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Full Version: Need Help Asap W.bolt!
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my car currently sits in a shop withv the tranny out and I had the common shift tower bolt problem, but they cannot find the bolt inside the transmission! They say they fished for it, had it upside down/on the side, shook it, everything, and it wont even make any noises and that "theres no bolt in here"

Where can this be? Im going there in about 15 minutes and need some insight! the car drove there and felt fine but had a really annoying sound like the bolt was stuck in the gears or hitting them anyways, and got louder the faster i went, and got quiet as i braked..and it was only from going from 1st into 2nd and up, it didnt really happen in first gear..my entire bolt fell out also not just the head getting sheared off, so it has to be in there somewhere correct?? where can it be hidning!!
fatphocus,Mar 4 2009, 10:05 AM Wrote:my car currently sits in a shop withv the tranny out and I had the common shift tower bolt problem, but they cannot find the bolt inside the transmission! They say they fished for it, had it upside down/on the side, shook it, everything, and it wont even make any noises and that "theres no bolt in here"

Where can this be? Im going there in about 15 minutes and need some insight! the car drove there and felt fine but had a really annoying sound like the bolt was stuck in the gears or hitting them anyways, and got louder the faster i went, and got quiet as i braked..and it was only from going from 1st into 2nd and up, it didnt really happen in first gear..my entire bolt fell out also not just the head getting sheared off, so it has to be in there somewhere correct?? where can it be hidning!!
[right][snapback]282099[/snapback][/right]


onlything i can think of is get a really bright flashlight in there and look around get your hands in there and try to find it by feel even...you could always try your magnet thing agian...dont give up sir you'll figure it out!!!!
I don't even understand what bolt could fall off? Its at a shop so I'd assume they would be qualified to find a bolt. I'd assume they would crack it open to take a look at your gears to makes sure they were fine too.
hardk0re,Mar 4 2009, 11:37 AM Wrote:I don't even understand what bolt could fall off? [right][snapback]282107[/snapback][/right]

Same here, its been a while since I been underneath a focus, but I cant figure out what bolt you are talking about.
If the tech dropped the bolt in there make sure they get it out no matter what it takes. But I agree with the other members, what bolt could fall into a tranny? If they insist that it is going to be ok, make sure that they document what happened on the work order so when the bolt flies up and jams the gears and blows up your tranny the shop is on the hook for the replacement.
my shifttower bolt! When my tranny was rebuilt about 3000km ago (previous owner at the time, sheard the bolt head off) they never locktited the new bolt or whatever and it walked its way out and fell in, they didnt have a certified transmission mechanic on hand so $175 later and its at a total different shop than my car right now, ill update further when i get to that point
If the bolt came out when the first shop did the work... you should NOT be paying for it at all. Not one cent! Their lack of a "certified transmission mechanic" is not YOUR problem.

Hopefulyl you get it fixed, and ANY expenses relating to getting the transmission right should be submitted to the first shop as they f***ed up the job to begin with.
yeah, Im going to get in touch with the last owner and the shop who did the work because this has really pssed me off, ill let you guys know what happens
thats sucks..let us no what happeneds :ph34r:
I had the same issue but my bolt head sheared off the shifting tower(if thats what is called) I had 3 types of magnetic fingers trying to find that little bastard no luck I gave up after an hour that was 3 months ago I did not worry to much since I had a spare MTX and clutch and flywheel so if it did grenade good luck! It did show itself twice under cold weather not a very pleasent sound
WELL just got off the phone with the shop, they have the tranny ripped apart and said my gears are all perfect and everything is brand new inside, synchros and forks and everything (duh, was rebuilt fully 3k ago lol) and they were puzzled thinking why a brand new tranny is broken. Anyways, the got half the bolt out so far and were getting the other peices out as I was talking...basically, the bolt walked its way out and fell in, missed my gears (thank god) and got wedged under the counter bearing after a semi-hard corner I took (hey, it was the first time i had the car in 4 months and I wanted to play a bit) and it pretty muched ripped the countershaft bearing apart, so they have a new one coming tomorrow and I *SHOULD* get the car back tomorrow.

If you are wondering about the turn/how it got stuck since i had the problem- I had my shift tower custom modded so it will never happen again, but we couldnt find the bolt so we took a chance that it would be okay as the oil would hold it down and sure enough once i took that corner it got stuck and started grinding away, Ill update tomorrow again.