I need some 7MT owners to lend me their thoughts

[SoDak1623]

I'm at 8k miles and my MT remains smooth and quiet...no noises or clunks.

Don't get me started on the tach. Biggest failure in this vehicle. It was an opportunity for a big win to build in digital versions of old school analog sweep gauges and we got horrid Tesla/Nintendo-inspired techno garbage. FAIL!!!!

Driver Experience Design Team.....

For real. Not that I need a tach to shift after my years of driving manual, but I'd rather have a circular tach where the speedometer is. I never use the manual speedometer and always look at the digital one, so having the main gauge be a tach like an old school race car would beat the dumb bar graph tach.

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[BottleShark]

I HATE THE WASTED SPEEDO!!!!

 

[Guardian1fox2]

Man it seems to be getting worse with no help from @Ford Motor Company or dealer. My contact for my case doesn’t really respond to anything and dealer is just like “drive it till it breaks”. I’m sorry but I don’t wanna live like that when my kids are in my vehicle 90% of the time. It’s not my fault they designed the transmission in a way that it needs to be pulled to even look at anything.

My case dealer wants me to drive to ANOTHER dealer…but guess what there’s no MT broncos anywhere around here. No dealer wants to pull a transmission…so I’m stuck. I may just try to trade it in. It’s so unpredictable now on how it drives. Every time I get in it it drives different transmission wise. It’s at the point now if I don’t want it to lurch after shifting, or making the noise; I gotta shift out of 1st at 2k. 2nd at 2400. Used to it was like 2500 first. Idk what’s going on but the noise is louder. I release throttle well ahead of shifting just to try anything. I wish there was someone else around SW Louisiana that could meet me to compare. I wouldn’t mind keeping this thing if I didn’t have to worry about the transmission.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Man it seems to be getting worse with no help from @Ford Motor Company or dealer. My contact for my case doesn’t really respond to anything and dealer is just like “drive it till it breaks”. I’m sorry but I don’t wanna live like that when my kids are in my vehicle 90% of the time. It’s not my fault they designed the transmission in a way that it needs to be pulled to even look at anything.

My case dealer wants me to drive to ANOTHER dealer…but guess what there’s no MT broncos anywhere around here. No dealer wants to pull a transmission…so I’m stuck. I may just try to trade it in. It’s so unpredictable now on how it drives. Every time I get in it it drives different transmission wise. It’s at the point now if I don’t want it to lurch after shifting, or making the noise; I gotta shift out of 1st at 2k. 2nd at 2400. Used to it was like 2500 first. Idk what’s going on but the noise is louder. I release throttle well ahead of shifting just to try anything. I wish there was someone else around SW Louisiana that could meet me to compare. I wouldn’t mind keeping this thing if I didn’t have to worry about the transmission.

Hi there, Jacob. Will you send us a message with your VIN and dealership info? I can look into things on my end.

 

[BuckshotBronco]

Hello, both my wife and I drove our 2dr Big Bend today and also heard the knocking when shifting into 1st and 2nd. Has there been any update on a potential cause or solution?

 

[coreymd]

I wish there was someone else around SW Louisiana that could meet me to compare.

I have family in SWLA, but I won't be back there for another 6 weeks or so. Hope you're not still fighting with it by then.

I've got 2K miles on my 7MT and I don't notice the issues you're describing. I keep it mainly in "Normal" mode with occasional excursions into "Sport". And aside from having to adjust my throttle usage between the modes (and ignoring a few bad shifts here and there from mismatched RPMs - my fault), both modes are pretty smooth.

Speaking of RPMs, it's 1st gear at low RPMs that I've had to get used to the most. The Bronco just wants lots of throttle there to get above the 1-5 mph range. So parking lots are where I do most of my lurching - like pulling nose-first out of a parking space while making a 90 degree turn. Still trying to train myself not to lift early on the throttle and to slip the clutch just a bit longer until I can pick up enough speed. Or maybe I just need to use the crawler gear. I'm pretty sure this parking lot scenario is exactly what it was made for...

 

[Lifeliberty]

Speaking of RPMs, it's 1st gear at low RPMs that I've had to get used to the most. The Bronco just wants lots of throttle there to get above the 1-5 mph range. So parking lots are where I do most of my lurching - like pulling nose-first out of a parking space while making a 90 degree turn. Still trying to train myself not to lift early on the throttle and to slip the clutch just a bit longer until I can pick up enough speed. Or maybe I just need to use the crawler gear. I'm pretty sure this parking lot scenario is exactly what it was made for...

Don't use the gas pedal. In first, just slowly release the clutch. The bronco will rev to keep it going, you don't need to apply gas when slowly easing out clutch.

