possible clutch probs
 

a little over a year ago i had the tranny completely rebuilt with a dfx clutch installed. lately its been getting hard to shift. sometimes it goes into gear easy and other times it wont go in at all or very hard to get in gear. i changed the fluid and had the shop put in syncomesh. not much help. the only gear it seems not to want to go into is 1st when i am at a light. other gears are difficult. when it is cold it shift fine but as it heats up or i drive it hard its gets progressivly worse. and ive noticed when i cant get it into 1st at a light i pump the clutch a few times and it goes in. i can downshift it all the way to second with no probs its just upshifting that it goes in hard and shifting into 1st at a stop. oh and reverse is a bitch. sometimes going into 1st or reverse it sounds like the clutch is not even pushed in and it gives me a grind sound. any ideas.??:banghead: i have a 99 gt with a 5 speed t45

clutch master. or your slave is leaking. Check the fluid level in it.

how do i do that and where are they located?

The resorvoir is the brake resorvoir. so if you have brakes, you have fluid in the clutch master, and slave. There may be air in the lines. I'm not sure how to bleed the system on the 99+ but someone here should know.

ok i had no idea that the brake fluid res was also for the clutch. that may explain alot. you see a while back i had a retard fill up my brake fluid res with power steering fluid. needless to say i replaced all caliper, lines and the entire brake fluid res including the proportioning valve (i think thats what it is called). maybe the power steering fluid made its way down to the slave cylinder and messed it up? is that a possibility?

Yes that is most likely what happened. The tranny has to come out to fix it. It won't be cheap, if you can't do it yourself. you will have to replace the clutch master and the slave.

oh no. good thing i only drive the car to work and back. this will ahve to wait till i get back from vacation. maybe i will try bleeding it for now. anyone know how to bleed the slave cylinder?

I had a 97 V6 5spd that did not like to go into first sometimes as well. It had a cable clutch that i replaced awhile after I bought it. I had the same problem before and after the clutch job. IMO I would say the syncros might be worn, especially if it clunks into gear. Im just a backyard mechanic though.

It's a '99,so it should have a clutch cable. ;)
My '03 GT had the exact same issue after installing the Centerforce d/f clutch.I know it's not the same,but still the same company.
Had the trans rebuilt twice(thank God for warranty),and nothing changed,so everything was checked out from the cable,quadrant (aftermarket),and adjustment at the firewall with my firewall adjuster.All was good,so it was time to inspect the clutch,sure enough it was the clutch.It was brand spankin new.Gave it proper break in,and i never even got to beat on it as the issue you described almost seem to start off the hope,and just got worse,and worse to the point i just let my stang sit until it was time to bring her back to figure the issue out.
So after installing a new stock clutch,i have not had an issue since.So now i have this new Centerforce clutch sitting in the basement,and out of the money i paid for it.Some of the forks don't line up to each other perfectly,but i would think not enough to cause an issue,and the disc seem to have a tad more wear on one side,and looked like it was beginning to slip by how some of the wear was.Everyhting was installed properly,was there every step of the way,especially when it comes to me GT.
I contacted Centerforce,and after a few emails,they left me hang to dry instead of helping out,i didn't execpt much,but i did expect maybe a little further investigation on there part about my clutch issue.And from my search on various modular specific websites,i wasn't the only one having this issue with my Centerforce!:bleh:
So i would check into the clutch.
But one thing,do you have an aftermarket quadrant,and firewall adjuster?If not,give those parts a try first,and while your at it,get a brand new stock Ford clutch cable,reason i say Fords clutch cable,because you will not find a better cable to last,as most will stretch,or fail farely quickly!
If thos parts don't solve the issue,then it's all clutch problems.

i was thinking the same thing. a friend of mine had the same centerforce clutch i have and he had the same prob before he sold his car. i was wondering how to bleed the system since i did not have a hydralic clutch, i have a clutch cable. im gonna try replacing the cable and whatnot and then if that dont work then out comes the clutch and in goes a much better one. after reading on the web i have heard alot of horror stories about centerforce clutches.