Talk with the GT folks about the Axle bolts?????

[quick time]

The output flange retaining washers were changed at some point. Depends on your transaxel serial number. Ford/Saleen knows which SN# have the "improved" washers. I don't understand why they have not given this information out to the owners?? Also, I believe that the outside bolts that you see with the torque seals can still be attached when the inside two bolts back out/shear so I cannot see how it would help this situation if you kept an eye on these particular bolts other than to be sure they are not loosening up.

 

[FlorIdaho Chris]

... I'll soon be getting the drilled units and safety wire them. Just to sleep a little better.

Jeff-

Where can I get a couple sets of the drilled units? Are they a Ford part or aftermarket?

Thanks,

-Chris

 

[PL510*Jeff]

Drilled Bolt Kits

FC- Accufab announced late last month that they will have a kit availiable with drilled bolts in it. Not a Ford nor Ford Racing item. The upgraded bolt nd washer kit is availiable from Ford, but they are not drilled head bolts.

Jeff

 

[CanadaGT]

Broken axle bolts

Live in Canada and have 5500 miles on my tungsten/ no stripes GT. Came coasting to a red light /light turns green no power nuetral in all gears. Limp the car home by pushing left axle into trans. Took apart and found both axle flange to trans bolts sheared off. Got new parts today and will put back together tomorrow Also gonna check right side. Thought if the axle bolts were left hand thread on the left side of trans/drivers side the bolts would not be able to back off as they would tighten under accelleration.There was no damage to my car since I was at a stand still when it broke/hate to think what would have happened if I was moving!! Another tech tip is the oil filter for the GT is identical to the one found in the BMW 540 Same Mann diesel part # The filter is a lot cheaper through the BMW dealer.First oil change @3000 miles. LOVE the Car but tires seem to wear out quickly OH WELL seems I have a heavy foot.

 

[nota4re]

CanadaGT,

Sorry to learn of your bolt failure. I don't know how many more Ford needs to hear about before they take some pro-active action - even if it simply was to inform us of which cars were effected.

I think that you will find that the two bolts on each side are conventional right-hand threads. There is *normally* no torque on the bolts as the splines are intended for that. Also, please note that the 6 bolts holding the half-shaft couplers together on each side are special, torque to yield (TTY)bolts and can only be used one time. There is a special torque procedure/process for these bolts. Let me know if you need me to send you this procedure.

 

[fjpikul]

Canada, what's your build month (on the B pillar, at the bottom) and your VIN? Since you're a Tungsten, you must be an '06, guessing an early '06.

 

[gtjoey]

HE IS IN THAT BATCH LATE ,LATE 05 TO MID 06, THAT SEEMS TO BE THE GROUP. :thumbsup GTJOEY1314

 

[quick time]

As I have posted before the "Project Manager" at the plant checked the serial number of my transaxel and said that it had the improved output flange retaining washers. My GT was built April 30 06.
Ford obviously has a list of the affected transaxel serial # but why they have not made this information public is anybody's guess.

 

[ByeEnzo]

How about early '05 cars? I have #421. Were these cars not involved in the "bad batch" of tranny's? I'm thinking of having the upgraded washers and bolts put on. I'd rather spend $300 for the kit and labor than get stuck out in the middle of nowhere with a busted half shaft.

 

[Neilda]

I did my August '05 as a precaution a couple of months ago....

 

[SLF360]

I also discussed the problem with the "tech" at wixom. All 2005 are affected and some 2006 cars. They actually know which 2006's are affected by the VIN #s!! He stated they would answer inquiries. It appears the washer under the 2 bolts was not "heat treated" and therefore "soft" therefore explains the "newlook" to the faulty washer versus the bluish tint to the heat treated washer. It is probly more likly to fail in tracked cars and higher milage cars due to more use. I emailed the US representative at ricardo but not heard back yet, I asked the tech at Wixom for extra washer and bolts but he referred me to Ricardo. A GT participant was able to get corrected washer and bolt at Saleen? I am not to happy to think about losing drive on a long trip!!

