Good day gentlemen, I have made some progress and wanted to bring you up to date.

I have rebuilt the NP435 tranny and have it all back together again. This is my first ever tranny rebuild and I think it went really well. It took me a few days to clean it and get it back together but it has a lot of new parts in it and working it by hand it does great. If I remember correctly I went to the Novak website and downloaded the instructions for disassembly and assembly of my tranny. My suggestion, if anyone under takes this rebuild, is to read ALL the instructions completely before you ever turn a nut or bolt on the tranny. It's actually an easier rebuild than I thought it would be, it was a lot of fun to learn about how the tranny works. I still don't know what my problem is but I'm fairly sure it isn't in the tranny.

You gentlemen have always been a lot of help to me and I can't express my appreciation enough. I thank each of you for taking the time to read my threads/posts and give me your advice and input. I know this is what FTE is for and I appreciate this site very much. It seems like I am always receiving so now I would like to give a little, it's not much but perhaps it will help someone a little. Most of you may know this and I may be late to the party but I'll post it anyway just incase.......

During the rebuild of this tranny there were a couple of bearing races in part of the housing that had a bottom in it. There was no way to come in behind the race with a punch and hammer to drive them out. There was no way to use my press to push them out because there was a "bottom" in the housing. The only way to get them out was to use a small pry bar and try to pry/work them out which is virtually impossible. I could have tried to cut them with a torch but one of the housing was aluminum and I didn't want to take a chance on messing up the housing.

So I used an old trick I learned when I worked on bulldozers, I welded the race out. I know that sounds a little crazy but it will work. First thing is you have to either have a welder and know how to weld a little or have a friend who has a welder and can weld a little. All you do is weld a bead around the inside of the race, if it's a good size race weld a zig zag bead all the way around the race. Now be careful and DO NOT...DO NOT let your weld drift off the race, otherwise you will weld the race in and that's VERY VERY bad. Now that you have ran a bead around the race just walk away and let it cool down. When it cools down where you can touch it bare handed you can probably pull it out with your fingers, if not just use a small pry bar and it'll slide right out. On one occasion years ago on a dozer the race still wouldn't move so I ran another bead around it, let it cool again and the race came out by hand. I know welding produces "welding spatter" that will stick to the surrounding metal area, no problem. First the spatter can usually be scrapped loose with a screwdriver. For the really stuck pieces of spatter put the blade of the screwdriver against it and hit the end of the handle with the heel of your hand and knock it loose. If you are really worried about spatter sticking to the surrounding area go to your local welding supply and purchase a container of nozzle dip, it's used with wire welders to help prevent welding spatter from building up in a wire feed welding nozzle. The nozzle dip I buy is thick, a little thicker than vaseline. Use your finger and smear this nozzle dip on anything you are worried about the welding spatter getting on and sticking to. Then weld away, I prefer a 7018 or equivalent welding rod. I welded out one roller bearing race on my tranny's input shaft housing and a needle bearing "housing" in countershaft rear bearing housing. This technique worked great and was really easy to do plus it saved me a ton of head ache. Anyway there's what little I can contribute to you gentlemen, I hope it will help someone sometime.

I have torn down the transfer case now and started cleaning it up, also looking for what might be causing my problem. So far I haven't noticed anything yet but I just got it torn down today so we will see. I do have one question though, how much slack should there be in the drive chain in the transfer case chain that drives the front differential?

If any one has any suggestions for me to pay extra attention to a certain area in this transfer case please let me know. Again I thank you gentlemen for all your help and input.

I believe my transfer case is an NP 208F, does that sound correct?

 

NP208 was a very common transfer case. I had one in my 1980 and it never gave me any problems. I have a Borg-Warner in my 89, and instead of pulling the lever straight back for low range like in the 208, I have to pull the lever to my leg and then pull it back for low range with the BW.

 

That certainly is different from the NP208. I watched several of the youtube videos you recommended, thank you sir, and I have the transfer case torn all the way down. I don't see anything wrong inside it, no metal chips on the magnets, no stripped splines, no bad bearings nothing at all. I checked the fit between the different shafts and everything seems to be tight so I'm still scratching my head. I am going to rebuild the transfer case and put it back in the truck. If I can't find anything to explain the problem I'm going to pull the cover off the rear differential next and have a look in there.

 

Don't over look the front diff also.
Because it is not used a lot axle ujoints and front drive shaft ujoints like to rust solid.
Get a hub that does not unlock and the whole front end is spinning.


I had a front shaft ujoint go bad but the only time I would feel it was making a tight turn into a parking space in a parking garage. I was sure it was a axle shaft, this truck has CV joints on the axles, because of the tight turn.
I also used 4WD during the winter and would lock in (turn a dial on the dash) during the summer 2 or 3 time a month to keep things working.
Dave ----

 

Thank you Dave I really appreciate your input and advice. Since I have gone so far into this truck hunting my problem I planned to go ahead and go through the front end also.

