Shift tower question?

[kristiyano]

I read way back that Contours have week shift tower bolts and eventually snap. Apparently, there are 2 shift towers, one plastic, and the other one metal. Do they both share the same internals and is one more prone to the snapping bolt issue.

I have 148k miles on my car and want to do this preventative maintenance... Also, does anyone have the part number for a stock Contour shift tower?

Any input would greatly be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[BrApple]

you are getting the tower "shift towers" confused.


there is one in the car that the shifter mounts into. that can be metal or plastic.

then other is the one that inserts into the mtx, which is the one you are talking about. Both can fail. the difference is the early tower has a bolt which the head shears off of and drops into the transmission. the other has a weld that fails. both failures cause loss of gears.

first you need to identify what tower you have. the early tower is the same looking metal as the mtx case and is completely enclosed. the later tower is the "focus" style tower. it has a removable plastic cover. you can switch to this later tower. otherwise look up HMS and Terry Hanies over on FCO and have you shift tower keyed.