Hi, I have a 2002 F-150 and have been loving it sincemy dad let me get it off his hands. When i am driving on the highway, usually in 5th gear around 75 mph, my truck is driving as it should. But then once I exit and need to accelerate from a stop or down shift into third, the gears grind. Even when I have the clutch to the floor. I can pull over and let the truck run while I pump the clutch a few times, and then it drives normal. I have checked for leaks, and there are none. I am new to these Fords, but used to have a Isuzu Trooper that had a similar problem with it's hydralic clutch, it just needed bleeding and the fluid topped of. Also, i noticed when the Ford is being driven normally, when you shift into 3rd theres a little click i can feel in the shifter. Is this a common Problem?


Ford is the Best in Texas...(and those other places)

 

It's a common problem. Mine, and many other v6 f150 owner's trucks here do the same thing. It doesn't seem to hurt it any because mine has lasted 53,000 miles so far. Knock on wood three times. Mine doesn't do it all the time. Just when I get in a big hurry trying to rip through the gears is when it does it. Shift the gears slow, and it should shift just fine. Not to sound smart or anything, but it's a truck not a porshe 911. It's gonna shift like a truck. And trucks grind the gears sometimes. Just my 2 cents.

 

i have a 2000 f150 4.2/5spd. the truck has 105,000 miles and it does the same thing. everyone says its ok. so you dont have anything to worry about.

 

The 3rd gear upshift grind is unfortunately pretty common on these trucks. My truck did it until Ford replaced the transmission with a new unit. Before that, they rebuilt the transmission and the problem resurfaced later.

Another common issue on these trucks is clutch master and especially slave cylinder leakage. Just a slight leak in either of these two parts (which are unfortunately plastic) will cause shifting and drivability problems without showing any noticeable fluid loss. If you notice that it's hard to shift in all gears, and hard to get into first, you might check into this. I noticed also that when mine started leaking, the clutch would start releasing lower and lower off the floor when in traffic (very frusterating).

Far as the click feeling, this transmission is also very notchy. I love the truck but have to admit the entire manual transmission system, from the trans itself to the clutch and it's components, is beyond a doubt the weakest link.

 

Mine does it too , When I first got mine ( Used ) I changed the fluid
and replaced 1 Qt. with Lucas but it still does it. I did notice that it
didn't do it hardly at all during the winter.

 

My old 00' Scab 4.2L 5-speed did the same thing. Usually under load from 2nd to 3rd on the upshift only. You didn't hear a grind, but feel it thru the shifter. If I waited a slight moment to let the revs drop, it wouldn't grind.

The fix was that Ford replaced the tranny with a new one. They also upped the warranty to 5 years/60K on the tranny, which was cool.

I drove that truck another good 30,000 miles with the replacement tranny, and the grind never returned. If your car is still under warranty, have them look at it. They will probably replace it.