Transaxle Fix?
- Thread starter PHXGT
- Start date
- Status
Chris pretty much identified what went on, but just to summarize:
- Problem identified and recreated, fix resolved
- Parts being tooled right now
- When parts are finished, communication will come from Ford on obtaining said parts, in the latter half of the fall
THamonGT
GT
Ford Dealer Relations
I attended the tech meeting last night and was very impressed as Jamail stood and answered any and all questions. Toward the end of the meeting I as a Small Ford Dealer felt the need to make the following statement " There are 4000 plus Ford dealers in the country and only a small part of the volume dealers were given the opportunity to sell the GTs to the buying public". "With 4038 GTs produced many dealers know nothing about our GTs." Saying that we all must find experienced MASTER TECHS in dealerships that know these cars and want to work on them. Those that tell you I don't want to work on them are being straight forward and doing you a service. This forum group will help you find that DEALER for great service. Ford Motor Co will work with these dealers to keep our GTs in great shape for many happy years of ownership. We as dealers are partners with Ford and work with them every day on a one to one basiswith direct communications to hotlines. Don't let this service relationship eat you up! FIND THAT RIGHT DEALER, HE'S OUT THERE! Again Jamail is a great asset to Ford and he is greatly appreciated here at this great gathering in Newport Beach.:thumbsup Wish all of you could be here, it's truly a great experience.:thumbsup Tomy Hamon (THamonGT)
I attended the tech meeting last night and was very impressed as Jamail stood and answered any and all questions. Toward the end of the meeting I as a Small Ford Dealer felt the need to make the following statement " There are 4000 plus Ford dealers in the country and only a small part of the volume dealers were given the opportunity to sell the GTs to the buying public". "With 4038 GTs produced many dealers know nothing about our GTs." Saying that we all must find experienced MASTER TECHS in dealerships that know these cars and want to work on them. Those that tell you I don't want to work on them are being straight forward and doing you a service. This forum group will help you find that DEALER for great service. Ford Motor Co will work with these dealers to keep our GTs in great shape for many happy years of ownership. We as dealers are partners with Ford and work with them every day on a one to one basiswith direct communications to hotlines. Don't let this service relationship eat you up! FIND THAT RIGHT DEALER, HE'S OUT THERE! Again Jamail is a great asset to Ford and he is greatly appreciated here at this great gathering in Newport Beach.:thumbsup Wish all of you could be here, it's truly a great experience.:thumbsup Tomy Hamon (THamonGT)
Derry
GT Owner
I realize that not being there I can have missed alot of the info given but I am a bit confused. Is it not true that bolts in various cars with hard and soft washers, both 05's and 06's failed, as well as a couple replacement service kits with hardened washers? As a fastener supplier to the OE's the odds of a small group making it into 2 different production years and a late service kit seems like a stretch. I am sure I am missing something??
Derry
Derry
Gulf GT
GT Owner
Empty Pockets
ex-GT Owner
As Gulf' said, "good question" ...but remember, there have been no >ACCUFAB< replacement bolts that have failed to date, so, if Ford's kit is as good or BETTER, there should be no pblm (insert "crossed fingers" icon here :biggrin ). You can betchur boots Ford has tested this replacement kit from here to eternity and back again. I think we can rest assured there is NO WAY Ford wants to deal with, "1/2 Shaft Bolts: The Sequel"!:ack
closeshave
GT Owner
Great news, I wish I could have been there; I will await fords answer to the problem and carry out the work as needed. In the meantime is there anything that should or can be done to keep an eye on things? In other words can we pre-empt a problem? Can I or should I be checking the bolts before and after every drive?
Gimbal
GT Owner
Here is what I am getting out of the latest news.
1) Replace with Accufab kit now.
2) Wait for the official written news/fix from Ford around late Fall.
3) Decide then to either keep Accufab or replace with Ford's new fix.
The best news is the fix is easy and cheap, no new hubs or axles needed.
I am assuming Ford has determined and proven that the cause is only from defective bolts. A small batch of bad bolts along with some good ones could create the mix of failures being seen. As DBK said earlier failures may never happen on some cars with original bolts.
