Picking up a M6 Hellcat

[BULL]

Maybe, mine were absolutely clean, relative to an exhaust bolt anyway.

 

[AeroF16]

Maybe, mine were absolutely clean, relative to an exhaust bolt anyway.

Mine look like they’ve been sitting outside in the rain for the past 100 years, though everything else looks pretty good. I didn’t check the passenger side, only noticed the driver side. I’ll have to take a look when I get home.

BTW @BULL , discount tire has a promo on Michelin tires right now. Not sure what you’re looking for, or if you’re looking, but it adds up to $110 off instantly when you check out. Plus another 10% if you have a military ID of some sort.

Think I’m going to pickup a set of PS4 all seasons for my BMW. That’ll be the 4th set of tires I’ve bought in the same amount of months, at over $1k a set. Damn.

 

[AeroF16]

Well this transmission is driving me crazy now, can't figure it out. Drove pretty dang good today going around town and heading into work, then drove horrible on the way home from work. Cold, it had a small grind going into every gear from 1-4. After it warmed up a bit, the grind went away but still very difficult to shift into all gears with the occasional small grind.

It's only difficult on the upshift, like 1-2-3-4, shifts smooth as silk on the downshift. I would think that if it was a clutch engagement/disengagement problem, it would do it on both upshifts and downshifts. Maybe someone smarter than me like @16GoManGoHC2 can explain it haha.

Might take it in and let the dealer look at it for warranty considerations. Otherwise, is anyone rebuilding these or does everyone just buy a new/slightly used trans?

 

[BULL]

what year is this new unit?

 

[AeroF16]

what year is this new unit?

It’s a 2016 but didn’t go into service until 12/2017, so should still have powertrain warranty until 12/22, right?

 

[jroyk]

It’s a 2016 but didn’t go into service until 12/2017, so should still have powertrain warranty until 12/22, right?

Yep

 

[BULL]

Sending PM about possible service center.

 

[jroyk]

….
My motivation for doing this in the first place was to improve my Cd for the Standing Mile

 

[16GoManGoHC2]

Other thing I noticed is the Barton almost feels like it's trying to force me from 1st to 4th. It's definitely not the skip shift happening, just feels spring loaded to lead me to 4th when I am trying to shift from 1st to 2nd. I have to add just a little left stick pressure and it shifts just fine into 2nd.

@BULL , is this a Barton thing or do I just have to adjust the position of the shifter? Maybe it is adjusted too far left and, when I think I am pulling straight back, I am actually pulling it toward 4th? If I adjust it to the right, maybe it'll align better with my pull?

The Barton centers on the 3-4 gate, a shift between the the 2 just requires a push forward or back, a shift from 2-3 only requires a push forward,a shift from 1-2 requires you to hold pretty good pressure to the left or your going to miss the shift or end up in 4th. A shift from 4th to 5th requires pretty hard pressure to the right (unless you remove a spring, I did) if not you’ll end up in third, not good if your doing 145 and looking for 5th but find 3rd and let the clutch out fast. The Barton is not like your F16 joystick, you got to manhandle it or your going to be in third or forth even if you remove the skip shift eliminator all together.

Now on the subject of hard crunchy shifts, get the fluid changed to the Mobil 1 ATF. But even with it the trans is not going to shift smooth cold, mine never did, don’t even think about banging through the gears even like warm. Storing the M6 out side in the cold your going to need 15-20 miles of driving in the cold with a cold tranny to warm it up enough to shift decent. My latest Tranzilla has REM polished sliders, bronze shift pads, and a steel 3-4 shift fork, and it’s better cool but I’ll still miss 2 or 3rd if I try to speed shift it cold, SUPER Butter smooth hot, but sitting outside overnight in 30F or worse below no way Jose, get me warm first. Even from a 74F garage in the cold it might be finicky on fast shifts until it’s hot, I learned my lesson and don’t play until it hot or your going to round over the sharp points on the synchro teeth and it’s just going to get worse and worse.

I just got a batch of Diff drain plugs in finally, be fitting them with magnets this weekend and be ready to ship Monday, I may have some Trans plugs too, if you haven’t dumped your Diff fluid yet and want plugs let me know. Trans drain plug not as important as the fill plug being magnetic, it filters out the carbon from the synchros friction pads (there’s metal mixed in it, similar to friction pads in the Diff) from the synchro rings and small bits from the points and gears GREAT, you’d be shocked what the magnet looks like after 3000 miles even. I have a picture of one some where from a 15,000 mile trans, looks like it has a Afro but when wiped off is just a slime but takes the shape of the magnetic field when attached to the magnet, it’s all wear particles but microscopic but does impart wear in bearings and gear faces.

