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Topic: Water crossing, now T-5 is not so co-operative... (Read 1199 times) previous topic - next topic

Water crossing, now T-5 is not so co-operative...

Last Sunday, on my way home, I hit some deceptively deep water in my neighborhood(they just redid the entire drainage system and repaved...and it's significantly worse now).  Needless to say, my center console looked like a water fall...forced about 2 gallons of water in.  Since then my T-5 just doesn't want to go into gear...any gear....

I have an Hurst shifter on it without the factory shifter seal...anybody think it's possible some water could've gotten in there?  even then, would a little water be enough to do that?

Thanks,
Don
Project 3G: Grandpa Grocery Getter-'85 Crown Vic LTD 2-door, 351W with heavily ported/polished GT40 heads, heavily ported/polished Typhoon Power Plus upper & lower intake, Comp Cams 265DEH retarded 1*, FAST EZ-EFI, HD T5, 8.8" 3.73 trac lock with extra clutches, 3G alt. swap, '99 CVPI front brakes, '09 CVPI rear disc brakes, '00 CVPI booster&m/c + wilwood adj prop valve.

Parted & Gone-'88 T-bird Sport, 351W swap, ported GT40 heads

Water crossing, now T-5 is not so co-operative...

Reply #1 –
Did you RTV the shifter on when you installed it?
1988 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe
'89 5.0 w/ ported intakes, Mallory Adjustable FPR, BBK shorties and H with 2.5" Flows, 130 amp 3G, 89 Mustang comp/wiring, Aluminum radiator w/ elec fan, T5 trans, King Cobra clutch, 3.55 gears, 13" Cobra brakes (front), Wilwood prop valve, Mustang A-arms, Front Coil-overs, MM CC plates, Silver 17x9 R's, 03 Cobra IRS, Aluminum DS, 2002 Mustang dash/console etc..., custom leather seats

Water crossing, now T-5 is not so co-operative...

Reply #2 –
Yeah, I RTV'ed it good.  I'm wondering if water got forced in from the top side of the shifter...

I guess I'll change the fluid tomorrow and see what happens.
Project 3G: Grandpa Grocery Getter-'85 Crown Vic LTD 2-door, 351W with heavily ported/polished GT40 heads, heavily ported/polished Typhoon Power Plus upper & lower intake, Comp Cams 265DEH retarded 1*, FAST EZ-EFI, HD T5, 8.8" 3.73 trac lock with extra clutches, 3G alt. swap, '99 CVPI front brakes, '09 CVPI rear disc brakes, '00 CVPI booster&m/c + wilwood adj prop valve.

Parted & Gone-'88 T-bird Sport, 351W swap, ported GT40 heads

Water crossing, now T-5 is not so co-operative...

Reply #3 –
That could be, but dang, that's some high water!!  Fluid change is probably a good place to start.  It may tell you if you got water in there but idk it'll do much to help your problem...
1988 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe
'89 5.0 w/ ported intakes, Mallory Adjustable FPR, BBK shorties and H with 2.5" Flows, 130 amp 3G, 89 Mustang comp/wiring, Aluminum radiator w/ elec fan, T5 trans, King Cobra clutch, 3.55 gears, 13" Cobra brakes (front), Wilwood prop valve, Mustang A-arms, Front Coil-overs, MM CC plates, Silver 17x9 R's, 03 Cobra IRS, Aluminum DS, 2002 Mustang dash/console etc..., custom leather seats

Water crossing, now T-5 is not so co-operative...

Reply #4 –
Yeah, I really don't see it taking that much water in...but it's weird...never had a problem shifting until immediately after that...oh well, I have too much ATF floating around anyway...it's worth a shot.
Project 3G: Grandpa Grocery Getter-'85 Crown Vic LTD 2-door, 351W with heavily ported/polished GT40 heads, heavily ported/polished Typhoon Power Plus upper & lower intake, Comp Cams 265DEH retarded 1*, FAST EZ-EFI, HD T5, 8.8" 3.73 trac lock with extra clutches, 3G alt. swap, '99 CVPI front brakes, '09 CVPI rear disc brakes, '00 CVPI booster&m/c + wilwood adj prop valve.

