I haven't read all the posts so if any of this is redundant...ignore it.

The lack of reverse and extreme noise when in reverse is cause by the rang hub not engaging completely into the planetary gearset. The cause of this is worn plastic spacers on the range fork. Quite possible the range hub has worn into the fork itself requiring the replacement of the fork and hub.

The primary cause of the failure is a known problem with these transfer cases and revolves around the oil pump. The oil pump is mounted on the main shaft and pumps oil to the friction areas through the shaft. the only thing that keeps the oil pump from spinning freely on the shaft is an oil pump arm in between two raised lugs on the inside of the case. The oil pump arm is made of steel and the case is made of magnesium...over time the arm will wear through the lugs and cause the oilpump to spin, breaking the oil pickup tube.

Once the pump no longer has oil to pump, the hub quickly wears through the plastic spacers of the range fork giving the hub "play" which causes it to not engage in reverse because the teeth on the range hub are such that they will grab in one direction and slip in another with the same amount of play (like this.....|\ |\ |\ |\ |\ )

So... as stated above check the fluid in the case...very likely it'll look like liquid silver...then you'll know for sure that it needs a rebuild.

It would be very difficult to service the TC while still mounted to the tranny and you really want to be able to clean out all the magnesium and steel bits so further wear doesn't occur once you've rebuilt the unit.

Check out these

sites:
http://www.technicalevolution.com/borg1356.htm
http://www.wildercafe.com/fordtech/

threads:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=302161
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ighlight=1356+
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ighlight=1356+
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ighlight=1356+
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ighlight=1356+

Good luck and let us know if you need help...also check my gallery for some tc pics.

 

The amazing thing about these forums is the willingness of the members to help one another. The information found here is incredible in both volume and accuracy. It is fairly hard to diagnose some issues on a truck you are standing next to, yet from the experience of the forum members, both younger and older, it gets done in Georgia from Washington state or in Southern California from New Jersey. Just amazing. Oh, and it's gratifying to build contacts while you're at it!

 

Tex, you are absolutely correct. This is the best site I've ever found for us Ford guys to help each other. And BODY9599, thanks for the the great help! I only bought this 91 Bronco on Saturday morning but had already researched the transfer case issue enough to learn about the worn lug problem. But other than it spinning around and losing oil pressure I didn't know what would cause my iffy reverse, gear grinding noise until you explained it. Do you know what year the Broncos went to the 1356 transfer case? I'm looking at one on Ebay (#7952084149) from an 88 Bronco that's close enought for me to drive to pick up but I have not heard back from the guy about what model transfer case it is and I don't want to bid on the wrong model. How do you tell the difference between the 1356 and the 1345 transfer cases? What about an electric shift case, can I chance it to manual shift or not?

 

From what I've read the 80-86 used the 1345 and the 87-93 used the 1356. So the TC from an 88 would work. As far as the manual shift vs electric shift...I've only had to deal with my manual shift so I can't tell you if it's difficult to change over...but you certainly want to keep your manual shift mode.

A better option will probably be to rebuild your own...this guy on ebay sells entire kits for these for 100-130 dollars. I wish I had seen this before rebuilt mine as I spent that much on just a hub, fork and gasket. The kit includes the transmission to TC gasket, the range fork, the range hub, a new oil pump, and a seal kit.

Here is an example of his auction, but for future viewers he can usually be found by typing in 1356 borg warner: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

The advantage to rebuilding vs buying a used one is that you don't know how close the used one is to falling victim to the same fate...which it will do eventually (design flaw)...also it will most likely be cheaper to rebuild.

Let us know what you decide to do.

 

Can any of you guys look at Ebay # 7952084149 and give me any help as to if that transfer case looks like a 1356? I think that "bump" on the far right rear of the case is only on the 1356 but I may be wrong. The auction ends early tomorrow so I'd like to get if it's correct. He says it comes from a 1988 Bronco (so it should be a 1356) but doesn't see any number on it. If I can get it cheap enough I can rebuild it and swap it out plus it's only about 50 miles away from my house. With three Bronco's it couldn't hurt to have a spare one.

 

From what I can see I'd say yes it is the 1356...It would be better with a shot from the other end. Remember...you are going to need to make sure that it comes with the output shaft that you need...some have the flanged type and some are the u joint type.

check these out for better distinction:

http://www.drivetrain.com/transferca...onco Full Size

http://www.drivetrain.com/bw1345transfercasesillust.htm
http://www.drivetrain.com/bw1356transfercasesillust.htm

 

Body9599 Thanks for all of the great links, you've been a big help. I wish I had more time before the auction ended but I don't. It would have been nice just to ride up and look at it. But it's in my area and I hope to get it fairly cheap. I wonder what a used 1356 is worth?