Mating transmission to engine - rant

[cattlerepairman]

Mating transmission to engine - rant - and solutions

Allright, I knew it was going to take some effort, but this turned out to be less than not fun.



After struggling for almost an hour, I could finally get the splines to slide into the clutch plate hub. The pilot bushing? No dice. Took everything apart. Re-centered. Tried again. Nada.
Then the shop crane quit. Tried balancing the tranny on the floor jack in the back of the trailer....can't even get the splined part in. I used a measuring tape on the bell housing to have equal distance to the block all around and not approach crooked. With my knee pushing the tranny and one hand turning the output shaft yoke and the other hand lifting the bell housing I tried to get the darn splines to engage. Nada.

The pilot bushing is new (came in the kit from C&C) and a very very tight fit. The old one was downright sloppy (maybe a frustrated mechanic drilled it out....ha).

I am on a rehydration break with a cold beverage, staring at the tranny in a hostile manner. We will see if that helps.

 

[m1010plowboy]

We get to go shopping for a new, bigger shop crane......yaaaah. That part of the job is what keeps me hiring mechanics. Some guys just make it all look so easy I'd rather pay the big bucks, watch and learn.

They say stuff like, just line the peg up with the hole and slide it in...it's just electrical....it's just nuts and bolts.....it's just a head gasket....you broke a head-bolt-just drill it out.....swap it out for a new motor.
You'll get it done, wish I could be there to bring you the wrong wrenches!

 

[WillWagner]

Try doing it laying on your back!

 

[gringeltaube]

1) Calm down and finish your cold beverage...
2) Your transmission seems to be in NEUTRAL; put it in 4th or 5th gear, so the input shaft will turn.
3) What did you do to exactly center the clutch disc?


G.

 

[quarkz]

Maybe get some all-thread sections a bit longer than the spline.
Screw them into the holes for mating the trans to the engine.
slide the trans over them.
This will support the weight of the trans on the engine.
Place the strap from the hoist/crane around the back of the trans, but not on the output shaft.
Put the trans into gear.
Slowly push the two together, taking up slack in alignment with washers and nuts on the all thread.
When interference happens, wiggle the output shaft to aid with spline alignment.
Tweak the nuts on the all-thread to jockey alignment.
Grease on the tip of the spline.
When finally mated, replace all thread, one at a time with proper bolts.

 

[Recovry4x4]

A couple of years ago the special projects team did an engine swap at the GA Rally. They had the same struggles as you did. It got intense for a while then this short recently retired guy asked if he could give it a shot. In 3 minutes the transmission was seated and the short guy rode off into the sunset on his golfcart muttling somethine about being too close to see the problem.

Back up, look at your angles and gaps and adjust and try again. Gerhard's suggestion is spot on as well. I like 4th as the input shaft moves the exact same distance as the output shaft.

 

[gringeltaube]

Forgot one thing: be very careful with putting too much grease inside the pilot bushing cavity!

 

[scboolitcaster]

Sure is a pretty engine though.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Forgot one thing: be very careful with putting too much grease inside the pilot bushing cavity!

Outstanding suggestion G. We used to use grease and an old input shaft to remove the pilot bearing.

 

[cattlerepairman]

Update: Staring at it or the cold beverage or both did indeed help.....not one bit. But:

- I used a leveling bar on the busted shop crane (it still holds weight, just doesn't lift anymore)
- this made it easy to accurately align the tranny and get the splined section in...within ten minutes!
- I could feel the input shaft hit the pilot bushing. I ensured again that the tranny was aligned and dead center with all bolt holes and put 4 long bolts in that I had laying around,with washers and nuts.
- although it felt so wrong, I slowly snugged up the nuts, going in a circle, pulling the bell housing closer to the engine.
- it required very little force - easy turning of a small, short, adjustable wrench, to push the tranny all the way in.





-

 

[cattlerepairman]

Outstanding suggestion G. We used to use grease and an old input shaft to remove the pilot bearing.

While it works, it also makes a mess. A local mechanic told me that they soak a few sheets of toilet paper (unused, I believe) in water and pack the bushing and the cavity behind it with the wet fuzz, then take a tight fitting bolt, stick it into the bushing and whack the bolt. Same principle as with grease, but less mess!

 

[dmetalmiki]

Some things seem just "not to be" I have just struggled for TWO days! to get the splines engaged on a ..1938 !Flying Standard 10! And with the use of spline aligning tool. Frustrated, (moocho's annoyed) I angle ground the engine mounts off as they are integral with the engine. (fouling anything and everything) And bennym45 (our young "helper") commented..! "bet it would go in with a push from the fork truck" ..IT DID!.. Ho hum..out of the mouths of sucklings....

 

[cattlerepairman]

1) Calm down and finish your cold beverage...
2) Your transmission seems to be in NEUTRAL; put it in 4th or 5th gear, so the input shaft will turn.
3) What did you do to exactly center the clutch disc?


G.

Yes, put it in gear (2nd I think...just moved the big rearmost gear).
I used a homemade alignment tool (deep 3/8 socket on extension inside a deep 1/2 impact socket, wrapped with tape) that fits very tightly inside the splines. I also checked the half-circle holes in the flex disc around the perimeter of the pressure plate to ensure that each of the holes was "sliced" by the edge of the pressure plate in the same exact way. I am confident that the clutch plate was exactly centered.

 

[cattlerepairman]

Sure is a pretty engine though.

This is the "not-quite-rebuilt-but-more-than-refreshed"-LDS that will be ground hopped very soon and goes into my Deuce (provided it runs as it should)! I can't wait! I cleaned and painted along the way, all hoses etc. are new, D-turbo is new and I did the little nice things, such as brass nuts on the exhaust manifold and turbo flange etc. I like the way it looks

 

[TsgtB]

I think i invented a few new cuss words while installing mine, but mine was hanging on a 4x4 with a 2 ton chain fall and a couple of short straps.
As i sat in the cab floor with the passenger seat out, after 3 or 4 dozen trips crawling under and then back inside the cab... FINALLY, and how i dont know, it just made a nice solid thud sound. And the gap between the engine and trans was gone... (so i stuck a couple of nuts on the studs and caught my breath)
It will happen,
Hang in there.

 

[rustystud]

I always installed my transmissions on my back under the truck. With the transmission jack in the proper alignment I would push the transmission with my feet and wiggle it until it went in. Always worked fine even with the big Road Rangers and double disc clutches.
Of course I always used alignment dowels made from bolts with there heads cut off.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Amateurs

 

[scboolitcaster]

Amateurs

Is it easier with the truck on its side?

 

[gimpyrobb]

HA! No, just a matter of repetition. I could probably do it in my sleep. 1 hr out, 1 hr back in.

 

[Guyfang]

[QUOTE Amateurs QUOTE]

Gimpy is right. If you had done this 15-20 times a year, this would have been done in less time than it takes to read this whole thread. But you haven't, and didn't have anyone who had, and could help you. So you done good! And learned a lot. Some of the last contract work I did here was to do some upgrades and repair shoddy work done, (by OSHKOSH) on the HEMIT A-5 trucks being issued brand new, in 2010 here in germany. Another guy, (master truck mechanic) and I, (a generator jock) removed and replaced the transfer on 27 trucks. The first truck took us about 9 hours. Not long afterwards, we could have it out, the new transfer in, and the old one canned, in about 3 hours. Practice makes perfect. You done good.