PS, I highly suggest Amsoil Severe Gear 75w90 in the Diff with 1-2 oz of friction modifier, it really is about the best you can buy for street Diffs)

 

[AeroF16]

The Barton centers on the 3-4 gate, a shift between the the 2 just requires a push forward or back, a shift from 2-3 only requires a push forward,a shift from 1-2 requires you to hold pretty good pressure to the left or your going to miss the shift or end up in 4th. A shift from 4th to 5th requires pretty hard pressure to the right (unless you remove a spring, I did) if not you’ll end up in third, not good if your doing 145 and looking for 5th but find 3rd and let the clutch out fast. The Barton is not like your F16 joystick, you got to manhandle it or your going to be in third or forth even if you remove the skip shift eliminator all together.

Now on the subject of hard crunchy shifts, get the fluid changed to the Mobil 1 ATF. But even with it the trans is not going to shift smooth cold, mine never did, don’t even think about banging through the gears even like warm. Storing the M6 out side in the cold your going to need 15-20 miles of driving in the cold with a cold tranny to warm it up enough to shift decent. My latest Tranzilla has REM polished sliders, bronze shift pads, and a steel 3-4 shift fork, and it’s better cool but I’ll still miss 2 or 3rd if I try to speed shift it cold, SUPER Butter smooth hot, but sitting outside overnight in 30F or worse below no way Jose, get me warm first. Even from a 74F garage in the cold it might be finicky on fast shifts until it’s hot, I learned my lesson and don’t play until it hot or your going to round over the sharp points on the synchro teeth and it’s just going to get worse and worse.

I just got a batch of Diff drain plugs in finally, be fitting them with magnets this weekend and be ready to ship Monday, I may have some Trans plugs too, if you haven’t dumped your Diff fluid yet and want plugs let me know. Trans drain plug not as important as the fill plug being magnetic, it filters out the carbon from the synchros friction pads (there’s metal mixed in it, similar to friction pads in the Diff) from the synchro rings and small bits from the points and gears GREAT, you’d be shocked what the magnet looks like after 3000 miles even. I have a picture of one some where from a 15,000 mile trans, looks like it has a Afro but when wiped off is just a slime but takes the shape of the magnetic field when attached to the magnet, it’s all wear particles but microscopic but does impart wear in bearings and gear faces.

PS, I highly suggest Amsoil Severe Gear 75w90 in the Diff with 1-2 oz of friction modifier, it really is about the best you can buy for street Diffs)

View attachment 63042

Thanks for the response!

I did change the trans fluid yesterday with the Mobile 1 ATF. Took almost exactly 4 quarts before dribbling out. Removing the cross member was definitely the right move too. Unfortunately, doesn’t seem to have made a difference.

I’m not trying to shift fast or anything, even when I’m deliberately slow shifting it is troublesome. There’s gotta be something else going on, no way would anyone ever buy a car like this if this is how the manual trans acted on the test drive at the dealer (acting up like mine is.)

I’ll figure it out, that’s just part of buying a used car like this haha. Figured I was hedging my risk a bit by buying one still under powertrain warranty. That’s why I’ll probably take it in - don’t want to keep troubleshooting, find out it’s the trans, then have them tell me they won’t cover it because of previous work I did troubleshooting.

If they don’t cover it, that’s ok too, that’s the cost of playing the game. Still very happy to have it sitting in my garage but the inconsistency of the trans is driving me nuts haha.

 

[16GoManGoHC2]

Clutch may not be disengaging completely. Is it hard to get into reverse at a stand still? Get the rear wheels off the ground, idle the car in neutral and see how much the wheel spin when you let the clutch out in neutral, if they take off there’s a clutch issue. Next try holding the tires back by hand while letting the clutch out in neutral, should be able to easily keep them from spinning.

 

[AeroF16]

Clutch may not be disengaging completely. Is it hard to get into reverse at a stand still? Get the rear wheels off the ground, idle the car in neutral and see how much the wheel spin when you let the clutch out in neutral, if they take off there’s a clutch issue. Next try holding the tires back by hand while letting the clutch out in neutral, should be able to easily keep them from spinning.

This is what I feel is happening, the clutch isn’t disengaging consistently, but that’s solely based on the feel of the shift.

I’ll give that a try later today when I get back home. Wife convinced me to go to the gym instead of work in the car, took everything I had but I agreed haha.

 

[BULL]

This is what I feel is happening, the clutch isn’t disengaging consistently, but that’s solely based on the feel of the shift.

I’ll give that a try later today when I get back home. Wife convinced me to go to the gym instead of work in the car, took everything I had but I agreed haha.

Don't forget that tricep!

 

[AeroF16]

Don't forget that tricep!

Good idea! Gotta offset the bicep curls I did last night!

