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In deep transmission trouble (86 Brat)


moped
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I did eventually finish my engine swap (OBD-II EJ22), and drove the car for about 2 months or so. Unfortunately, I then developed two related problems: 1, the clutch started slipping; 2, I was leaking gear oil.

 

I discovered that these two were related when I dropped the tranny to check the clutch. I figured maybe I hadn't left enough free-play when I did the adjustment, and glazed it that way. No such luck, the disk was soaked in gear oil. I ordered up a new seal, O-ring, and bushings for the shifter (hey, as long as I have it out, right?).

 

Yesterday, I started working on getting the seal replaced. I had hoped (wrongly) that the block on the front of the tranny would just pop off with the seal in it. Nope.

 

--- 56K warning on both links ---

 

I did some looking, and found Gloyale's

thread and started taking things apart to split the case. Obviously, his tranny is a lot newer than mine, but I figured it was probably a good place to start.

 

I also took a look at AlpineRaven's

dual range swap for reference about the front end of the tranny.

 

Unfortunately, I am now very stuck at the point of trying to get the transfer case off. I've pulled the cover off the transfer case, and disassembled the 4WD shifter mechanism as the mitchell guide instructed, and now I'm at the point of actually spillting the transfer case off of the transmission. I can get it split off about 6-7 mm (.25 in) and no farther. I tried driving them apart with a wedge to no avail. I'm now at the point where the dowel pins are clean enough that I can move the transfer case that 7mm by hand, and it sounds like it's clunking up hard against something mounted on a shaft.

 

Has anybody who has torn one of these apart got any advice? I'm pretty well screwed unless I can get the transfer case off because the tranny won't go into gear either now. Yes, despite the fact that the transfer case won't come off, the shift linkage has come out of the forks. At this point, I can't even get back to where I started unless I can get that transfer case off.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks,

 

Eric

Edited by moped
Added 56k warning
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Yeah, the rear main is OK. Further evidence in favor of the tranny seal: 1) only the tranny side of the clutch disk was soaked in oil. 2) Gear oil is some rank smelling stuff, and it was getting pretty funky.

 

In other good news, I'm less screwed than I thought I was. The transmission does go into gear, it was the HI/LO selector that was in neutral! I'm not sure that's enough good news to merit a dancing banana, but I'll take what little I can find.

 

~Eric

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OK, well at least now I know that I need to pull the tailhousing. I took out the bolts in desperation, but I couldn't even budge it. I could at least open the seam between the transfer case and the tranny with a putty knife, but the tailhousing is on the t-case TIGHT. Any suggestions about breaking it free? I did try some gentle taps with a Big Hammer, in addition to the putty knife, but that didn't do anything either.

 

~Eric

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To remove the t-case section you need a 35mm thin-walled socket to remove the 4wd transfer gear. I bought a standard impact rated 35mm axle nut socket and turned down the OD just for this purpose. It is the only way to dissasemble the 4's.

 

GD

 

Well balls to Subaru for making it a different size than the 36mm socket that holds the wheel bearing nuts on (which I already own). I guess it's a trip to Autozone for me. How thin-walled are we talking here? Can you give me an OD measurement?

 

Thanks,

 

~Eric

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Well, in lieu of buying a $17 socket at Autozone and having to find a lathe to turn it into a thin-wall, I found and ordered this: this. In about 30 minutes of googling, that's the only 35mm deepwell that I found that wasn't: 1) part of an expensive set of large thinwalls, or 2) #5 spline drive. I know I can get a 1" driver at my local awesome hardware store , #5 spline, I'm not so sure about. Seriously, they rock pretty hard.

 

I'll let you guys know if it works once I get it. In the meantime, I'll have a couple of evenings to get that tailhousing off.

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well, maybe someone can tell you how to get the tailhousing off.

because after about 2 hrs of baccaruda and i looking at it , playing with it and beating on it.....we could not figure it out.

 

i ended up cutting the shift rails.and pulling out the 4wd shift fork,which is what is keeping the tailhousing on........by being over a grooved gear synchro.

 

so , damn, i should have just posted earlier and we both could have had answers...:lol:cheers, brian

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I have an advantage as I have both the FSM as well as the 4WD 4 speed transmission service manual....

 

To get the extention housing off, you have to dissasemble the 4WD engagement linkage under the rectangular plate.

 

The 4 speed dual-range's are stupidly complex devices - getting them apart and back together correctly takes some luck and a lot of patience (and that 35mm socket). The OD of the socket needs to be about 45mm.

 

GD

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  • 2 months later...

Greetings to you all,

 

As this is my first post, I'll tell you a bit about my stock as a rock 1988 Brumby (Brat was released as a Brumby in Australia.)

340,000 klms still going strong. Have had it for 12 years no major problems and never let me down. Not a bad reliability record!!!.

 

About a year ago the front seal on the transmission began to leak as to be expected for a vehicle of this age, it got worse to the point where it began to leak on the exhaust causing fumes to enter the cabin. I recently had spare time to work on the problem, so I bit the bullet after some research and removed the box and went through the rather long process to split the box and replace the seals and gaskets.

It's 9/10's completed. It all went smoothly until it came to putting the high / low shift rods back into transfer housing. No matter which one I try to put in first, the last one seems to jam about half way in. Tried many ways with the same result. I must be missing a detail somewhere, any advice would be VERY MUCH appreciated.

 

Cheers, Bushby

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It's probably jamming on one of the interlocks. The one I had trouble with was the one between the center rail (that runs to the shifter) and the right rail (2wd//4wd). I have instructions printed out at home, if nobody has sorted you out by the time I get home on Sunday or Monday, I'll dig them up and type in the key sequence for you. With the right order it all goes together pretty easily.

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Greetings,

 

Thank you for your reply, I have managed to solve my problem, some how I put the shifter fork in backwards. (The photos I took during disassembly were rather dark which made it difficult to spot my error). I managed to lighten them with the help of software and voilà my problem was immediately evident.

I look forward to getting the ute back together soon.

 

Cheers, bushby.:banana:

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