I have the light duty A code 3 speed manual with 3.70 gears and lost the speedometer after a short drive around the block. unfortunately, it looks like the clip holding the speedometer gear failed and the transmission ate the gear. I can't feel it with my fingers or a wire hook and didn't have any luck fishing out the clip with a magnet.

Can the tail shaft extension on this transmission be removed easily or anyone know a good trick to get this fixed?

Thanks

On an unrelated note...i fixed my brakes, so this of course had to fail

 

Generally speaking if the transmission is top loaded you can remove the tail shaft by just unbolting it and pulling it off, but if it is side loaded it may not come off without removing other internal parts first. Or on some of them if you pull housing without holding the main shaft in place the bearings will fall out inside the case. There was a gentleman on here a few weeks ago who attempted to remove his tail shaft without having a shop manual and broke a synchronizer in the process.

 

Unfortunately, my transmission looks like it is the same as nevada51's. Though it does have some differences. Mine has a plastic gear on the shaft in the transmission and the clip that held the gear on was just a little wire clip and not the thicker clip he showed. Also the gear attached to the cable was geared all the way to the top (looked like a type 1 on the drawings, in pics of real gears looked like 2b) I am not worried about the plastic gear. That is likely to just get ground to bits by the transmission. I am sure it won't help bearing life though. However, if that clip made it into the gears I would be worried about it screwing something up (despite being very thin).

Any idea on how dangerous it is to just leave them buried inside and replace the gear/clip as it is?

 

I have called a handful of transmission shops and one guy said he wouldn't worry about it and the other 2 said it would be best to get it out, but would more likely cause some noise eventually. I am planning on a crown vic front end swap eventually so i guess if the tranny dies it will force me to do it at that point.

 

Well there isn't much going on inside the tail shaft housing except the speedometer drive. I would say there is a good chance that the lost parts will find a home in the bottom of the tail shaft housing somewhere and not cause a problem. I gather your transmission is side loaded so if you decide to take the tail shaft housing off you really need to pull the transmission out of the truck.

 

If by side loaded, you mean that the shift levers bolt to the drivers side of the transmission and that that mounting surface can be unbolted from the main body of the transmission, then yes.

Thanks

 

Pic: The nylon teeth of the DRIVEN gear (17322) mesh with the steel teeth of the DRIVE gear (17285), located on the output shaft.

The clip is shown as 17292.

 

Yes, levers and cover together. If you don't have a shop manual for that transmission it would be a good time to get one because just about every one of those old side loaded transmissions have their little tricks and pit falls involved with taking them apart.

 

OP's 1962 F100 has the Ford 3 speed M/T with a crash (non syncro) 1st gear. Ford type 3.03 3 speed all synchromesh M/T introduced in 1963.

 

ND, Is his transmission the same or similar to a type 2.77 3 speed ?

 

Not the same at all. The 2.77 w/crash 1st gear was installed in 1-6 Falcon/Comet/Fairlane/Meteor/Mustang.

 

Thanks for the info ND, something is different about mine though..17285 certainly feels like plastic to me I am pretty sure it is wider than it looks in the parts break down. The clip is also a paper clip thin wire retainer instead of the horse shoe shaped 17292 shown.I have yet to see an example of it online. It was similar to this https://www.ebay.com/itm/1957-1958-1...-/371040956534


Too bad I didnt take pics of them when I cleaned and lubed the cable last year. I will be borrowing a bore scope tomorrow and may be able to get pics.

 

 

x2 on this. It'll probably end up held to the bottom of the tail shaft housing by the oil that's sitting in there.

If you do decide to pull the box, Crop Duster gave a good summary of what's required to separate the tail shaft housing in my 'speedo not working' thread. I'm waiting on some parts before tackling it (and I now have the relevant section of the shop manual).

Also, here's a video that show's what's involved (assuming your trans is like mine). At 29 mins, it's long, but it is entertaining, and nicely captures the frustrations and fulfilment we've all experienced over time working on cars/trucks.

Let us know what you decide to do!
Cam

 

I have the endoscope in hand so will give it a look tonight to see where it is resting. Since I have a long bed it looks like I should be running a C0DD 17271-A 16 tooth (thanks for the chart ND) regardless of the part it had. I am not sure of my original tire size, but that seems to cover all of them.

Time to dig up a sponsor vendor and make a purchase. I may have to pick up a variety of teeth though...I am running a set of 205/55 R16's at the moment. That will eventually change when I get my new front end. I wonder if having the wrong gear was making my speedometer needle bouncy? I cleaned and lubed the crap out of it last year and smoothed out the cable routing, but it didn't fix anything.

I will check out that video after work...thanks