shaggist
CEG'er
Does the Focus style shift tower on the Contour tranny have the same shift tower bolt shearing problems as the Contour style tower? Inquiring minds want to know.
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Focus vs Contour shift tower
- Thread starter shaggist
- Start date
as I recall the focus shift tower doesn't use the bolt but there are welds that can break and lead to the same no gear situation.
shaggist
CEG'er
Thanks. Other sources confirm that you are 100% correct. I appreciate the info.
which is more likely to occur though? The bolt breaking or the welds breaking?
SVT Loki
Veteran CEG'er
A better Question is which would you rather have repaired...
I'd rather change the bolt then have to re-weld the shift tower
EuroTour
Hard-core CEG'er
I'd rather not have a bolt head DROP into my trans (lots of spinny things) than have to reweld. Or you can you just get one of the pinned Focus towers from you know who. :shrug:
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I agree. if a weld breaks all you have to do is get the tower out of the mtx and then replace or repair. with the bolt you are going to have to fish it out, and worse case remove and open teh mtx up to get it out.
KyleQ
Hard-core CEG'er
I've been involved in 5 bolt removals and some of them took 5 seconds.... some of them took hours and the last one I found we were in the process of taking the transmission apart... I'm sending my tower in to get "fixed" so I can bang (gears) with confidence 
It would be nice to get some pics up in the stickies of the standard contour tower and the problematic bolt as well as the focus tower and the welds in question.
Seems this topic has been quiet lately, but those who have been around more than a year know it comes up often enough.
Thoughts?
Seems this topic has been quiet lately, but those who have been around more than a year know it comes up often enough.
Thoughts?
EuroTour
Hard-core CEG'er
I've been involved in 5 bolt removals and some of them took 5 seconds.... some of them took hours and the last one I found we were in the process of taking the transmission apart... I'm sending my tower in to get "fixed" so I can bang (gears) with confidence
I wasn't able to get my bolt out until I was able to take my tranny, hold it in my hands, and shake the
out of it! 
Oh well. I found a TH, fully built, and just replaced it with that.KyleQ
Hard-core CEG'er
I wasn't able to get my bolt out until I was able to take my tranny, hold it in my hands, and shake the
I almost did that with my car, but finally found the bolt. I am going to be sending my tower to TH as soon as I get a core to send him... I kinda daily drive may car to work and need the shift tower :laugh:
I've been involved in 5 bolt removals and some of them took 5 seconds.... some of them took hours and the last one I found we were in the process of taking the transmission apart... I'm sending my tower in to get "fixed" so I can bang (gears) with confidence
little knew to the problems with the trannys. By getting it "fixed" do you mean just getting the bolt welded on?
no. and welding the bolt isn't going to stop it from breaking. the tower can be keyed so that the bolt doesn't take all or as much stress on its own. this will help prevent the bolt breaking and the loss of gears.
KyleQ
Hard-core CEG'er
I've welded the bolt on - it worked for awhile. I pretty sure the bolt snapped but the welded head kept it from falling out until the leverage of the sheared bolt finally broke the welds off...
If I do weld it again for someone else I'm going to crank up the heat and burn that SOB in deep. If it breaks, it is as easy as grinding the welds and removing the bolt and re-welding.
If I do weld it again for someone else I'm going to crank up the heat and burn that SOB in deep. If it breaks, it is as easy as grinding the welds and removing the bolt and re-welding.