at 600ft/lbs and hold up, I would want that.

But they aren't rated for the kind of power I have so Tremec it is.

 

I am also glad I decided to swap the SC pulley for the next diameter size smaller a few weeks ago. Between that swap and the 4:10s, I think in boost, I am about as quick in gears 1,2,3 as I used to be with the MT82.

[lbj]

See my next post below please.

[lbj]

There is one negative right now. When my Mustang came back to me after SA modded it, there was a rattling sound in the 1500 to 2000 RPM range.

I used to think it was engine knock, but the reality is that it is a drone/vibratory sound from the exhaust system and the Borla axlebacks.

Now that the taller Tremec is in, it has changed the load on the engine thru said RPM range above, and at around 1800RPM, that old rattling sound is magnified into a slight vibration. I can feel and hear it passing up thru said 1800RPM.

I suppose I can get used to it in the same way I got used to it after SA modded it, maybe. We tried relaxing the mounts of the entire exhaust system today, but there was no change. We're still working on this problem.

 

The latest thinking for the above vibration is that the McCleod solid core RST clutch is causing this, so back to a Centerforce dual disc soon.

I guess we'll see.

 

I am also going to ditch the light aluminum flywheel and do a Centerforce steel billet one. It's close to the factory weight.

 

On a side note, the transmission is breaking in nicely.

 

Also, it looks like my heavy foot has created problems in the rear differential, lots of noise coming from there.

We're going to gut the differential and do an entire rebuild, including the Torsen unit and perhaps replace the axle internals as well.

 

All the parts are in, and sometime soon, Rob at RWR will get the car to rebuild and replace things.

 

AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

[lbj]

I finally got the car delivered down to Denver for the repair

 

Guess we will see in a few days what happens.

[lbj]

Things just keep going from bad to worse.

 

The new Centerforce DYAD threw the weights off itself and we are waiting on new parts... again.

 

There is also some exploring to do regarding a whining sound that may be coming from the rear of the transmission that is pretty loud.

I had thought my diff was making noise but it may be the new Tremec.

 

This is the pits right now.