This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Rough, irregular shifting, most noticeable shifting from 1st gear on this manual transmission. Seems to lock you out of gears at any given time. Also while down shifting, I.e. exiting off the highway onto an exit ramp, have experienced a similar problem. From 6th gear, the transmission locked me out of 4th gear and forced me into 2nd gear. This caused a massive and sudden decrease in speed causing the vehicle behind me to slam on their brakes in order to avoid rear-ending me. Persistent grinding noise and feel while the car is being shifted, as if the gears are not meshing when shifted. Noticeable in the feel of the stick and audible at times as well. This is noticeable in most gears in particular 2nd thru 5th. The transmission constantly makes a hard clunking noise when it is put into first gear from neutral. This clunk can be heard and felt in the car clearly. I've had this vehicle to the dealer several times, keep getting the run-around, I.e., "that is normal", "our tech's couldn't reproduce the problem" etc...standard dealer deflection.
Mt 82 6 speed transmission failed to down shift properly creating a near miss situation due to driver not being able to select lower gear to power up to exceed or at least match the speed of on coming vehicle. The on coming vehicle was a semi traveling 55 mph in 55 mph posted speed zone. Had the vehicle performed properly sufficient speed would have been achieved as to not impede the progress of the approaching semi. A reasonable and acceptable amount of distance was present prior to pulling out into traffic. Dealer was advised and performed a change of fluid to a duel clutch fluid which and I installed an aftermarket shifter (mgw shifter) which made a slight improvement. I still believe a design issue exists. Placement into gear is often difficult and up shifting is not smooth as it should be. This transmission has done this on multiple occasions. I am not sure how many complaints there have been but this transmission defect in the 2011 Mustang is common knowledge among Mustang web sites and forums. The general feeling is Ford has not been as aggressive as they should be to find a solution for this issue.
The manual transmission in my 2011 Ford Mustang GT has given me problems for the past year of ownership. There have been multiple incidents where the transmission will not go into 2nd gear. The gear appears/feels to be "locked out". this has happened while pulling out across on-coming traffic, and I have had numerous close calls. I also have horrible gear while/noise, and grinding shifts almost all the time. Ford has rebuilt my transmission, but refuses to do anything else with the car. They claim that this is "normal" for this car. My wife drives the vehicle, and I fear for her safety. Please help me!
2011 Mustang GT with a manual transmission has problems shifting. I am sometimes unable to shift into first or third gears because the transmission will lock me out. I have to shift around to various other gears to sort of "reset it" and get it into gear, or give up on the gear I'm trying to get into and use a different gear instead. Sometimes I'll try to push the shifter into 1st gear and it will resist going in. If I try to force it, it will grind, even with the clutch fully depressed. This has been unsafe on a number of occasions, and I try to never shift right before a light turns green, because I may be locked out of first and hold up traffic. I'm basically afraid of shifting into 1st gear now. This started as soon as I got the car. I took the car in to have a tsb performed and they put in some special replacement transmission fluid that is fully synthetic. It made things more smooth and less knotchy when shifting in general, but the lock out fears for 1st and 3rd gear persist.
Faulty 6-speed manual transmission. Any time the vehicle is on an incline 20 degrees or higher and being shifted from 2nd gear (around 18-20mph) to any other gear the shifter gets stuck in neutral with inability to go to any other gear until the engine RPM drops. This shifting delay can take anywhere form 3 to 7 seconds, before another gear is available to engage.
- Burlington, MA, USA
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Manual transmission, 2nd gear occasionally cannot be selected on acceleration even with clutch fully depressed. Car coasts until another gear is selected or forced into gear by "double clutching". dealer replaced clutch pressure plate bolts and bled clutch lines. Problem occurs less often, but still there. Below 70 degrees ambient temperature 2nd gear grinds until up to operating temperature and third gear "kicks back" the shifter. A year and 10000 miles later no change. Problem is so random that dealer cannot reproduce adequately to get Ford to authorize any repair. Ford customer service reports it is "normal" for a performance car to change gears poorly.