So that's a recall if I ever seen one...
where do the Euro delivered & on tourist visa (like mine) go to for cure.. ?

better get it fixed, is there other damage when they break and the shafts go out !? Will the car potentially jam a wheel and go of the road (like e.g. that Porsche on the track accident Bony posted..) in a potential case..!? The SLF360 estate wouldn'd like that very much...


worried in (currently) Italy

Stefan

 

[BlackICE]

I think all of the owners should bring this up with their dealers and demand that it be fixed, or provide written documentation that their cars already have the new parts. If the dealers state that Ford won't authorize the repairs send a letter to the dealer and Ford stating your concerns and that if anything happens to your well being, because of an axle failure, that the letter has been also sent to your attorney.

Note it seems that the dealer and Ford are open to fixing the problem, so give that a try first, I will.

BlackICE

 

[TEXAS GT]

Called my local service manager today and explained most of what I have learned from this forum. I explained that my drivers side axle was tight against the transaxle but the passenger side had a quarter inch gap that really bothered me. I asked him to call Ford and see about getting warranty approval for my car. These guys have been very helpful so far and he was very receptive to the idea of calling for me. I didn't hear from him today but I will post his response when I get it.

 

[quick time]

Called my local service manager today and explained most of what I have learned from this forum. I explained that my drivers side axle was tight against the transaxle but the passenger side had a quarter inch gap that really bothered me. I asked him to call Ford and see about getting warranty approval for my car. These guys have been very helpful so far and he was very receptive to the idea of calling for me. I didn't hear from him today but I will post his response when I get it.

The larger gap on the right side of the transaxel and smaller gap on the left side seems to be similar on many of the GT's. It is that way on my car also.

 

[Neilda]

Yes, I would confirm this. Every GT that I've seen has this gap and my feeling is that it's not a problem...

Stefan - it took Roush no time at all to replace my halfshaft bolts and washers with the hardened variety. There must be a way of getting yours done- who currently services the car for you? I'd be happy (of course) to get Roush to send me the replacement kit along with a description of how to do the job.... I'm sure they wouldn't mind, they're good people.

 

[TEXAS GT]

Following up on my earlier post, I heard form my service manager today. Ford Warranty acknowledged the problem but he said so far they have drawn a line in the sand and officially don't consider it a big enough problem to issue a TSB or do goodwill warranties in advance of a failure. Of course after you are stranded on the side of the road for 4 or 5 hours and you feel like a complete idiot sitting there with the greatest car in the world drawing tons of attention with a big puddle of oil under it, they'll fix it at no charge. You would think that they would want to do everything they could to avoid that old "Found On the Road Dead" image but apparently not. I'm very disappointed at their attitude.

That being said, my dealer is going to fix it for me no charge even though I didn't buy it from them. He's a little leery of drilling the bolts though so Loctite may have to suffice. Like I've said before, there are some great dealers out there.

My suggestion to those of you who are worried about it would be to call a few dealers and politely explain the issue. Don't demand anything, just ask them to look into it and see what they can do. Let them know how worried you are about it to give them incentive to try to find a solution. They can work it through under warranty if they want to. :thumbsup

 

[Townshend]

We should all pick a day this week and all call the GT hotline on the same day with the same message.

Would at least be interesting to see what they do with a huge volume of calls all worried about the exact same issue.

Erick

 

[BlackICE]

With that kind of policy it will be bad news for Ford if anyone get hurt due to the failure that is known and could have been avoided. What kind of damage does a spinning half shaft do at 200 mph!

BlackICE

 

[quick time]

That's the problem. How can a driver even think of running the car up to high speeds with the knowledge that one of those shafts may break loose? Tends to make one lose confidence in the car and that is a shame!

 

[gtjoey]

Read Dbks Official Post Tomorrow Gtjoey 1314