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I live in central Phoenix and am new to the forum, finding it during the course of seeking some answers to getting my 79 F350 running again. The tranny went out on me and I obtained a replacement. Its an NP435 four speed.
To get to the point: I was just about to drop the tranny yesterday but could not find out how to remove the speedometer cable. Its held in place by a clip that has no visible way to remove it that I can see. I am attaching a few pics.
The clip is shaped somewhat like an open end wrench, the forks holding the cable in place. Similar in concept to how most distributors are held in place.
At the end of the clip is what looks like a tube sticking out and it is part of the fork, one piece so there is not turning it. I may be wrong, but that's what it looks like from my vantage point, laying on the ground looking up.
I used an inspection mirror to peer inside the "tube" and it looks faintly like there is a small (very small like 5/32") hex bolt head. Unless it uses as special tube to remove, I don't think a socket will fit in there.
I tried to use an allen wrench thinking there was a socket head screw holding it. I also tried some vice grips to turn it but it just slipped, then I realized the "tube" was one piece with the clip so it can't be turned. This is a U-haul truck and they are custom ordered so the parts on it may not be what is normally found on a stock Ford truck.
Please check out the photos and tell me what you think. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Tony
Last edited by therrera; 12-03-2014 at 11:32 AM.
Reason: To add detail.
The hollow head next to the cable is a tamper type bolt. Us a vise Grip to get it out and replace with a standard bolt.
U haul used these to keep people from tampering with it and cheating on the mileage as the head would deform when taking out and be obvious to the shop you returned it to.
Hi and thanks for the reply. I ended up dropping the tranny yesterday speedometer cable and all (disconnecting it from the rear of the instrument cluster). Once out, a friend of mine figured out how to remove it and it turned out to be exactly as you described. The hollow tube is held in place by a tiny bolt. Once he removed it, it revealed the actual bolt that held the cable into place underneath it. It prevented access to removing the actual bolt that held the cable in place.
Now the issue is that the replacement tranny's output shaft is shorter than mine. It came out of a four wheel drive truck. The fellow who sold it to me thought I could simply unbolt them and swap them out. A mechanic friend who owns a shop and does a lot of tranny work said that the main shaft is tailored to the application and that the only way to swap them around would be to strip the tranny down, swap the shafts and reassemble them. Something beyond my experience level. IF this were a hobby project, I would go after it in a New York heartbeat but it is for work and I need to get it up and running ASAP. Luckily the seller gave me a week to see if it would work for me and he would refund my money if it didn't. It has been three days so far.
Any idea where I might locate one here in the Phoenix area (or Arizona).
The 4x4 NP435 has no provision for a speedometer cable. It is on the divorced T case. You can also use any T18 up to 72 in the truck as a swap.
It looks like you have the transmission mounted e brake housing which was typical for U Haul. You need this type to put it all back together correctly and maintain the parking brake.
There should be some of these at the local yards.
Or you can have the trans mission rebuilt, but this would run about 700 to 1000 for the rebuild materials and Labor.
What went wrong with the transmission? They are pretty stout.
Thanks for that information. I was wondering what might be a replacement for the NP435 if I can't find one.
Problem is that I am totally illiterate about transmissions, rear ends, etc. I can take them out and put them back in, replace clutches, etc. but that's the extent of it. If I were to look for a t-18, what do I ask for. Will it be a straight swap? Will I have to modify my driveshaft, etc.
I did a quick search on ebay to see what a t-18 looked like and found all sorts, like an International scout t-18, a Jeep t-18, ford t-18, etc. How could I determine what will fit in my truck? Is there some type of cross reference chart I could use as a guide?
By the way, my old tranny stuck in between gears. I think 2nd and 3rd while I was on the freeway coming back home from Holbrook. I am going to take it to a tranny shop that calls me to do welding for them on cracked or broken transmission cases. For a $50 inspection fee they will take it apart and determine where the problem occurred.
Based on opinions I've been given and read, this tranny is very durable (as you also stated) and I asked the trans tech if he could just repair the damage and not do a rebuild. I don't have the money anyway, but I would for a repair. A mechanic friend of mine looked into it yesterday and his opinion was that the gears and bearings are good so it might be a minor issue that is causing the shifting to stick.
I think my options are narrowing. The tranny repair will cost around $700 from a tranny shop. They took it apart and reported that the main shaft is damaged as well as the second gear and one of the bushings.
They charged a $50 inspection fee. I told them that I cannot do it so to just assemble it and I'll pick it up.
Is it too expensive to have my drive shaft modified to fit one of the trannies off of a 4 wheel drive? The one I returned had the same dimensions from the input shaft. It was the output that was shorter.
Tony any T19 from a 2 wheel drive (used till the mid 90s) will bolt up, however they will not have the NP435s rear parking brake so a drive shaft modification may be required.
You can also use a Clark 5 speed from the 72 to mid 90s vintage as these will have the parking brake feature on most.
$700 is actually a pretty good price for the repair. The main shaft being about 400 bucks just for the part.
HI and thanks for the feedback. The shop owner is letting me pay him in two installments. 1/2 now and the balance next month. This is a big help. I paid the first installment today. He told me that he was having trouble finding a replacement bushing for the output shaft.
Apparently its loose. He thinks it may require a custom bushing slightly oversized. I decided to go for the repair because the way it was going I could see myself spending a month or more just tracking down the right tranny. This way too, I know what I have to work with as any used one I pick up could be having issues that I wouldn't find out until I installed it and got it running. Better to play it safe.
I will ask him however to replace the seals as his commitment is to just make the repair of damaged parts, not a rebuild. I couldn't imagine it would take much more work to tap out the old seals and replace them with fresh ones.
I'll report how it goes. The parts are coming from Oregon and he expects to have it all together by next Wednesday.
Think it better to have the clutch rebuilt or just buy a rebuilt unit? There is a brake and clutch shop in town. I will also take the parking brake shoes to them as they are worn thin.
Thanks for the replies and offer to help. The shop was able to repair the transmission. They didn't do a rebuild but replaced the damaged main shaft, second gear, bushing, etc., replaced seals and gaskets. He gave me a six month warranty on it. He showed me where the second gear got fused onto the shaft due to lack of lubrication.
I got it back about ten days ago but haven't had the time to install it yet. With the trouble I had taking it out, I am asking a friend for help to put it back in. I definitely don't look forward to that task.
That aside I also have the motivation to get it up as on top of everything else, someone must have complained at seeing my truck jacked up on stands in our front driveway as an inspector came by and is requiring me to move it or face fines. What a hassle!!!!
Does anyone know where I can get 50wt engine oil? A sticker on my transmission says to use only 50wt oil. This is new to me as I thought that all manual trannies used 80 or 90wt. At the local autozone they have a 10-50wt oil. Will this stuff work?
I am by no means an expert on oil, but I do know the chemical makeup of engine oil, and transmission oil is quite a bit different. Transmission oil, starts to break down, after prolonged periods of 250 degrees. Engine oil is capable of WAY higher temps then that. Viscosity works differently with all the different weights.
12-03-2014, 11:28 AM