If you don't mind maybe you can give me some advice about my problem. With the truck in 2 wheel drive with a load on it, not a big load, 16 foot trailer and a 4 wheeler, it doesn't want to move in reverse. I try to back my trailer up in my yard and it sounds like someone is shooting an uzi. It drives/moves just fine going forward in all gears but not in reverse. I have rebuilt the tranny, NP435, and found nothing wrong. I now have the transfer case torn down and everything looks good with no sloppy splines anywhere and no bad bearings. I am going to check the drive shaft to output shaft fit but when I pulled it out to remove the tranny and transfer case it seemed like a good tight fit. After I get the tranny and transfer case back in if I still don't find the problem the rear differential is next.

I don't see how but could a worn out clutch cause a problem like this? The clutch and pressure plate were pretty worn out, they got replaced. To me it sounds like splines slipping but so far all the splines seem to be good.

I'm kind of lost really so it's come down to a process of elimination. Any input/guidance is greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

The clutch would always turn the same direction, it would not know if you were going forward or reverse.

If you get it all back together and want to do some more testing, leave the back driveshaft out(you may lose a little oil) and put it in 4x4 and just use the front axle. Does it make the noise then? Just move it a little bit around the yard, you would lose too much oil from the transfer case to run it down the road.

 

See I would have tried it in 4x4, first high range then low range before I pulled trany/transfer case.


Now my thinking is it was the clutch and here is why I say this.
Going forward the trany gear ratio is lower then when backing up.
So if the clutch was bad moving forward does not put the same load on it as backing up dose. Low range you should not of had any issues forward or back.


When testing a clutch for slippage you would start in first or 2nd if it is a granny low. Go from 1st/2nd to 4th and put gas pedal to the floor. If it bogs the motor clutch is good, if motor speeds up clutch is bad. 4th gear puts more load on the clutch than the lower gears do.
Dave ----

 

LOL thanks Franklin I feel kind of stupid not thinking of that myself, got to love a rookie LOL. I get the tranny and transfer case back in I'm going to give this a try and see what happens. Maybe I can find some sort of plastic bottle to tape over the end of the transfer case to keep from losing so much oil. I REALLY appreciate you giving me that idea, thanks again.

 

Thank you Dave I appreciate your input, I learn something new all the time. I wish I had thought of the things to try you and Franklin have recommended before I tore it down. It needed a clutch anyway but atleast I would have had a better idea about what I needed to pay special attention to. Like I said you got to love a rookie LOL. Again thank you sir I REALLY appreciate your help and input.

 

If everything ran smoothly we would not learn anything.


When I was in computer school each member in class had to build their PC's.
Come time to boot them up most would not boot up.
We then got to do testing to find why? We found it was bad RAM.
If the PC's booted we (me) would not have learned a thing so we (me) got better on fixing PC's because of that.


You now know how to rebuild a NP435 and now a BW208 so it was not for nothing!
Dave ----


ps I don't bet but I will bet the clutch was the issue.

 

You are absolutely correct Dave, I did learn a lot and I am glad for that knowledge.

I worked in a tire factory till I retired and disliked everyday I walked in that place. It provided a dang good living for me and my family and raised 3 children in relative comfort. We had everything we needed and a lot of the things we wanted but it was hard on my body and bored me to tears.

Now that I have retired I am doing the things I really enjoy doing. I enjoy pulling wrenches and welding so in all honesty I had a blast rebuilding the tranny and am looking forward to putting the transfer case back together.

I like learning things like this, learning about things I've never done before like this job. I don't think it would have gone as smooth as it did if it weren't for gentlemen like you and Franklin advising me as well as the other gentlemen on FTE. I hope one of these days I'll be able to help others the way others have helped me. I can't thank the members of FTE enough for the help they give me.

 

I got to say I have never worked a job I hated, got tired after 15 years and changed careers.


There is 1 trade I HAAD to learn, body work from dad and did lean it before high school. I am good at it but hate doing it - and guess what I am doing to my project?
Tech High School to learn the mechanical side of auto repair and did that a few years out of school with dad in our shop.


Did HVAC in a hospital for 15 years last 10 as foreman.
Then 15 years in computer repair/desk side support.


Now driving a trailer truck delivering powder cement to cement plants in the summer and LP gas in the winter to baulk plants.
I don't plan on doing this for 15 years, want to retire before then (7 years at 65 if I can) as I have 2 other car projects to finish LOL
Dave ----

 

I was blessed, I was able to retire at 55. My wife and I built a new shop/house last year and got moved in in June. I started out welding on a construction job in the electrical crew, lots of TIG welding. She got pregnant with our first and I wanted something more stable than construction so that's when I went to work in the tire factory. My dad owned a grocery store so he knew nothing about mechanical repairs, everything I learned was by trial and error......mostly error LOL.

I have so many projects I'm not sure where to start LOL. I'm trapping hogs right now so I'm just working on my truck right nothing extra. I have 2 old ford 8Ns I want to get running soon....at least one of them soon. When I get this one, the '85, fixed I've got to get my V10 running right, number 5 is frying COPs and I haven't figured out why. But my next big project will be my '88 f250 2WD with the 300 inline 6 and manual transmission. Motor is in great shape, just needs brake job, tune up, clean up, new seat, and of course.......a paint job LOL. I hate painting prep work, and painting, and I'm not worth a durn at it either LOL.