2.3L 7MT — lurching/stuttering in low gears between 2-3k RPM

[SPITmadFIRE]

This has happened twice now, on my 2.3L 7MT badlands 4dr — in first and second gear. I’ll be in gear, slowly climbing through the revs right before I shift around 3.5k or so, and the car will kind of lurch back and forth almost like I’m applying throttle and letting off, over and over. Feels like a yo-yo effect a bit. My foot wasn’t on the clutch pedal whatsoever, but as soon as I press in the clutch to shift, it stops. Has only happened when the car is relatively cold and it’s the first time I’m get up to road speed after starting it.

I only have about 350mi on it so far, so wasn’t sure if this is simply a break-in quirk or not. It does feel like some amount of ECU learning could smooth it out, or possibly a turbo/wastegate/vacuum leak issue? I remember seeing someone else’s thread talking about their clutch acting strange similar to this but couldn’t find it by searching.

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[iamchewby]

I'm around the same miles as you and have not experienced this. Do the revs keep climbing when it feels like it's letting off?

 

[SPITmadFIRE]

I'm around the same miles as you and have not experienced this. Do the revs keep climbing when it feels like it's letting off?

They seemed to waver up and down when it happens, I don’t recall if the revs climbed when it lurched forward or backwards but I’ll keep it in mind next time I notice it.

 

[zombie]

No issues with my 2.3L MT here... check that the air intake hasn't pulled something in? (unlikely, but that's where I'd check first)

 

[redone17]

I had this happen a couple of times early on - but, it stopped. I’m at almost 7k and hasn’t happened since 1000-1500 or so. If it kept happening, I would have been concerned. Just chalked it up to break-in.

 

[SPITmadFIRE]

No issues with my 2.3L MT here... check that the air intake hasn't pulled something in? (unlikely, but that's where I'd check first)

it felt similar to how my RS sometimes yo-yos when the intake filter is too dirty, or there’s some other intake/vacuum issue. But this was much more dramatic and seemed like it would just keep happening if I didn’t accel or decel or change gear. I’ll do a once over in the engine bay for obvious intake/vacuum issues but not very hopeful I’ll find anything as I would assume an issue like that would be much more consistent

 

[SPITmadFIRE]

I had this happen a couple of times early on - but, it stopped. I’m at almost 7k and hasn’t happened since 1000-1500 or so.

Yeah, when it happened my immediate thought was weird ECU learning/mapping gone awry so hopefully it just stops altogether

 

[Tricky Dick]

IIRC someone else had this and it ended up being a faulty friction disc. I'd search some of the old threads.

 

[SPITmadFIRE]

IIRC someone else had this and it ended up being a faulty friction disc. I'd search some of the old threads.

I searched a bit but only found a post where someone’s clutch “blew up” but they just said clutch disengaged at 40mph and never reengaged. I remembered seeing one post about a manual wavering like this but couldn’t find it by searching.

 

[balucipher]

My second gear shift feels gross today. Clunky to get in, not sure what's up

 

[SPITmadFIRE]

My second gear shift feels gross today. Clunky to get in, not sure what's up

I’ve had slightly clunky or what I would call “blocked” gears in my RS which is a 2.3L 6MT — usually keeping the clutch down and quickly going into another gear then back to the original one clears it. I’ve noticed the clunkiness goes away when changing out the transmission fluid but if you’re not close to 30k yet I don’t know if you’d want to even think about changing it out.

 

[balucipher]

I’ve had slightly clunky or what I would call “blocked” gears in my RS which is a 2.3L 6MT — usually keeping the clutch down and quickly going into another gear then back to the original one clears it. I’ve noticed the clunkiness goes away when changing out the transmission fluid but if you’re not close to 30k yet I don’t know if you’d want to even think about changing it out.

Yeah this is what I discovered too, I got to my destination and I rowed through my gears including crawl and reverse and it was back to buttery smooth

Only 1900 miles on it so I really don't want to drain and refill transmission fluid lol

 

[SPITmadFIRE]

Yeah this is what I discovered too, I got to my destination and I rowed through my gears including crawl and reverse and it was back to buttery smooth

Only 1900 miles on it so I really don't want to drain and refill transmission fluid lol

If it’s any consolation, I haven’t noticed any long term issues on my RS when this happens. No idea if thats the same story here or not. As long as you’re a bit slow on the clutch and don’t try to let it off when the shifter is halfway in gear, you shouldn’t grind gears or anything like that. It’s a bit annoying for sure but it tends to come and go as the transmission warms up and fluid gets older it seems.

 

[balucipher]

If it’s any consolation, I haven’t noticed any long term issues on my RS when this happens. No idea if thats the same story here or not. As long as you’re a bit slow on the clutch and don’t try to let it off when the shifter is halfway in gear, you shouldn’t grind gears or anything like that. It’s a bit annoying for sure but it tends to come and go as the transmission warms up and fluid gets older it seems.

Nice, good to know

It doesn't feel like a problem, just not what I was expecting. I'm real lazy with my shifting so I'm not quick shifting through like in a sports car at all. It's felt like this once before, but it went away and I forgot about it till today

 

[Bronqo]

This has happened twice now, on my 2.3L 7MT badlands 4dr — in first and second gear. I’ll be in gear, slowly climbing through the revs right before I shift around 3.5k or so, and the car will kind of lurch back and forth almost like I’m applying throttle and letting off, over and over. Feels like a yo-yo effect a bit. My foot wasn’t on the clutch pedal whatsoever, but as soon as I press in the clutch to shift, it stops. Has only happened when the car is relatively cold and it’s the first time I’m get up to road speed after starting it.

I only have about 350mi on it so far, so wasn’t sure if this is simply a break-in quirk or not. It does feel like some amount of ECU learning could smooth it out, or possibly a turbo/wastegate/vacuum leak issue? I remember seeing someone else’s thread talking about their clutch acting strange similar to this but couldn’t find it by searching.

Mine did this a couple times early on and I didn’t think too much of it. Was thinking along the same lines as you with the break-in. However I’m over 4,000 miles now and it did it again today.

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