I'm doing my second rod shifter transaxle swap and having a terrible time getting the rod mechanism seperated from the output shaft at the rr of the trans. Tons of rust on the U joint and it's totally frozen. Might explain the hard shifting.

Eventually, I get p*ssed off and get out the hacksaw. I figure that the U joint is the easiest thing to cut due to access issues and it won't be too hard to replace the whole assembly. So I cut it in half, get the trans out and call the local Ford dealer. Pretty surprised to hear that it's now an obsolete part! I thought that manufacturers were req'd to keep parts on hand for at least 10 yrs.

Car is barely 10 yrs. old and there are almost zero MTX cars in the wreckers locally. Not only that but the ones I've seen are even more rusty than this one. When I did the 95 3 yrs. ago it was in better shape than this "lower mileage" car and never had this issue.

Anyone else with this problem can contact me for the fix shortly. I have a racing type U joint on order and it's got to improve the shifting quality of a frozen U joint! Of course, there will be some custom machining req'd to make it adapt.

I've seen too many great looking Contours in the wrecking yard due to s**t like this. Blown head gasket-scrap it. Trans rebuild-scrap it. Clutch req'd-scrap it. And on and on...

Thanks for the great parts support, Ford!

Redcoat Raceworks. Performance parts and custom fabricating for Contours, Mystiques and Cougars. Specializing in chassis and suspension parts. Custom end links, control arms, strut tower bars, engine torque braces, etc.