1) Replace with Accufab kit now.
2) Wait for the official written news/fix from Ford around late Fall.
3) Decide then to either keep Accufab or replace with Ford's new fix.
The best news is the fix is easy and cheap, no new hubs or axles needed.
I am assuming Ford has determined and proven that the cause is only from defective bolts. A small batch of bad bolts along with some good ones could create the mix of failures being seen. As DBK said earlier failures may never happen on some cars with original bolts.
Hammer
GT Owner
First, I agree with most of the rest of us that the GT is hands down one of the greatest cars ever built, that it has a nearly bullet-proof engine, that it's an incredible blast to drive, and that it's pretty darned dependable, compared to other true exotics. Ford and the team have a right to be proud of what they created. On the other hand, Derry has posed a serious question, which I don't think was answered last night -- how could a batch of bad bolts have been mixed in with 05's, 06's, and some replacement kits? And in response to E. P. -- in a way, this already is "1/2 Shaft Bolts: The Sequel", since several people have had breaks after the supposed fix with the hardened washers came out last year. Jamal said they had tested the spline tolerances and that didn't seem to be the problem, and that they had recreated breaks with some bolts and prevented them with the newer bolts coming out, so I hope he is right. But I do have a wait-and-see attitude. I hope we don't see any more breaks after this fall, but it will probably take until next year to find out. If worse come to worst, we change out the darned bolts every year or so. Meanwhile, it shouldn't keep us from driving and enjoying the beautiful beasts!
BlackICE
GT Owner
I have read a number of post that the Accufab bolts have never failed. They are probably the best solution today, but there is not enough of them installed with mileage on them to give any meaning to "none of them have failed." The sample size is so small they no one can really say that they will not fail sometime in the future. But, I am glad that Accufab has made these availible to give us another choice.
FlorIdaho Chris
Yeah, I've got one.
Bolts were sourced simultaneously from two suppliers. One supplier did not properly treat the bolts in the manufacturing process. Bolts were installed at random once received by Ford. Bad bolts were supplied until March '06.
I am not perplexed nor surprised that with such a small run of cars and such a small number of bolts manufactured that this could have happened.
Maybe you just had to be there...not a conspiracy, just an explanation.
Time to move on IMHO. Chill until the fall and enjoy your ride.
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tpraceman
THEE GT OWNER
I agree with you Derry and your credentials make you more of an authority than most people in the world. As I also make socket head cap screws and hardened washers in one of my factories. Glad I had GT Guys toss in the Accufab/ARP washer and bolts. Mine were good, heat treated and black phosphated so I saved them.
But you are correct and FLA CHRIS is also. Cant change history, but if they had tracability markings they could have identified which serial numbers had which vendors bolts. Water over the dam...........:bored
Only thing left to do is come up with a fixed amount so we can get reimbursed for the labor and bolt kits. (Maybe some need to add a tow bill).
Easy to sum up $$$ just ask the GT guys whats the cost to install a bolt kit. nobody's faster than they are and heck Ford just saved a ton of research time & money.
And yes we do have the best looking and definetion of a automobile ever built in the world. :thumbsup
RADGT
GT Owner
Did Ford make any announcements at the rally regarding the transaxle issue?
Stu
Stupid me I posted my question on the thread that had the answer. Next time I'll actually read before posting.
Stu
Stupid me I posted my question on the thread that had the answer. Next time I'll actually read before posting.
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Roger Vincent
GT Owner
w. mitty
GT Owner
- Sep 1, 2005
- 704
I was delaying the following post until I had time to get photos and post in the main half shaft thread, but thought it might be informative here (if not somewhat premature) Please excuse me if not appropraite to this thread.
I had the GT Guys do the Accufab kit for me last week. My car is my2006, #1602, built after March of 06. As those present will attest, BOTH of the driver side bolts sheared off with virtually no torque pressure when Rich attempted to remove them (I have the pieces for photos when I get the time).
Both of the GT Guys opined that the failure was literally a few minutes/miles away when the repair was made. The car has about 3000 miles. Washers were updated. Surprisingly, no loctite was found on the factory bolts. Good thing, since the studs broke off inside the assembly and an easy-out was required.
