Swbari00

My XD seems to "catch" between these two gears depending on how high I let the RPMs get. I haven't watched very closely yet at what RPMs this starts happening yet but I know it is a pretty low RPM. If I shift before that point, it is perfectly smooth, anything above that it catches and makes a bit of a grinding sound. Any ideas? It happens with no other gears.

pickledchang

bad syncro... take it to the dealer

Swbari00

That was my initial thought but I don't know enough about transmissions to make an educated guess. Thanks though!

Nateson

I agree ^^ Sorry for the long post.
I had a 2000 Contour SVT and it would grind from 2nd to 3rd above 4k rpm. I took it to the dealer because it would have been covered by the factory warranty. I had the mechanic drive while I was in the car and he was not making it happen. If you hesitate between shifts for a second it will allow for the syncro to catch up and will not grind. I told him not to hesitate in neutral and just shift to 3rd as if he were merging with traffic off an on ramp (of course it grinded). He alluded that it was abuse and that the car was not supposed to be driven like that. I argued with the shop manager to fix it under warranty, but he said it was "going bad but it was not bad". He said Ford would pay them to fix it if fell under their guidelines to be fixed. I was disgusted and left vowing to never buy a Ford again. I could have and should have pursued it further, but instead just hesitated between 2nd and 3rd from then on. I should have complained to the head office. Toyota may be more receptive, go and have them take a look.
P.S. The dealer I took my Contour to was Marshal Mize Ford in Chattanooga TN- A warranty is as good as the people that uphold it! (in my case worthless)

TunerKid

definatly sounds like a synchro! i have that problem too... except with every gear! but mine is from someones ____ty service and i will make them pay dearly, but in your case, if your under warranty take it to the dealer and if you do drive it like a jet powered go-kart lie your ___ off!

Swbari00

I drive more like a Sunday old geezer most of the time. It is under warranty so I will take it in.

mcbrew

Some better trans fluid might help the syncros engage better/faster. I use RedLine MTL, which is the proper weight for our cars. However, if there is a real problem, it should be taken care of by replacing the bad part(s). Good luck!

WellesleyScion

Mcbrew, do you know how many quarts we need to swap? I think I am going to use Redline in my D too.

mcbrew

It takes 2 quarts in a 5-speed xD. I used the RedLine MTL (70w80 GL-4). Their MTL and MT-90 both claim to satisfy the viscosity requirements for the xD -- 75w GL-4.