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got a lil too happy and now i got nothing

M

mrfatride

CEG'er
Joined
May 18, 2007
Messages
133
Location
South Rockwood, MI
was out playing today with the svt and when i went to downshift into 3rd i some how missed the gear and now i cant grab any gear.....gear shifter moves around freely but it feels like its disconnected from the tranny...what am i looking at? easy just re attach the linkage back to the tranny or possibly something worse? this ever happen to anyone else?
 
Too options...

either your shift cable slipped off... first pop the boot cover and make sure both cables are attacthed to the shifter, then check to make sure the cables are still connected to the shift tower on the tranny.

If both of those check out, then your looking at option 2...

This means your shift tower bolt seared off in the transmission which can sometimes be a fairly easy fix, or other times it can be a PITA and require removal of the transmission.

Is your car stuck in neutral, or in 2nd/3rd gear? If your shift tower bolt did sear off, and your car is stuck in neutral, then you can pull the shift tower with the tranny in the car. Then you have to find the seared off bolt and pluck it from the inside of the transmission! If your car is stuck in gear, then it is alot harder, and sometimes impossible to pull the shift tower with the transmission still in the car.

Let us know what you figure out, and I am local, so shoot me a PM if you need some help.


Good luck!

Jeff
 
i know when i pulled the shifter boot off that the linkage was still connected to the gear shifter itself... i can see the linkages moving down in the engine bay as well... the car is stuck in neutral. im gonna jack the car up today to make sure the linkage didnt pop off the tower... how hard is it to remove the shift tower if it is the bolt?
 
4 to 6 bolts - very easy. Probably going to have to take off the air tube to get at it. Like he said, if it is in N, it will take all of 5 min to remove your first time.
 
Umm the driver trans. mount will have to be removed to get the shift tower out. It's 3 short and 3 long bolts to get the tower out. Good luck finding it if it actually sheared. Had to pull Eurotour's trans to get it out. Well we just replaced with a built trans while it was out.
 
Wont the bolt most likely make it's way to the magnet and stay there? Either way - I wouldn't trust it... You may be hard pressed to find it - todras is correct, expect to pull the transmission, feel lucky if you don't.
 
well that just went from a high point to a low one lol.... well i found the linkage and they *appear* to be still connected but im gonna take pictures cause there is a lil orange looking clip that does not appear to be all the way in.....also where the hell is the shift tower? is it that lil box thats mounted on top of the tranny thats got a harness that plugs into it? pictures would help!! thanks
 
trannylinkage.jpg


here is the two clips i was talking about.... any insight?
 
Shift cables look intact to me, but the picture doesn't show all the way on the left side. You would know without a doubt if a shift cable fell off the tower. Sad to say, but your looking at a sheared off shift tower bolt. Because your car is stuck in neutral, getting the shift tower out isn't going to be the problem. The real problem will be finding the parts of the bolt which often requires removal of the transmission.
 
well if i gotta pull the tranny out is it possible to take the tranny out seperate of the engine? would most likely be a good idea to replace the clutch eh?
 
mrfatride said:
well if i gotta pull the tranny out is it possible to take the tranny out seperate of the engine? would most likely be a good idea to replace the clutch eh?
Click to expand...

I have done it both ways, pulling just the tranny, and pulling the engine w/ tranny. I personally prefer to just pull the whole engine w/ tranny. And yes, it would be a very very good time to replace the clutch if it is the original. I would also get your transmission rebuilt while it is out, because that is only a matter of time as well. Terry Haines can install the focus shift tower so that the bolt will never shear off again. I think he can also do some "key mod" to your stock shift tower to keep it from happening again. It wouldn't be smart to put that trans back in with the stock diff either. A number of people have had the diff grenade in the transmission and blow up the tranmission case when not even beating on their low mileage SVT's.


As for a clutch, if you don't plan on building a 300hp turbo or supercharged 3L contour, then I would recommend you stick with the OEM SVT clutch. I have had almost every stage Spec clutch and of course a few stock SVT clutches, and the stock clutch is just fine for practically any N/A built 2.5 or even 3L.

As for a limited slip differential, I had the torsen and loved it, but now I have the qualife and love it even more. It really grabs in the corners better than my torsen.


Those are just my recommondations from experience. Take them for what they are worth. ;)


Do it right, do it once.
 
First get the shift tower out so you can see down inside. Get some magnets to see what you can pull out. Some ppl have been lucky. I do have a spare shift tower as stated that can be sent to Terry to have keyed. If you can't find it it would be a good idea to have the internals inspected. I know Chang said he had a slight grind sometimes in 3rd like most SVT's get. Need to make sure you get a double blocker instead of the revised crap Focus one. An ATB diff is a must of the trans is out too. I also know Eurotour has his spare trans as well that can be sent out for a refresh. It can be taken of to Terry's so that way you have a trans ready to go when yours is out. I would replace the clutch while out since the car has over 50k on it.
 
well here is the thing....it would be nice to get this in and out over the weekend.... yes it grinds into third sometimes (it ground 3rd when it broke) but this car is going to be parked for the winter time and the motor and trans will be out of it all winter so that i can do a 3L swap and build the tranny so this **** doesnt happen again.... i heard about puting a grade 8 bolt in it for now and just take it easy on her.... not gonna lie im a n00b at this FWD crap and i will def keep your advice in mind when im working on it this winter....be real nice cause i will have a heated garage with a hoist to work with!!! still having a hard time locating the shift tower though! thanks again everyone!!!
 
lol ok i guess i was lookin for like a tower of some sort lol....what is the lil box that sits on top of the tranny right next to the motor mount that has a harness with 3 wires going into it?
 
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