You will absolutely need an fsm that covers this transmission. The dis-assembly and reassembly procedure covers 42 pages. All but a very few illustrations are clear and concise, I only noted one error in the inspection/repair area and one slight omission in the rebuild area.
This is in a 2001 dodge ram fsm, I do not know if there was a change between earlier than 99 nv3500's and 2001 to make this technically correct in the 01 manual.
The first error is:
correction. the counter shaft bearings and races do come in the rebuild kit. You need a pilot bearing puller to remove the races and a good bearing driver to seat them in. freezing the races is advisable as is heating the case if you can.
you do need all of the special tools the fsm outlines.
if you aren't doing the shift rail bushings, WHICH DO NOT COME IN THE MASTER REBUILD KIT, you don't need a couple of the special depth setting bushing installers.
shift rail bushings don't seem to wear out much. unless there's more serious mechanical damage than even i noted, i doubt you'll be into that at all.
Taking my time, with a gimpy helper, the correct tools, and a not too cluttered shop the rebuild took around 12hrs. Without the special tools, especially the fixture stand, I don't think i could have gotten it done in less than 18hrs.
If I didn't have the special tools I would have needed to still have a good set of bearing/seal drivers, a bunch of different diameters of pipe for on the press, and three sets of monkey hands.
starting dis-assembly
(I assume you've managed to get this thing on a work bench, with the shift tower already off)
trans MUST be in neutral before you start dis-assembly
.
you can now either use a punch to push the locating dowels through and slide the case half off, or use a dead blow to pop the front half off the pins, up to you. You'll need to remove the dowels for re-installation of the case halves anyways later.
This is with the front case half removed and the 3/4 shift fork, shift bushing, and rail already out.
As seen in that last pic.
Now comes the fun.
This is in a 2001 dodge ram fsm, I do not know if there was a change between earlier than 99 nv3500's and 2001 to make this technically correct in the 01 manual.
The first error is:
the fsm further goes on to explain that the races are "permanent" press fit into the housing and can not be removed.
correction. the counter shaft bearings and races do come in the rebuild kit. You need a pilot bearing puller to remove the races and a good bearing driver to seat them in. freezing the races is advisable as is heating the case if you can.
you do need all of the special tools the fsm outlines.
if you aren't doing the shift rail bushings, WHICH DO NOT COME IN THE MASTER REBUILD KIT, you don't need a couple of the special depth setting bushing installers.
shift rail bushings don't seem to wear out much. unless there's more serious mechanical damage than even i noted, i doubt you'll be into that at all.
Taking my time, with a gimpy helper, the correct tools, and a not too cluttered shop the rebuild took around 12hrs. Without the special tools, especially the fixture stand, I don't think i could have gotten it done in less than 18hrs.
If I didn't have the special tools I would have needed to still have a good set of bearing/seal drivers, a bunch of different diameters of pipe for on the press, and three sets of monkey hands.
starting dis-assembly
(I assume you've managed to get this thing on a work bench, with the shift tower already off)
trans MUST be in neutral before you start dis-assembly
- There are either 10 or 12 bolts around the center split of the case to remove, only the ones facing back to front are removed here, the others hold bits into the rear half and need to stay there till later.
- Remove the reverse light switch now while you're nearby.
- Remove the shift rail detent plug. This requires a special puller. Specific procedure is in the fsm, pay attention as pulling at an angle will destroy the tool.
- Remove the shift fork bushing lock bolt on top
.
- Remove the input shaft cover/throw out bearing guide.
- Remove the lock ring around the input shaft holding the input bearing in.
NOTE: there is a lock ring around the od of that bearing you can see from the front. This is only used to set mounting depth and doesn't retain the bearing in the housing. This caused a few minutes of pause when we were trying to disassemble the case originally without the aid of the fsm.
you can now either use a punch to push the locating dowels through and slide the case half off, or use a dead blow to pop the front half off the pins, up to you. You'll need to remove the dowels for re-installation of the case halves anyways later.
This is with the front case half removed and the 3/4 shift fork, shift bushing, and rail already out.
- The shift socket and shift bushing are held on the rail with roll pins.
- Remove the shift socket first.
- Tilt it towards the drivers side so that you have room to drive it through. The fsm calls for a special pin press vise here, a standard set of pin punches works just fine though.
- Now you can rotate the shift bushing enough to drive it's pin out without driving it into a gear.
- At this point you can now pull the shift rail, 3/4 fork, and shift bushing. Remove the shift socket from the tower hole also.
As seen in that last pic.
- Remove the reverse idler retainer bolt and retainer(half moon shaped deal)
- At this point you're ready for that sweet 150$(used) fixture and adapters.
- Make sure the cup for the reverse idler is in the fixture and adjusted kinda low.
- Insert the input shaft and counter shaft into their respective adapters and seat the trans on the fixture while its still horizontal.
- Now get a helper and tip the whole thing up onto the fixture base.
- Adjust the idler cup so that it seats on that shaft.
Now comes the fun.
- Remove the output seal with a slide hammer and corkscrew seal puller attachment.
- Remove output bearing lock ring.
Once again, just like with t-case work, a very good set of lock ring pliers, in a medium or large size, is invaluable here.
- One more bolt retains the reverse idler and now the case just slips off.