Odd night at the drags.

[brianj]

So, i finally got to run my car at New England Dragway, post weiand install. Thd night started kind of oddly- I was waiting in the pits, when someone pulled up nest to me, in an '88 Tbird turbo coupe. Mildly modified, still a 2.3, running 13.9 in the quarter. A few minutes later, his buddy pulled in, in a '84 SVO. A little rough, only running in the 15's, but a good solid car. About an hour later, someone pulled in next to us, in an '86 SVO. None of us knew him, just complete coincidence. So, we had my '83, plus 2 SVO's and a turbo coupe. And i had no camera. Damn.

Further oddness, more on a technical point. My car ran ok, considering i have done 0 tuning, it is running too retarded, and pig rich. I got a best of 13.1 at 101, with a horrible 2.2 60' time. However, and this is the odd part, i am running out of gear about 300 feet from the stripe, and actually having to shift into overdrive. 5th gear, on a quarter mile strip, with 3.73 gears. ??? Could i have some kind of oddball t5? I actually have no idea what it is, my car was originally an srod car.

[Walking-Tall]

You ran out of gear? What was it revving then in fourth gear? Every T5 I've ever heard anything about and all specs I have seen show they have a 1:1 fourth gear. Assuming 28" tall rear tires, 100 miles per hour should only put the engine at about 4500rpm in fourth. Third gear at 100 miles per hour should rev about 6000rpm. You should probably be able to be crossing the stripe still in 3rd gear. Clutch slippage? Tach not accurate, maybe?...

[brianj]

Tach, no idea. I shift by sound and feel, mostly. It shows 5k or so, but i don't believe the factory guages. You can pretty easily tell when it is no longer pulling. Clutch is a distinct possibility, but it shows none of the other telltale signs of the clutch being glazed. An accurate tach should probably on the list of things to do. The car has always done this, actually. I had a debate with someone about tis a few months ago. Pre supercharger, the car would be pretty much topped out in 4th crossing the stripe, and he was topped out in 3rd. With the blower, it is happening about 2 to 300 feet sooner.

[Broncojunkie]

Is there a tag on that t5? If so, you can look it up to see what it is.

[brianj]

Yeah, trans research is in order. And now I'm questioning valve float. I think a tach is in order--

[Walking-Tall]

Maybe you was spinnin' the wheels at the big end

[mmb617]

I'll bet your clutch is slipping. No way you could be out of gear. Every T5 I know of is 1:1 in fourth gear, I'm sure yours is too. I also have 3:73 gears and cross the line at 5500 rpm in 4th gear @ 118 mph.

When a clutch first starts slipping it shows up in exactly that situation. Been there done that.

[brianj]

Wouldn't surprise me, really. It's only a couple of thousand miles old, but it's a 10" parts store generic clutch.

[dynodon64]

Your not reving it high enough, and the stock tac should be just fine, believe it.

[v8stang289]

Are you positive it has 3.73 gears? Your RPM suggest it has something like 4.56 gears, unless the clutch is slipping as stated above.

[stangman86gt]

Are you positive it has 3.73 gears? Your RPM suggest it has something like 4.56 gears, unless the clutch is slipping as stated above.

this is exactly what i was going to say.

[brianj]

3.73's, installed by myself, so I'm quite sure. I'm pretty sure it is slipping the clutch at the top of 4th gear, but i won't know until I pull it out this winter.

[83gt351w]

I see a 10.5" King Cobra in your future.

And all T5's in 4th are 1.1.

[brianj]

That's the plan. Then i can start really breaking stuff! Lol However, i still want to figure out what transmission I have. While I am aware that all T5's have 1:1 4th, I am still wondering about the lower gears. Running through the lower gears too quickly, if it was a 2.3 trans, and then shifting to a 1:1 4th would do the same thing. Also, even with the speedo gear installed that should correct for 3.73 gears, my speedometer is reading 20mph fast at 55, so i need to correct that anyhow. Honestly, i won't know until i rip this back out to do the clutch upgrade. I'll find out soon enough.

[85GT-79FJ40]

I bet it's the clutch too. My Capri had a generic 10" parts store clutch in it and it would slip if I downshifted from 5th to 4th and stood on it at speed. With a tired and essentially stock non-roller 302. If I drove it "normal" it was totally fine. I could do burnouts, chirp second, accelerate to 100 no problem. But drop a gear and floor it, no bueno.