I have only owned this car for 3 months. It has 4400 miles on it and the manual transmission is acting up. Sometimes I cannot get it to go in to gear, usually 1st, 2nd, and reverse. It will occasionally jump out of gear with normal operation. This car is very unsafe with this problem. I live in the dallas metroplex, with the stop and go traffic sometimes a driver doesn't see the cars in front stopped and you have to get out of their way. With this problem I can guarantee that I would get rear ended in that situation. Even after sitting at a light I sometimes am getting honked at since I cannot get the car into gear. I believe this to be a very serious safety issue as well as a huge annoyance. This needs to be fixed.
(note: Car is a Mustang GT 5 liter) this incident followed my initial drivetrain complaints to my local dealership and their replacement of my clutch pedal assembly. Entering a highway, I approached a speed of approximately 75 mph in 3rd gear, taking the engine close to 6K RPM. When attempting to shift into 4th with the clutch pedal fully pressed to the floor, the stick would not budge into the 4th gear slot. As the car was slowing down, I tried other gear slots: 5th, then 6th, 4th again, to 3rd. Nothing. Finally, I removed my left foot from the pedal altogether and noticed the pedal was stuck to the floor. After pumping it to no avail, I wedged my foot under the pedal to kick it back up. My drivetrain was once again responsive. I was already aware of a rumor that later model Mustangs had high RPM gear-shifting issues, but this was the first personal occurrence for me. Based on this suspicion, I attempted to recreate it on the way back home and I was once again able to freeze my clutch to the floor. My car is currently in for repair, and I believe they are replacing the clutch and pressure plate for their next fix attempt.
At 150 miles on the odometer the transmission began to grind second gear while turning left. I took it to the dealer, and they changed the fluid as per T.S.B. there was zero change. I took it back to the dealer, and they said it was normal and was a 'break in' issue. Despite disagreeing I drove it until there was around 10,000 miles on it. At this point it was nearly impossible to shift into second when turning left without physically forcing it to the point I was skipping to third. Also third gear had developed the same issues intermittently. I took it back in, and they bled the clutch. After receiving the car I took it back the next week, as obviously it did not fix anything. Ford decided to replace the transmission. The technician reported all syncros and blocking rings were extremely worn and second and third gears showed signs of wear. He also reported the input shaft bearing had showed signs that it had been very hot. After receiving my car back I noticed a difference, now the shifter linkage had a noticeable popping/binding feeling in the linkage when moving the shifter back and forth in the nuetral position. I was informed that it was abnormal, but that other cars on the lot had the same issue. Which later I found out to be a lie. After about 100 miles it has shown the same exact symptoms as before including the new linkage issue. I drove the car with the technician with me for an extended period of time. I was able to duplicate the issue when turning left. The technician was also able to notice this issue when he was driving. Even though it happens only when turning left and only when changing to second gear, he again lied to me and told me that it was normal, and that in all cars you have to wait a little bit for the syncro's to catch up and it is normal to have to wait a few seconds while holding it up to the syncros for it to slide in. Please contact me.
I am having difficulty upshifting gears 2 to 3 and 3 to 4 and I am at times unable to downshift which has caused me to have to move out of the way of other vehicles and it's distraction to me driving. I have taken my Mustang to winter haven Ford dealer and described in detail the issues I am having, they said there are no issues with my transmission, I have owned several other Mustangs with manual transmission and have never had trouble shifting gears. I have asked other owners of the 2011 Mustangs and everybody seems to have the same complaint
If I take my foot off of the gas the car seems to lower it's rpms by itself almost to the point of it feeling like it is braking without any help from me. This happens pretty much at any speed. Also there seems to be an issue when slowing/stopping and accelerating. When I start slowing down and then have to press the gas the car jolts like it goes from 1st gear to 4th gear instantly. This is not a good feeling at all and kind of scary. It almost feels like the car is going to take off without me. Had this issue before and after the transmission was replaced at 1500 miles.
Heading up a hill and heard a loud grinding sound. Car stopped in place and would not go anywhere when pressing on the gas. Tried putting the car in reverse and would not move at all. Also tried putting in neutral and it still would not move. Had car towed to Ford dealership and the service department checked the car out and stated that the transmission "grenaded" as it stated on the work order. I got to see what the transmission looked like. It had pieces of metal everywhere and the long bearings were all shattered into pieces. A new transmission was ordered and placed in the car.
