Special Thanks to the Site .....

New 8/23/05

I just want to thank the members of the website (V8SHO.com) for the valuable information\assistance that was offered to me the past week. I ran into tranny issues a week ago (SHO no go), and decided to go digging..... At the time, I really couldn't afford to have a used/rebuilt tranny put into the SHO. I called Kirk Doucette the night the tranny STB, and he just happened to be heading in my "general" direction & offered to bring a used tranny with him. He was going to go out of his way to help me out.... As it turned out, I decided against him bringing in the tranny (no wheels to pick it up). Sam Pagel had sent emails a week earlier about how he was able to replace some broken parts in his tranny without taking the motor & tranny out. I figured, what the he$$....can't break it anymore than it already is. He wrote me a great description of how to go about the "surgery", and was also there for any added questions that I had (which were numerous). To my pleasure (I suppose), I had the same part failure that he did....broken tranny pump shaft, and chewed-up pump impeller. Jason Barker also supplied some info on the symptoms his TC failure...which I'm glad didn't apply to me.

After numerous phone calls (to every tranny shop in the area) to try to locate parts, I wound-up calling Doug Lewis (FPS) for parts. I informed him of what I needed, & he sent the parts out the same day....should've called him 1st.

Transmission Parts List:
Used pump assembly
New pump shaft bearing (Torrington B128)
New valve body sleeve
New pump shaft

As of right now, the car is up & running again. Digging into the tranny was a little more of a project than I wanted to get involved in, but it turned out well. Kudos to Kirk, Doug, Jason, & Sam for all of their assistance & valuable info. Without them, I would've never done this on my own. If anyone ever needs any parts/work done.....these guys are tops on my list, and I can't speak highly enough of them. This "list" is a great & valuable tool for the weekend mechanic.

Thanks,
Stan Phillips
White '97
TIGGED
FPS Tranny Cooler
Rebuilt tranny pump

That's why we are here. We're just plain folk helping each other enjoy our special cars. Glad you were able to git-r-done. Also Big thanks to all that assisted Stan in his repair. We still are a pretty good bunch!

Larry E

I probably need to thank everyone else on this list for pointing me in the right direction when I started on mine...

When mine blew, I was ready to call the scrap metal place down the highway to come pick it up and go buy a new vehicle. Instead, I did a Google search for "AX4N", found the V8sho.com website, joined the list, and here I am. I'm pretty handy with a wrench and I like to solve problems, but this was the most involved project I've ever started - and finished (successfully)...

Like you, Stan, I figured, "I can't make it any worse", and if there's even a slight chance that I can fix it within my budget, I'm not burning an extra $2000 bucks for the same result by letting an "expert" do the same exact procedures I can do with my own two hands and a few tools.

[However, I must admit to the list that I've got a '97 Merc Sable, 24V Duratec, 168k miles, with the AX4N tranny - not a SHO. But from what I've learned from you guys and from other places, the engine is mainly the only difference in the two vehicles - (although I know there ARE other differences). Reading the posts on the lists often makes me wish I had that monster V8 under the hood (track racing, the fact that all that extra power is neatly packed into an otherwise inconspicuous-looking vehicle), and sometimes it makes me glad I do have the Duratec (no cam failures - yet). The only cool thing about my car is that it has the dual exhaust - AND I FIXED IT MYSELF, SAVED A TON OF MONEY AND IT STILL RUNS WELL!]

So, if no one objects, I'll keep lurking around behind the SHO-specific stuff, and pop out from nowhere when I think I might be able to help.

Glad it all turned out for the best!

--Sam Pagel

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