Thus is would appear that even post -March '06 vehicle production dates are questionable. I do not argue that the March date is inaccurate; my point is that apparantly my very late production 06 GT had a transaxle with pre-March bolts in it, or, that the particular bolts in my car were defective.
Bottom line, I feel better now that the accufab fix is in.
Gulf GT
GT Owner
The "failed" list from another thread shows a couple cars produced after that that date:
05 #0498 ~4,397
05 #0991
05 #1172 ~4,000
05 #1243
05 #1245 ~3,800
05 #1380
05 #1516
05 #1526 -1,675
05 #1575 ~1,500
05 #1613 -1,920 ~5,300
05 #1641 ~900
05 #1830 -6,103
05 #1854 ~4,000
06 #0133
06 #0765
06 #0812 -15,387
06 #1023
06 #1120 ~3,000
06 #1166
06 #1860 ~1,597
06 #1861
I guess the "bad bolts" were still used after March of 2006, and Ford at that time had no idea that they were "bad bolts". So Ford just happen to not get any more "bad bolts" after March of 2006 by accident? I would call that a "lucky break"?
05 #0498 ~4,397
05 #0991
05 #1172 ~4,000
05 #1243
05 #1245 ~3,800
05 #1380
05 #1516
05 #1526 -1,675
05 #1575 ~1,500
05 #1613 -1,920 ~5,300
05 #1641 ~900
05 #1830 -6,103
05 #1854 ~4,000
06 #0133
06 #0765
06 #0812 -15,387
06 #1023
06 #1120 ~3,000
06 #1166
06 #1860 ~1,597
06 #1861
I guess the "bad bolts" were still used after March of 2006, and Ford at that time had no idea that they were "bad bolts". So Ford just happen to not get any more "bad bolts" after March of 2006 by accident? I would call that a "lucky break"?
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SteveA
GT Owner/B.O.D
I have notice before there doesn't seem to be any very early cars with a failer, Hmmm. The GT guys replaced mine this weekend (05' #448) and the old originals were ok. However they did remove more than one set that was very close to failing. My thought was to wait for the Ford fix but after watching how well they treated these cars it was an easy decision to make having them install the Accufab kit.
On another note, everything you have heard and read about Rich and Dennis (The GT Guys) is wrong. They are more professional and talented at working on these cars than advertised! Thanks again for all you did to my car! :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup
On another note, everything you have heard and read about Rich and Dennis (The GT Guys) is wrong. They are more professional and talented at working on these cars than advertised! Thanks again for all you did to my car! :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup
B O N Y
MODERATOR & FGT OWNER
Here here for The GT GUYS!
HERE HERE FOR GENTS LIKE SHADOWMAN, STEVE A AND OTHERS THAT HAVE OFFERED SAFE HAVEN FOR THE GT GUYS TO DO THEIR MAGIC!
According to a little birdie, washers have nothing to do with the failure, just bolts.
Doesn't matter, silver or black washers.
HERE HERE FOR GENTS LIKE SHADOWMAN, STEVE A AND OTHERS THAT HAVE OFFERED SAFE HAVEN FOR THE GT GUYS TO DO THEIR MAGIC!
According to a little birdie, washers have nothing to do with the failure, just bolts.
Doesn't matter, silver or black washers.
tpraceman
THEE GT OWNER
Anyone at the Rally meeting ask if Ford would reimburse us the costs for fixing them on our own?
On several other cars Ford has done this for me in the past. Take the few hundred bucks and donate it to this site or buy a bottle of Bony's wine.:thumbsup
On several other cars Ford has done this for me in the past. Take the few hundred bucks and donate it to this site or buy a bottle of Bony's wine.:thumbsup
Derry
GT Owner
There is no real choice but to accept and move on but I will stand by the statement that it is not logical. If the bad goup is that small, the odds of them being so spread out are statistically impossible. Also the odds of getting 2 bad bolts in the same flange in the same car are pretty high. If the group of bad bolts were large we would have more failures. Without Ford examining the failed cars in detail it is tough to say what all the contributing factors were. I am not saying this to be a pita, we'll see what the future brings.
Derry
Derry
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