raygreenwood wrote:First OFF: DO NOT at any time until we get there..remove a single part from the differential end. Since certain tools donot exist for this transmission....certain relationships must be measured as we take them off....and that comes last.
Ok....some things to know. My little black book is in my storage unit....1500 miles from here with my entire 412-dom.
There is much I can help you with and some things you need to measure.
Just like in the Haynes manual, you need to start stripping this thing down.
(1) with the trans horizontal.....remove the large round plug at the tail end. Inside you will see a ...15mm(?) nut. This is a VERY special nut. Do not destroy or lose it....or the "E" clip underneath. Take your old clutch disc and slip it onto the splined end of the main shaft and clamp a pair of vice grips onto the disc area...tight. This way you can hold the main shaft while you use a socket and ratchet to take the nut off the other end. Put the nut and "E" clip in a safe place. Pull tehshaft out from the clutch end. Put it someplace safe.
(2) In a place where you can contain residual oil...tip the tranny up vertical with the tail in the air. It will it flat and safe this way with the mainshaft out.
This may sound ugly...but the tail cone is so tedious to get put back onto the shift rods...and get it over the 8-10 studs sticking out at the same time....the best way I have found is to double nut each stud and remove it from the case. Make a patten on a cardboard box with the stud pattern....and put holes in each spot and stand the studs in the holes for the duration .
At this point.....the tail should pull off with minimal difficulty. Set it aside . there is not much to be done with it.
Good tip on the stud removal. Is that grease or sludge in the lower corner by the countershaft?
(3) at this point...you will be looking at the countershaft inset into the nd of the case and the three shift rods. Take an 8mm bolt...like a CV bolt andscrew in into the end of the shaft. Clamp vice grips onto the ounter shaft and tap lightly. It should pull right out. More to add in a minute....
raygreenwood wrote:Ok...sorry for the delay. Most of the stripping down...you can get from the Haynes manual. Its pretty good....but there are things it does not tell you...like removing the studs on the tail housing.
(4) At this point you are looking at the tranny standing on end with no tail cone. Look at the end of it. You will see all of the internal ribs and the three shift rods sticking out.
You will also see...recesed...the counter shaft with an 8mm threaded hole in it. Take an 8mm bolt about 50-60mm long and screw it in. Clamp a pair of vice grips onto it.....AND...twist it clockwise.
What you are doing: If the counter shaft requires LESS than about 5-8 lbs to twist...meaning it twists easily ...like it could spin with too much force......you are going to haveto have the new shaft ground...to about .002" larger than this one so its a VERY slight interferene fit into the case when you re-install the new one. After this...with a mallet...tap on the vice grips to pull the shaft from the case.
Mine would not turn at all until I pulled it out about an inch, then it turned with several pound. I used a socket to lever against the case like in Haynes and it worked good.
Inspection of shaft:
CAUTION: At this point...if when you twist the shaft...it feels like there is gravel in it...or it won't twist all the way around....or...if when pulling it out it will not come out more than about 1/2".....AND....if the tranny had been howling for some number of miles.......you are screwed....partially.
What happens...is that the counter shaft needle bearings are poorly lubricated in this design ( I have initial partial solutions to this and am working on one that you might want to try). They wear out...and they wear a 20mm long groove all the way around the shaft at both ends.
Now....if the needles have fallen out of their cage...or shattered....(and in both of these cases you will only hear a moderate howl)...you can drive many thousands of miles on them with out any apparent shifting issues....(yet you are causing hideous damage)......these needles or parts of needles will permanently jam into the the groove ground in the counter shaft. It can never be removed. And...without removing this shaft...the tranny cannot ever be stripped further.
The only way is take a grinder and cut the transfer case to remove the shaft and counter gear cluster as a whole....therefore destroying the case. Been there...done that twice.
But...since this is a three piece case...you can take the entire main gear set, counter gear cluster, shims and transfer case casting from a tranny with say...a bad differential....and slap it right on.....so none of these are total junk unless both main gears and differential have died.
I see what you mean about tendancy to wear a groove in the shaft. This one is in good shape for now, but I am willing to try your improvement for oiling.
(5) with the counter shaft out...remove the plate on the bottom of the tranny. Take care not to misplace the green anodized long bolt. It is the lock bolt for the reverse idler gear shaft. Make note of where it goes.
To remove the cover plate screws....use a perfect fitting Philips screwdiver with a vise grips clamped on the shaft. I use a hand impact driver with correct "fat" bit and a light rap with a mallet.
(6) take a look at the cross shaft assembly inside. It has a large nut on each side of the tranny that holds it in. Remove them and it.
WAIT!...look close...there is a flat, bent idler lever on the side of the case on the inside...that actuates that cross shaft. It is assymetrical.....so mark which SIDE goes against the case...and which END goes UP towards the cover plate. DO NOT forget to do this...or it will get tedious.
WAIT!....the shaft that idler lever rides on....is an eccentric adjusting shaft. Unless you really want to adjust the reverse idler position from scratch......note the black metal cap on the outside of the tranny with two screws.....that holds this eccentric bolt. The outer end of the bolt is "splined"...and so is the cap that holds it.
Take a file or a dremel....mark which end of that cap is closest to the outer cover plate...I call that "up". Then carefully remove the two screws that hold it in....withdraw that cap....while pushing the eccentric shaft out from the inside. The object is to keep the splines of the shaft.....seated in the splines of the locking cap...so you do not lose the adjusting position. You can mark them better later. Take the cap with splined shaft intact..and wrap with tape or wire and put it aside. More coming up.
I am doing this in pieces because my poor laptop sometimes overheats and freezes in the middle of very long posts...losing them. Ray
Cross shaft in place

