Heath's M35A2... the beginning

[tk748462]

Congrats!!

Glad you got what you wanted!! Once you get her to where you want her, people will stare at you even more, especially with having any military truck, people just can't seem to believe anybody can own one, or they are very interested in them. I'll admit it, I like all the attention, even the boys with really nice rides will sit there and stare!! I really hope you love looking at, driving, and owning your truck as much as I do!! Good luck to you on all your missions. "If you think you can, or you think you can't, either way your right. It's the thinking that makes it so." - Henry Ford

 

[Heath_h49008]

Update:

I got some time to work on her today... The trans fluid is VERY full and milky. She still won't go into 3rd until she hits 20mph when downshifting... she upshifts as well as I expect a 40 year old truck to shift. The oil on the clutch was definitely from the trans. It was so overfull when I pulled the fill plug, it puked like I had pulled a drain.

The seller has offered to swap the trans if it turn out to be bad... (Because he is awesome like that) It looks like Saturday or Sunday I'm pulling the top cover and doing as much of an inspection as I can and draining the fluid through some paint filters to see how much metal she has chewed. It's almost like she ingested water somehow... but that makes ZERO sense to me. The axles should be waterlogged long before a trans. I also highly doubt this truck was ever in much water.


Axle lube is great... no leaks, and the front axle looks like fresh fluid, the tandems good used fluid. Found one U-joint with a trashed dust boot... seems tight but she's a goner sooner than later.


Oh yeah... parking brake cable is broken. Meh... that's minor.

 

[nk14zp]

If it sat for a while with no cab roof on it maybe the water got in around the shifter boot.

 

[Heath_h49008]

The way I look at it from the outside, the synchro isn't spinning the 3rd gear up like it should for engagement. That could be because the contaminated fluid is raising cob with the synchro doing so, or because it has failed. Maybe both.

With any luck, it's just the fluid level and thickness. I'll know more when I open her up, degrease the inside and inspect the gears and metal in the oil.

Unless someone else has a theory how the fluidlevel got this high and turned to the color/consistency of Milk caramel/maple syrup.

 

[caliber1]

Heath, if is milky, that pretty much means it got water in there from somewhere. Hope it's something simple bro.

 

[RedbeardTheZombieHunter]

May your drained gear oil be chunk-free!

 

[Heath_h49008]

Guys, any ideas for something to flush the tranny with to clean it out? Diesel? Kerosene? gasoline? Mineral spirits? I'm thinking brake parts cleaner might be a bit too expensive and when every last drop of old lube is gone cause problems with my pushing gears back and forth by hand looking for something screwed up.

 

[gungearz]

Hey Heath, get a gallon of parts cleaner from menards and use that. Gas, diesel, and kerosene will deteriorate o rings and seals. Parts cleaner or degreaser with elbow grease is the best bet. Dennis is definitely cool like that. If its not a pain for you to drop the trans, Dennis will give you an exectionally well tranny. He sent me parts also. I offered to pay for them and he wouldn't take my money...

 

[Heath_h49008]

Great idea!

I'm not looking forward to dropping a trans. I also don't want Dennis to be out a trans. He had no way of knowing there was water in the bottom of that beast until I drove it and it emulsified...

If I can clean it, and save it, I will. Better for all involved.

 

[gungearz]

Agreed... I'm the same way.

 

[Heath_h49008]

Well... Hmm... I'm calling it a day a bit early.

A: Rain on and off put a crimp in some of the plans.
B: This video shows you guys what I'm looking at.

I mixed some gasoline into the gear oil cake-batter I got out and will let that sit to (hopefully) de-emulsify enough that I can filter it and look for metal.


[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhJ-oDr9k0U&feature=youtu.be[/media]

 

[Rambling Wreck]

Great idea!

I'm not looking forward to dropping a trans. I also don't want Dennis to be out a trans. He had no way of knowing there was water in the bottom of that beast until I drove it and it emulsified...

If I can clean it, and save it, I will. Better for all involved.

Good luck with it Heath. That is a great attitude you have and I wish more people would approach problems like that instead of taking the easy way out. It is great that Dennis would give you another transmission but it is really awesome that in spite of that you still choose to try and fix the one you have.

 

[Big Z]

We've filled modern t-cases with only straight diesel, and drove 'em a ways to do flushes without problems...I can't say I've put it in a deuce transmission, or let it sit in there over time, but I would think it'd be fine to do a flush with.

 

[Heath_h49008]

I might try a gallon or so of diesel in her tomorrow and fire her up and run it through the gears a couple of times with the T-case in neutral.

Then drain that out, and see what I have from the top when I pull the cover.

Sound rational? After I filter and settle the diesel for a few months I can even put it back into the tank. LOL (No, I won't. Too paranoid about damaging the HH with fine metal shavings.)

 

[Heath_h49008]

Well. It isn't pretty.

Every gear/synchro surface was rust pitted. The top cover was coated in rust debris and water emulsion.

Considering I just ran her almost 200 miles, I'm almost surprised it's in this good of shape.

Opinions? Run it 'till it chunks? It's not that bad? Swap it now?

Video: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqTKoHO2Oyk&feature=youtu.be[/media]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXcfiO7A6BY&feature=plcp[/media]

 

[Marcel]

Swap it now.

 

[Heath_h49008]

Here's the top cover and what is in the oil.

I misspoke when I said DRMO... I meant depot, as in Toole or another proper rebuild shop.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqMI4EbMrec&feature=youtu.be[/media]

 

[Heath_h49008]

I'm going to replace it.

From what I can see, it just isn't economically viable to try to replace all those gears with pitted surfaces. By the time I pull it all apart I'll have done more work and spent considerably more money than just swapping it out.

How soon I can possibly do it is another question.

I'm really not looking forward to this, for more than one reason.

Unless someone has an idea to save this one? Anybody?

 

[Dukeman]

Replace it, you won't regret that decision if you have something solid lined up. Like you already know, opening a transmission and replacing synchros, bearings and seals is one thing. Replacing gears gets real expensive real fast. Add in your time and its a no brainer. Yeah, its heavy. Get some help, go slow and you will be back in action.

 

[Heath_h49008]

I just sent the dreaded email to Dennis with the details.


Thank you to M-35tom and everyone else who gave me the straight but tough answers on the trans rather than offer to sell me a bunch of parts to try to patch it together. Your honesty and integrity over making a quick parts sale are too rare in today's world.

Thank you all.

I will post more as I progress.