 

[AeroF16]

Got the car in the air, in neutral with engine running (and parking brake off haha) and the wheels do not spin at all when I release the clutch in neutral. They spin just fine by hand though, no brakes dragging or anything.

If I move the shifter to first gear without pressing in the clutch but just slightly pressing the shifter forward like I was going to shift into first, the wheels start moving, though it wasn’t in first gear. No grinding or anything though.

The clutch pedal is operating as it should, comes all the way back up and has almost not play in it. I wouldn’t say it’s soft but I also wouldn’t describe it as stiff, just right in the middle. Looked at the hydraulic line and reservoir and there are no signs of any leaks.

Just took it to get gas. Car ran at idle in my garage for about 10 minutes. In neutral, it shifts just fine into all gears to include reverse.

Driving out the neighborhood, loud clunk going into second. No grinding sound but stiff getting it into gear and loud clunk sound. All other gears are a little stiff but seemed fine. Going to drive it for a while around town and see if I can come up with anything.

On a side note, look at the flange on this exhaust manifold. It’s like that on both sides and on the unpainted surfaces on the block. It was an East coast car but nothing else on the car is rusted. Normal or are the manifolds leaking at the gasket?

 

[1971demon]

Got the car in the air, in neutral with engine running (and parking brake off haha) and the wheels do not spin at all when I release the clutch in neutral. They soon just fine by hand though, no brakes dragging or anything.

If I move the shift to the first gear gate without pressing in the clutch, I wheels would start moving, though it was in first gear. No grinding or anything though.

The clutch pedal is operating as it should, comes all the way back up and has almost not play in it. I wouldn’t say it’s soft but I also would describe it as stiff, just right in the middle. Looked at all the hydraulic line and reservoir and there are no signs of any leaks.

Just took it to get gas. Car ran at idle in my garage for about 10 minutes. In neutral, it shifts just fine into all gears to include reverse.

Driving out the neighborhood, loud clunk going into second. No grinding sound but stiff getting it into gear and loud clunk sound. All other gears a little stiff but seemed fine. Going to drive it for a while around town and see if I can come up with anything.

On a side note, look at the flange on this exhaust manifold. It’s like that on both sides and in the unpainted surfaces on the block. It was an East coast car but nothing else on the car is rusted. Normal or are the manifolds leaking at the gasket?

View attachment 63068

You put tons more diagnostic time in.to this than any dealer would....the trick is going to be to convince a dealer there is something wrong..if so..there just gonna replace it..if not..you may have a problem..but as you described..this would drive me nuts..would probably sell it..I'm anal bout shit like that.

 

[AeroF16]

You put tons more diagnostic time in.to this than any dealer would....the trick is going to be to convince a dealer there is something wrong..if so..there just gonna replace it..if not..you may have a problem..but as you described..this would drive me nuts..would probably sell it..I'm anal bout shit like that.

Nah, I still love the car. I also really enjoy working on it. Just driving me nuts a little troubleshooting. Whatever it is, I’ll find it and fix it eventually.

I just put about 15 miles on it driving around town. Halfway through, I stopped in a parking lot and did the bleed procedure again, this time with 300 pedal pumps haha.

The car is driving great and shifting great now. Seems like it’s a temp thing. What drives me nuts is others saying that theirs shift flawlessly everytime and always have, so I know it could be better.

 

[Hickster]

I could have picked it up myself by now.

 

[AeroF16]

So I’m the way home I got on the back roads and made a few WOT pulls through 5th. Silky smooth shifts the whole time.

Maybe I just need to quit driving the car like a pussy haha.

 

[16GoManGoHC2]

Got the car in the air, in neutral with engine running (and parking brake off haha) and the wheels do not spin at all when I release the clutch in neutral. They soon just fine by hand though, no brakes dragging or anything.

If I move the shift to the first gear gate without pressing in the clutch, I wheels would start moving, though it was in first gear. No grinding or anything though.

The clutch pedal is operating as it should, comes all the way back up and has almost not play in it. I wouldn’t say it’s soft but I also would describe it as stiff, just right in the middle. Looked at all the hydraulic line and reservoir and there are no signs of any leaks.

Just took it to get gas. Car ran at idle in my garage for about 10 minutes. In neutral, it shifts just fine into all gears to include reverse.

Driving out the neighborhood, loud clunk going into second. No grinding sound but stiff getting it into gear and loud clunk sound. All other gears a little stiff but seemed fine. Going to drive it for a while around town and see if I can come up with anything.

On a side note, look at the flange on this exhaust manifold. It’s like that on both sides and in the unpainted surfaces on the block. It was an East coast car but nothing else on the car is rusted. Normal or are the manifolds leaking at the gasket?

View attachment 63068

Normal rust on manifold, their 400 series stainless which will rust.