Reverse idler

Reverse fork (looks assymetric also)

Pivot bolts loosened, cross shaft removed, reverse fork orientation taped

Front counter gear cluster end spacer

Front counter gear cluster end spacer seat in case

Rear counter gear cluster end spacer

Rear counter gear cluster end spacer seat in case

Reverse idler lever

Reverse idler cover plate marked (bottom)

Reverse idler cover plate removal

Reverse idler lever marked (away from case, bottom)

Reverse idler assembly still indexed
raygreenwood wrote:Next:
You are looking at the tranny...tail cone gone, counter shaft out...reverse idler cross shaft out and counter gear cluster pulled out. More on inspecting shaft and bearings later. BUT....DO NOT...lose the bronze shim from each end of the counter cluster. They are specific to each counter gear and case and have teh thickness inmm stamped on the back.
You now must remove the shift forks and detents to get the case off.
You will need:
You need a special socket...a 1/4" drive one. I believe it is either 8mm or 10mm....to remove the dog pointed bolt that holds the large shift fork onto its shaft. Its a "square" head bolt so you can check it with a small wrench to see the size. You will need a 12 point 1/4" socket to fit. In a rare pinch....you can use a strong wrench...attached to vice grips to remove this bolt.
Once the forks are off.....go to the side of the tranny...and remove the long black cap that covers the detents. Watch for the springs.
You will need 0-ring picks and a long thin magnetic pick-up.
With the tranny on its back...open lid facing up.....you remove the top detent plunger...and I think the second. In between each one....accessed from the top through the bore in the rib that contains the detents...from the plate side...is an 8mm acess hole. You will pull out the middle floating detent through this hole with a magnet.
At this point with the forks out...the detents and springs out, you can pull the shift rods from the case. Watch out...as there is a small 3mm detent plunger in one of the safts. Don't lose it.
Detent plate removal

Detents and springs removed

Reverse shift rod c-clip removed and rod removed

3rd/4th shift fork square head bolt removed (use 9mm socket)

3rd/4th shift fork detent

Shift forks re-assembled for storage ('mid' is 3rd/4th; 'top' is 1st/2nd)
Next.....look right at the end of the shaft by the big fat ball bearing. Look close...there is a very large snap ring holding the bearing into teh case. You can use a pair of hooked end o-ring picks or two small thin scredrivers to place under the hooked ends of the snap ring. Its not a hugely tense snap ring. Lever it out and pull it back
Could not remove this snap ring...
WAIT: make sure your gear slider rings where the forks were attched...are centered...not pushed fore or aft coupleing one gear or another. This is neutral. Not a big deal...but this is to keep any sliding dogs from popping out.
I didn't get this part, these must be the slide dogs
Now....stand the tranny up. Remove the 12 or so acorn nuts around the case. Lightly tapping on the case....WHILE....pushing down on the big fat bearing at the tail end...slip the case off the gear stack.
I say while pushing on the big bearing because......that gear section and sleeve bearing are not attched to the shaft. When you pull the case loose with teh snap ring intact....the bearing and synchro pull with it.
Thats ok....especially if you are having trouble with the snap ring.
At this point....you are looking at a unique and glorious thing. A differential case with a gear stack and pinion shaft two feet tall sticking up!
More in a minute.
Used reverse shaft pivot bolt heads and final drive case studs as lever points to lift gear box off diff case using screwdriver - did not push on big bearing, snap ring still on
