Steve Hoelscher
True Classic
Well, its been a busy few months. Normally the off season but despite the COVID situation I have been blessed with more work than I normally see over the winter months. But with this week in a deep freeze I thought I would take the opportunity to catch up a few things.
One note: I shot video of a core tear down a month ago that I had intended to edit and post. However, the computer that had the video has packed it in and I need to pull the drive to get the video off it. Hopefully, I can get that done soon.
In the mean time I have photos that might be fun to post here.
First up was a little different. One of the things that causes me all kinds of grief is removing the clutch actuator arm. These have to come out to clean the case properly and to recondition the pivots so it can move properly. Many release bearing failures result from the clutch arm being so bound up in its pivots that it never fully releases and runs the release bearing continuously, causing the failure. I have also seen the arms so tight they won't fully release the clutch so the clutch slips and burns up. The biggest challenge is getting the clutch arm out is the fork rusts in place on the shaft. If its really bad the retaining bolt rusts in place and simply shears when I try to turn it, as this one did.
Getting the broken bolt out is problematic. One solution is to grind down its dowel pin end. I have done this before and, while not a simple task, it isn't the worst outcome. The worst outcome is the fork being severely rusted in place, and a broken bolt. Which is what we have here.
Even if the bolt come out it usually takes a torch to heat up the fork enough that it can be worked loose with a big mallet and carefully driven off the rod. Care must be taken because its easy to break the case. The job is time consuming, often taking an hour or more to extract the actuator shaft. This time I punted and just cut the arm with an angle grinder.
It still is an effort to get the arm out but this is way easier.
Note the top pivot bushing was broken. This is because the pivot was rusted inside the plastic bushing causing the bushing to pivot in the case. It won't last long like that.
Different unit:
I frequently get asked about differential bearings. Its rare that I don't replace them. I can usually tell when somebody has replaced the bearings and I am always surprised to see how many units I get that someone has "rebuilt" but not replaced the differential bearings that were clearly needing it. In this instance the bearings were in fact replaced but the rebuilder obviously didn't know to re-shim the differential preload. The result, I assume, was excessive preload on the diff bearings with were worn worse than most any I had ever seen.
There was a ridge at the edges I could easily feel with my fingers. This unit must have whined miserably.
Finally, a core teardown that was unusual. Now this thread is full of "I have never seen this before...." comments. That's usually related to damage caused by abuse, neglect or failure, or errors by a previous builder. This "unusual" doesn't appear to have been any of those but what I found in the bottom of the case.
I have no idea what that is or where it came from.
This was stuck on the drain plug. The stuff in the bottom almost cover the drain hole.
Anyway, it seems that no matter how many of these transmissions I tear down, I still get surprised.
One note: I shot video of a core tear down a month ago that I had intended to edit and post. However, the computer that had the video has packed it in and I need to pull the drive to get the video off it. Hopefully, I can get that done soon.
In the mean time I have photos that might be fun to post here.
First up was a little different. One of the things that causes me all kinds of grief is removing the clutch actuator arm. These have to come out to clean the case properly and to recondition the pivots so it can move properly. Many release bearing failures result from the clutch arm being so bound up in its pivots that it never fully releases and runs the release bearing continuously, causing the failure. I have also seen the arms so tight they won't fully release the clutch so the clutch slips and burns up. The biggest challenge is getting the clutch arm out is the fork rusts in place on the shaft. If its really bad the retaining bolt rusts in place and simply shears when I try to turn it, as this one did.
Getting the broken bolt out is problematic. One solution is to grind down its dowel pin end. I have done this before and, while not a simple task, it isn't the worst outcome. The worst outcome is the fork being severely rusted in place, and a broken bolt. Which is what we have here.
Even if the bolt come out it usually takes a torch to heat up the fork enough that it can be worked loose with a big mallet and carefully driven off the rod. Care must be taken because its easy to break the case. The job is time consuming, often taking an hour or more to extract the actuator shaft. This time I punted and just cut the arm with an angle grinder.
It still is an effort to get the arm out but this is way easier.
Note the top pivot bushing was broken. This is because the pivot was rusted inside the plastic bushing causing the bushing to pivot in the case. It won't last long like that.
Different unit:
I frequently get asked about differential bearings. Its rare that I don't replace them. I can usually tell when somebody has replaced the bearings and I am always surprised to see how many units I get that someone has "rebuilt" but not replaced the differential bearings that were clearly needing it. In this instance the bearings were in fact replaced but the rebuilder obviously didn't know to re-shim the differential preload. The result, I assume, was excessive preload on the diff bearings with were worn worse than most any I had ever seen.
There was a ridge at the edges I could easily feel with my fingers. This unit must have whined miserably.
Finally, a core teardown that was unusual. Now this thread is full of "I have never seen this before...." comments. That's usually related to damage caused by abuse, neglect or failure, or errors by a previous builder. This "unusual" doesn't appear to have been any of those but what I found in the bottom of the case.
I have no idea what that is or where it came from.
This was stuck on the drain plug. The stuff in the bottom almost cover the drain hole.
Anyway, it seems that no matter how many of these transmissions I tear down, I still get surprised.