Parted & Gone-'88 T-bird Sport, 351W swap, ported GT40 heads

Water crossing, now T-5 is not so co-operative...

Reply #5 –
Yeah, it's probably a coincidence.  Or maybe the water screwed up your clutch somehow?  So it won't go into reverse or anything?  Do you have a stock style cable or a manually adjustable cable?
1988 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe
'89 5.0 w/ ported intakes, Mallory Adjustable FPR, BBK shorties and H with 2.5" Flows, 130 amp 3G, 89 Mustang comp/wiring, Aluminum radiator w/ elec fan, T5 trans, King Cobra clutch, 3.55 gears, 13" Cobra brakes (front), Wilwood prop valve, Mustang A-arms, Front Coil-overs, MM CC plates, Silver 17x9 R's, 03 Cobra IRS, Aluminum DS, 2002 Mustang dash/console etc..., custom leather seats

Water crossing, now T-5 is not so co-operative...

Reply #6 –
got any trash up on top of the tranny blocking the shifter?  it was water after all.

also, can you account for your tranny vent?  if yours is wide open, you found your water inlet. a little water will go a long way for your forks and shifter rods to bind up.

I cant see it being the clutch unless corrosion started.  A few good runs should shake all that off like a wet dog.

I certainly would not let that car sit much longer without running every option you have at full blast to include the heater / hvac.  its pretty easy to say you could have sucked some water in a vac line to.  I hope you didnt suck water into the crankcase with a stock air box system.

Water crossing, now T-5 is not so co-operative...

Reply #7 –
It does have the stock air box, but I pulled the silencer as soon as I got the car...the motor runs just fine...I'll be changing the fluid very shortly here, as well as inspecting the shifter.

Thanks,
Don
Project 3G: Grandpa Grocery Getter-'85 Crown Vic LTD 2-door, 351W with heavily ported/polished GT40 heads, heavily ported/polished Typhoon Power Plus upper & lower intake, Comp Cams 265DEH retarded 1*, FAST EZ-EFI, HD T5, 8.8" 3.73 trac lock with extra clutches, 3G alt. swap, '99 CVPI front brakes, '09 CVPI rear disc brakes, '00 CVPI booster&m/c + wilwood adj prop valve.

Parted & Gone-'88 T-bird Sport, 351W swap, ported GT40 heads

Water crossing, now T-5 is not so co-operative...

Reply #8 –
I had the same problem with the drowned Stang, tranny was full of water... Problem was in the shift mechanism in the top cover... Change the fluid, if it's milky, it has water in it... If it does, add new fluid and run the engine till the tranny good and hot(run it through the gears a few times on jack stands) and change it a second time...
 

Water crossing, now T-5 is not so co-operative...

Reply #9 –
Water it was!  Looked like a strawberry milk...about 4qts came out...so a little over a quart of water...shifts much better so far....

Turbocoupe50...thanks for the tip about changing it again after getting it up to temp...I probably would've left it alone.

So far, it feels 96.34867% better...lol....maybe changing it again will help even more.

Thanks guys,
Don
Project 3G: Grandpa Grocery Getter-'85 Crown Vic LTD 2-door, 351W with heavily ported/polished GT40 heads, heavily ported/polished Typhoon Power Plus upper & lower intake, Comp Cams 265DEH retarded 1*, FAST EZ-EFI, HD T5, 8.8" 3.73 trac lock with extra clutches, 3G alt. swap, '99 CVPI front brakes, '09 CVPI rear disc brakes, '00 CVPI booster&m/c + wilwood adj prop valve.

Parted & Gone-'88 T-bird Sport, 351W swap, ported GT40 heads