Try it. I don't know how to explain it better. There's a video around here

 

[coreymd]

Don't use the gas pedal. In first, just slowly release the clutch. The bronco will rev to keep it going, you don't need to apply gas when slowly easing out clutch.

Try it. I don't know how to explain it better. There's a video around here

You mean it responds the same in 1st as it does in "C" - it won't stall? That will take some getting used to.

 

[Lifeliberty]

You mean it responds the same in 1st as it does in "C" - it won't stall? That will take some getting used to.

I do it in reverse, first, and crawler

 

[Lifeliberty]

I think it will work as long as you aren't dumping the clutch. I'm very wary of burnng up the clutch, so i 50/50 times use gas when starting out and try not to slip it. Pretty sure the clutch is the weak link

 

[NJRoadkill]

10k miles. Zero issues On or off road. Sorry to hear OP and others are having issues. It’s such a fun combination To the 2.3l.

have you tried the no-gas 1st gear take off? It’s designed that if you let the clutch out slow, the rpms will raise to 1800 rpm and move without touching the gas pedal.

 

[Rick Astley]

I’ve been dealing with a transmission noise since I got my Bronco. I’ll take a video again today, but to say it’s only when you push clutch in your hear a clunk and sometimes some rattling.

@Ford Motor Company reached out and got me a case, but after 2 days of diagnosing at my dealer, FoMoCo hotline told them to compare to vehicle in kind….which sucks cause there’s no other 7MT broncos around here. SO, they say oh it’s prolly normal which is ridiculous imo. I communicated this to my contact for my case and is supposed to be following up.

But that being said, perhaps a few 7MT owners could post and let me know if they hear anything. If no one does maybe I can show the dealership some videos so they can further diagnose.
I can even compare the video I post to theirs. If it’s normal that’s fine but telling me “you have a warranty so if it breaks you’re covered” doesn’t really give me warm feelings when I have 2 kids to worry about if I break down lol.

Any mechanical object will be subject to the possibility of breakage or maintenance, no different than every single time your kids are playing there is a potential for injury.

No vehicle is 100% reliable in 100% of situations until its been scrapped and then its only 100% reliable in that it won't work.

That being said, the minor noises in your video (posted later than the post quoted in this comment) doesn't sound like a lot to me. Possibly synchros bedding in or a rough clutch engagement/disengagement. There was a thread about a prematurely worn clutch but saying one post makes a point is too rich for my blood.

For fun go drive an automatic Bronco or Ranger. The 10AT will hit the brown note of mechanical strain and impact whenever you floor it on the highway. Since it tries to be in 9th or 10th gear at all times the 10th-to-4th downshift for passing will make you a believer that the transmission won't make it to 100K miles.

I hate to say it but I think this forum is going to start filling up with more manual transmission problem posts as miles get put on. The 7MT being unavailable behind the 2.7 and initially unavailable with Sasquatch told me everything I needed to know to avoid it.

The 7mt not being available should have told you everything you need to know about how lazy Americans are here in 2022, and how little drivers skill is left on American roadways.

That nobody would buy them or people are too incompetent to learn how to operate them is the reason they don't exist.

Just look at how many RAM 3500 Diesels are sold with manual transmissions these days. Easy sells to Americans better than cheap Chiese hand tools. But I digress. Go to the F150 forums and look into how many of the 2.7 engines have dual turbo failure just outside of warranty, that's why I'll stick with the 2.3 engine, and already owning a '19 Ranger with its crappy 10AT is why I'm estatic that Bronco comes with a proper manual transmission. Can even rebuild the transmission myself unlike the 10AT.

 

[barracuda]

I like the 7mt a lot. Didn’t realize how few sticks there are on the road today. Took it in for 10k service the other day and the service rep couldn’t drive it down Had to get the mechanic to walk up and take it himself

 

[AlpineDescent]

I like the 7mt a lot. Didn’t realize how few sticks there are on the road today. Took it in for 10k service the other day and the service rep couldn’t drive it down Had to get the mechanic to walk up and take it himself

We have the same thing happen frequently at service centers. I also dropped off our Mustang at a long-term parking lot with a valet that brings the car back to the front when you return. Everyone else got into their cars and drove away, but the valet just handed me my keys, told me that no one on duty could drive a stick, and told me where it was in the lot. I'd much rather have them do that than destroy the clutch trying to drive it.

 

[Rcarpen22]

My 7MT is quiet and smooth on the street. However, wheeling in 4-lo, it makes similar noises to what you describe. Mostly it's clicking sounds when I engage the clutch and sometimes when shifting. It doesn't do it at all in 2-hi. I haven't been too worried about it, but will definitely watch this thread.

Edit: I will also see if I can find some offroad video that captures the noise.

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