First gear - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

davo71 · 05-09-2004, 03:14

Hey all,

Whats the go with a falcon auto's first gear, it really sucks.
I've got an XG with 3.27LSD and the auto is in good repair, but first gear is S@#T.
Both in power mode and economy mode, the first gear doesn't pull enough off the line, is this a common cause or what.
Unfortunately I'm stuck with an auto cause my missus can't drive manual.

Anyone else have this problem, with the auto not the missus, and is there a cure.

Cheers.

not ford · 05-09-2004, 03:23

Give it some more power. Does the engine have any mods?

Ruger · 05-09-2004, 06:10

try to get a closer diff gear

maybe 3.7 or 3.45

jonbays · 05-09-2004, 20:13

Its a typical Falcon Auto trait. Even with a torque converter multipying the torque 2:1 a 2.39 ratio for first is pretty tall then couple that with big wheels and tryres and a 3.08 or 3.23 diff ratio and even a torquey engine like the Ford I6 will struggle to get out of the hole in a hurry.

So what to do?

Changing tyres to lower profile 45/50 series will help by lowering the gearing 5-8%.

Changing the diff to 3.7/3.9/4.1:1 will lower the gearing 12/16/20% and give you the neck snapping tyre squealing take off you want but be diabolical in the wet and be a bit of a pain cruising at highway speeds.

turboute · 05-09-2004, 22:13

I've got the same car/gearbos/diff ratio, however it pulls pretty hard down low. So im thinking you may actually have a problem with yours. It can still spin the wheels from standstill even though it is stock and on gas. and that is with the gas tank over the axle and a bit of weight in the back.

Dont know what would be causing the problem, maybe your gearbox may need a rebuild (1st gear clutches stuffed?)

jonbays · 05-10-2004, 03:20

Hey turboute did you know that the I6 gas motors actually put out more torque than the petrol motor.

In the AU anyway. LPG engine 362Nm @ 2750 rpm versus 357Nm @ 3000 rpm. Power dies away earlier though too 143kw @4500 rpm versus 157kw at 4900 rpm.

DansEdgli · 05-10-2004, 07:15

How would 3.9's go with the auto? Will the computer cope? Will the trans still change gears like normal or will they be all over the place because the revs will be higher for a given speed than normal?

turboute · 05-10-2004, 16:47

Mine is not a standard gas engine, mine is a cheap aftermarket conversion, so i have had a noticable loss in power and torque. however it still can spin the wheels in the dry.

3.9's or 4.11's will work fine with the auto the engine will run as normal. There are no speed sensors at the diff so the computer cant tell if the ratio has been changed.

Ghia5L · 05-10-2004, 18:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by turboute

3.9's or 4.11's will work fine with the auto the engine will run as normal. There are no speed sensors at the diff so the computer cant tell if the ratio has been changed.

Surely you can't swap diffs & the speedo will still remain accurate! When I read NZ's V8 manual conversion thread, he mentioned that the gearboxes could be changed without worrying about speedo error, because the diff was where the speed was gauged from.

Could someone verify/clarify this please? I'd *love* a 3.9 sitting under my EB's bum (but not a "3.9" in the engine bay!)

-Dave-

jonbays · 05-10-2004, 20:34

Any diff ratio change will work fine if you don't change the speedo sensor gear as the ECU and transmission can't tell anything has changed.

The speedo won't change either so it will be reading fast.

You will accellerate to a 100kmh miles quicker but you will only really be dong 85kmh.

If you change the speedo drive gear to correct the speedo reading then you have to worry if you have an EEC IV/V engine transmission unit. lower the diff by more than 8% and its custom work to foll the computers and speedo.