Availability ofRicardo transaxles


Cobra63

GT Owner
Dec 30, 2007
11
Edina, MN
Take good care of your transaxle. There are less than 50 new units available from Ford and no replacement parts to fix them from Ricardo or, to my knowledge, anyone else in the world. My 2nd gear was giving me problems for the last year, starting at about 55,000 miles plus. I looked around for replacement parts, reconditioned and used transaxles since last July, and just ended up buying a new transaxle at 65,000 miles. We could get small amounts of the gear and slider made, but the special fiber for making a 2nd gear synchro was unavailable in small quantities. Supposedly, the synchros were "off the shelf from suppliers in Europe and Japan", but nobody could identify the part numbers or manufacturers. Perhaps, they may be Lamborghini/Audi, but there are over half a dozen part numbers for 2nd gear Lamborghini synchros (Murciellago/Gallardo) alone. I was told by RPM Transmissions that there hasn't been any replacement parts for the Ricardo available for the last 2 years. Stillen and Ricardo didn't even answer my inquiries. I even tried reaching the man who was in charge of assembling them for Ricardo originally, who had been repairing them, but his company was dissolved last summer, and I heard he was deceased. At the time, the only reconditioned RPM unit that was being offered was on Craig's List in London, and I think that was a scam. Good luck if you have problems in the future.
 

BlackICE

GT Owner
Nov 2, 2005
1,416
SF Bay Area in California
Posts like this are going to cause a run on transaxles!
 
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2112

Blue/white 06'
Mark II Lifetime
ugh :frown
 

Xcentric

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 9, 2012
5,213
Myakka City, Florida
There was a brand new transaxle for sale on this forum a few months ago. $15K as I recall. Don't know if it sold.

Really though, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has driven manual transmission cars to 200K miles and more with no problems. Original clutches too. It seems to me in the grand scheme of things, I would be far more concerned about availability of body panels than engines and transaxles. Unless, of course, I was one of the small percentage with a bad synchro. :/

Where have all the transaxles from the wrecked GTs gone, I wonder?
 

Empty Pockets

ex-GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Oct 18, 2006
1,361
Washington State
Where have all the transaxles from the wrecked GTs gone, I wonder?

We know where one of them ended up...in a very highly modified, high dollar '69 Stang.:willy
 

Gulf GT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Feb 9, 2006
1,539
California
I would assume that Stillen can repair the transaxle. They were trained by Ricardo to work on the transaxle, and have fairly extensive experience doing so. They installed the 3.90 gears in my car did a pretty good job.
 

Ed Sims

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Apr 7, 2006
7,853
NorCal
If we get a large enough order (25?) Ricardo will make new ones for us.

Ed

PS But Ford will do that also when they need more.
 

Cobra63

GT Owner
Dec 30, 2007
11
Edina, MN
I checked with Stillen. THERE ARE NO PARTS ANYWHERE.
 

Indy GT

Yea, I got one...too
Mark IV Lifetime
Jan 14, 2006
2,526
Greenwood, IN
I have information from a reliable internal Ford source that there are FGT transaxle assemblies available from Ford.

Perhaps Torrie could chime in here and let us know from a part ordering perspective what the transaxle P/N is and cost he would sell a unit for.
 

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
I believe the part number for the transaxle is M-7003-GT.

View attachment 28034
 

Indy GT

Yea, I got one...too
Mark IV Lifetime
Jan 14, 2006
2,526
Greenwood, IN
Cobra63-

Have you called your FORD dealer to order the transaxle?

I just called my FGT delivery dealer. Transaxle is certainly available.
P/N 4G7Z7L073-A
MSRP $15,684.90

Wail away on power shifts......
 

Wwabbit

GT Owner
Mar 21, 2012
1,259
Knoxville, TN
Cobra63-

Have you called your FORD dealer to order the transaxle?

I just called my FGT delivery dealer. Transaxle is certainly available.
P/N 4G7Z7L073-A
MSRP $15,684.90

Wail away on power shifts......