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Mustang GT. The contact started the ignition and when shifting from first into second gear a roughness in the response occurred with an unusual noise. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated the transmission operated properly. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 75.
This vehicle has a 6 speed manual transmission which is unusually difficult to shift from one gear to the next, in both upshift and downshift. Ambient and vehicle temperature are not factors what-so-ever. The problem has been with the car since brand-new. Sometimes it is impossible to get into the desired gear at all. Safety has been compromised numerous times, especially when crossing traffic while executing a left turn at intersections, causing driver distraction and vehicle swerving while driver is struggling to shift from first to second gear. Also while merging with highway traffic, acceleration is abruptly interrupted and driver is dangerously distracted while struggling with the uncooperative gear shift. The transmission exhibits an unusually great deal of resistance to going into the next gear in sequence, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5 and 5-6. this resistance is significant at shifts in even the lowest RPM range and the resistance increases drastically and proportionately with the increase in RPM of the engine at the time a gear shift is attempted. The most dangerous incidents have occurred while attempting to pass another vehicle on a two lane highway. Usually, I will downshift to fourth gear and accelerate while maneuvering around the car in front. At the point where I am committed to my action, (being fully in the lane of oncoming traffic and parallel to the other car, I will experience an unsuccessful shift and be faced with having to either abort my passing attempt or continue to struggle to engage the gear shift while being dangerously distracted by this problem at what is perhaps one of the most inopportune times for a driver to be distracted. I do not look forward to experience these dangerous driving phenomena when compounded by Colorado's winter weather.
2011 Mustang GT with manual transmission- inability to shift into 3rd gear. It almost caused an accident as I was stuck slowing down into on coming traffic. The car is been in the shop multiple times. Also has severe knocking in the engine that goes way after 5 minutes. Ford states this is piston rattle and they tried a software fix. Nothing helped.I'm afraid of the engine damage or catastrophic engine failure while driving. There are youtube videos posted labeled 2011 Mustang knock. Ford is aware... they referred me to it(at least the service tech did. Ford is doing nothing!!! the car has been in the shop 5-6 times and there is under 5000 miles. The car had only 300 miles on it when they had to replace the gas tank pump because it dropped to zero at with a half tank of gas left. There is a bulletin on this. Help before some gets hurt by the transmission problem or the engine blowing out!!!!
Normal everyday driving, mostly highway driving back and forth to work. I bought the car brand new and at this time it has about 10K miles. Since I bought it I noticed it was hard to shift into gears. Over time it got worse. It got to the point that I could not put it into reverse and first gear, I had to start out in second gear. I took my car into the shop to repair the item and they said it was the clutch plate. Bottom line is that it was a brand new car and shouldn't have this kind of problem. I also feel that it could have caused damage to the transmission which the dealer will not admit to.
Manual transmission started to become difficult to shift into gear at random times at around 6000 miles. Problem seems to be getting worse, involving grinds, and at times difficulty even getting into certain gears. I can see where this could be a serious safety issue, ie: Pulling into fast traffic, and not being able to properly engage gears. Manufacturer offers no solution so far, advises "normal" characteristics for this car.
The manual transmissions in these cars are starting to fail left and right. It takes nothing but a short search online to find that out. My car is no different. The manual transmission in my car locked me out of a gear in the middle of traffic causing me to be nearly rear ended. I am starting to worry for the safety and value of my vehicle and passengers. Ford has done nothing to fix this issue other than offer a fluid change in the transmission. This has been proven to not work because I have this 'fix' and my problems continue. Ford needs to step up and recall these cars and fix the transmissions before someone gets injured or killed.
2011 Mustang GT manual transmission.....vehicle shifts very rough and from time to time locks 2nd and 3rd gear out creating a safety hazard at intersections when required to stop. This leads to getting into the middle of the intersection and have to try to jam the car into or skip that gear entirely to get out of the intersection.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Bloomfield Hills, MI, USA