Terry Haines Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 If the trans is being pulled to remove the broken bolt head then it should be fully inspected for wear when the cases are open.So much work and cost etc can be saved by having our 'Keyed Tower' mod!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverBulletCSVT Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 If the trans is being pulled to remove the broken bolt head then it should be fully inspected for wear when the cases are open.So much work and cost etc can be saved by having our 'Keyed Tower' mod!! Anything preventative that can be done short of removing tower and sending for mod? i.e. DIY while tower still in car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Haines Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 Nope..Some owners change the bolt or roll pin.Neither will cure the fact that the design puts the bolt and pin(on later towers) into a shear mode and after a while it will go again.I could write reams on the shortfalls of 'the bolt' re design etc but that will not cure a bolt set up going again.A key is the only way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverBulletCSVT Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Nope..Some owners change the bolt or roll pin.Neither will cure the fact that the design puts the bolt and pin(on later towers) into a shear mode and after a while it will go again.I could write reams on the shortfalls of 'the bolt' re design etc but that will not cure a bolt set up going again.A key is the only way to go. Thanks that is what I suspected. Being my DD I wanted to avoid the downtime required with shipping removed tower for mod. But if bolt ever shears then both downtime and repair cost goes up significantly. I was also thinking if can't prevent bolt from shearing maybe just prevent secondary damage from bolt head falling into trans with a drilled bolt head and safety wired? Or just JB weld or tack weld a safety wired washer to bolt head so as not to weaken bolt. Not the ultimate solution but at least guarantees you won't blow trans or have to remove and split cases looking for dropped bolt head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Haines Posted March 25, 2009 Author Share Posted March 25, 2009 Weld is a waste of time.The lever assy is a PM/Sinter steel..this material is almost impossible to get a good weld on as it is porous and the oil stops any good weld,JB weld will not hold either..lockwire maybe but if the tower bolt breaks 'in gear' you still have to pull the trans as you will not lift out the tower in gear unless you damage the cage of the tower..which cannot be had a spare part from Ford..Trans has to be pulled and split to put gears back to neutral before tower can be lifted out without damage.To be honest,all these band aids are a bit futile and don't cure the issue and don't stop you being off the road or pulling the whole trans..OK so you have to get or send a tower to me...don't have to pull the trans for that!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedumb35 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 so i'm in 4th gear.. I have to remove the trans to get it out of gear then take the tower off.. isn't it easier to just replace the trans if I'm taking it out?.. fords are stupid. this should be a warranty fix. all because of a bolt / pin.. retarded design. my car is barely worth the cost of repair. I need this to work out cheap. so how bad is it if I break the damn thing out and wreck the cage? no more parts available.. junkyards. I think I can get a whole trans for $70 if I tear it out myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedumb35 Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 so i'm in 4th gear.. I have to remove the trans to get it out of gear then take the tower off.. isn't it easier to just replace the trans if I'm taking it out?.. fords are stupid. this should be a warranty fix. all because of a bolt / pin.. retarded design. my car is barely worth the cost of repair. I need this to work out cheap. so how bad is it if I break the damn thing out and wreck the cage? no more parts available.. junkyards. I think I can get a whole trans for $70 if I tear it out myself. still downtime the world is stupid. to buy a trans from a wrecker already pulled has such a huge variance,, $75 up to $1100.. plus shipping.. lol hardly. so pull it myself is really my only option. kinda a practice round.. plus I guess I need to pull an extra tower... to send to terry to get the keyed mod. the only question is will it be worthwhile to have the car operate without a modded tower for the time it takes to get it back.. waiting to move into my new house and garage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Haines Posted June 11, 2009 Author Share Posted June 11, 2009 ...some owners have replaced the bolt 2>4 times and it still breaks. Why gamble when a fix can be had, but that gamble is up to you..If it goes on another trans or unmodded tower then just pull the trans again...and again...and again!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aboythatskates Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 can you weld the bolt down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Haines Posted October 4, 2012 Author Share Posted October 4, 2012 ...not a good idea. 1)Welding the bolt head will not prevent the bolt from breaking inside the shaft and loss of gears 2)The lever material is PM/sintered which does not work well with weld. The only way to relieve the bolt of its shear loads is to use our 'Keyed Tower' mod in which the key,not the bolt, takes all the gear engagement loads and prevents the bolt from breaking with loss of gears/stuck in gear... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aboythatskates Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 that makes sence. im looking at one right now, but i would have to buy the focus cables too and i dont have a pool of money unfortunatly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Haines Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 To buy a used tower is a risk.We keep records by original customers name of those that we have 'keyed'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artzzr Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 hi at what kind of mileage does the bolt let go have seen many st24s here with well over 100, 000 miles and no mention on any of the forums here of the gearboxs going in that way, mine is also cable change and i do have that bolt in my tower Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spridget Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 hi at what kind of mileage does the bolt let go have seen many st24s here with well over 100, 000 miles and no mention on any of the forums here of the gearboxs going in that way, mine is also cable change and i do have that bolt in my tower There is no specific mileage for the failure. It all depends on how the car was driven and cared for. Americans are typically poor maintainers of their vehicles, and experience with 3 pedals is not as inherent to driving as it is across the pond. As Terry has pointed out, using ATF in the gearbox causes shift rods to bind, requiring more force to shift gears. Many shops and owners are ignorant to this and use the wrong fluid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Haines Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 and experience with 3 pedals is not as inherent to driving as it is across the pond...... Oh how true that statement is!!..A few years back I had the baby Jag in the dealer for some TSB work...when I went to collect it it took them 15 mins to find an 'older guy' who could drive a stick!!....Needless to say our new ride is also a stick ...with 6 'kogs'!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret II Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Hi Terry! I'm confused by the two comments below, which are from two different posts in this thread. I have two earlier model Tours (a '95 Contour SE & a "96 Mystique LS - both with MTX75). They both have rod shifters. Do I have to worry about "The Bolt". Oh, I hope not - have enought to worry about as it is! Best to know about it though, for sure, if so. Thank you so much for this info, and also for developing a fix! "The bolt is on the shfter tower assy(unbolt the tower from the top of trans) BUT you have a 96 rod shift,this only applies to cable shift MTX's 98>......." "Either way our 'Keyed Mod' is sound insurance to all that have any MTX75." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milo ledlow Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Who do i talk to about the tower key mod? Where do i send it to get fixed,thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Haines Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 Sorry for delay being on site.We are almost set up in our new location so I hope to be back in the shop soon...working on MTX75's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rippin6Gears Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Curious... Why is there no after the fix pictures of this keyed mod? All I see is pictures of the broken bolt.... Can someone post a comparison pictures of the fix? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Haines Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 Once the tower is modded for the key etc and rebuilt you can't see the keyways or the key.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milo ledlow Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Please let me know where to ship when your ready.i am driving around a ticking time bomb it feels after hearing about the bolt,thanks a bunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel833 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 (edited) Can someone help me with fixing the bolt problem on my SVT I was just driving down the road one day in first gear and then all the sudden I didn't have any other gear except for first. I couldn't even put it in neutral or shift or anything. Can somebody show me step-by-step with pictures how to fix this. Please and thank you Edited July 21, 2015 by Joel833 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel833 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 So what is the actual term for the bolt if I were to go to the dealer and and what part I need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel833 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 tower_torque.jpg ...this is 'The Bolt'.... Where is this located at?!?!??!? tower_rev_pin.jpg ...this is the reverse switch 'pinbolt'.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Haines Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 'The Bolt' is no longer listed by Ford... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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