Plus tax, plus a $3000 core charge. So lets just call it an even 20 Grand... while they last
 
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Fubar

Totally ****** Up
Mark II Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Aug 2, 2006
3,979
Dallas, TX
If I remember correctly, the Ford GT transaxle was basically a refit off of the Ricardo transmission being used on one of Audi’s race cars. I would probably roll-the-dice on ordering parts for that before buying a new transmission but at least now you have some spare parts.
 

tmcphail

GT Owner/Vendor
Mark IV Lifetime
Apr 24, 2006
4,102
St Augustine, Florida
Ford has 52 that I can see in internal stock $ 14,500 plus core and freight. No need to get spastic on lack of availability.
 

sahlman

Ford GT Team Alumni
Jul 21, 2011
329
Verona, WI
This original post in January had me a bit concerned, so I went and investigated FGT transaxle availability a few weeks ago. There is NOT a FGT Transaxle supply concern. Availability of spare parts for the transaxle may be a different story (I don't have information on spare parts), but as far as complete units - there is not an issue. You can order one at your dealer now...as noted above for nearly $20K without core exchange.

I talked to the FCSD rep who had been dealing with the FGT parts for the last handful of years. He checked the Ford warehouse count as well as the predicted number to sell each year and the actual number sold. There are over 10 years worth of Ricardo FGT Transaxles in the Ford warehouse right now (way more than 50), based on Ford's predicted sale of transaxles per year (which is more than what has actually sold the last 3 years). This does not include a third party warehouse Ford uses, which also may have transaxles and may be the source of this "50" number. The FCSD rep could not see the third party warehouse numbers.

Will someone make a run on them? Maybe, but less likely at $20k for one.

Ricardo is one of the strong FGT suppliers, apparently still has parts and tooling, and can, if motivated enough, build more down the road. This appears to be about 10 years+ down the road. As Ed noted, a group could likely get more made if 25+ were ordered.

Scott
 

Xcentric

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 9, 2012
5,213
Myakka City, Florida
Why would they want cores? Does Ford store broken transaxles with no plan to rebuild?

Just another of many things I don't understand. :confused
 

2112

Blue/white 06'
Mark II Lifetime
Why would they want cores? Does Ford store broken transaxles with no plan to rebuild?

Just another of many things I don't understand. :confused

+1
 

dbk

The Favor Factory™
Staff member
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jul 30, 2005
15,187
Metro Detroit
This original post in January had me a bit concerned, so I went and investigated FGT transaxle availability a few weeks ago. There is NOT a FGT Transaxle supply concern. Availability of spare parts for the transaxle may be a different story (I don't have information on spare parts), but as far as complete units - there is not an issue. You can order one at your dealer now...as noted above for nearly $20K without core exchange.

I talked to the FCSD rep who had been dealing with the FGT parts for the last handful of years. He checked the Ford warehouse count as well as the predicted number to sell each year and the actual number sold. There are over 10 years worth of Ricardo FGT Transaxles in the Ford warehouse right now (way more than 50), based on Ford's predicted sale of transaxles per year (which is more than what has actually sold the last 3 years). This does not include a third party warehouse Ford uses, which also may have transaxles and may be the source of this "50" number. The FCSD rep could not see the third party warehouse numbers.

Will someone make a run on them? Maybe, but less likely at $20k for one.

Ricardo is one of the strong FGT suppliers, apparently still has parts and tooling, and can, if motivated enough, build more down the road. This appears to be about 10 years+ down the road. As Ed noted, a group could likely get more made if 25+ were ordered.

Scott

Thank you Scott.
 

Indy GT

Yea, I got one...too
Mark IV Lifetime
Jan 14, 2006
2,526
Greenwood, IN
What DBK said!:thumbsup
 

Wwabbit

GT Owner
Mar 21, 2012
1,259
Knoxville, TN
Yes, that is good information. Thanks for the research. One thing to consider though, Ford has a habit of raising prices on stock items. For example, last month front rotors jumped from ~$155 to over $200 over night. So in 5 yrs when you might like to have a transaxle, and the stock count is down,what will it cost? Just a something to keep in mind.