white-rhino
Older than dirt
I've got a weird situation happening, and seems to be getting worse. TH350 with TCI RVMB. Art Carr shifter. 1800-2000 stall converter. This trans was installed back around June with no issues. 6-8 weeks ago I pull the buggy out of the garage to load up. I need to turn around in the driveway and when I shift from reverse to 1st it seemed to bind up like it was struggling to find gears. Basically wouldn't move. I shifted all the way to third and it moved forward but going either direction it was binding. Sorta like if you have ever not fully shifted, it's between gears. I though I might be binding up because I was in 4wd and turning sharp in on the pavement but even in 2wd rear dig or 2wd front dig, it did the same. Then the problem miraculously went away. WTF? I wheeled for the full day with no issues. Odd............
This happened a couple times. Threw the buggy on the hoist and found the shift arm a little loose on the shift rod. Hmmm....... this must be it. Tightened it up, no change. I've wheeled it about 3 times with the same issue. Sticky when cold, then seems to solve itself. This last time, after shifting all the way to third to get it to move, it found neutral at the 1st position and reverse at the neutral position. Then all of a sudden it's working.
So I pulled the pan to look for issues. Can't find a thing. Sorta....... Having the wife go through the shift pattern, I found that the shift cable was off by one revolution to fit perfectly when the trans was in gear and the detent roller was properly seated in the rooster cogs. I can't believe that is the issue. I think it's a standard 1/4-28 thread, so one rev is .036". Is that enough to be off? I don't think so, and there are a couple reasons why. When the shift arm was sloppy, the roller would have self centered in the rooster cog. Also the Art Carr shifter can allow for a little play. And, when I look at the throw of the spool, I wouldn't think .036" would be enough to be off. And as noted below, the shifter position seems to be off by almost a full gearshift position.
I've searched on line and only found one thread from several years ago on (the other site) where someone said the adjustments are really fussy. OK, running with that, why did it work OK from June to December with no issues, and now it's an issue? And I don't think I made any adjustments to the linkage when I swapped transmissions, so I think it's had the same adjustment for a long time.
I've talked to my trans guy Tom, who has built a lot of U4 transmissions and he thinks it's all in my linkage and there is nothing in the valve body that can be doing this. But again, why has it worked OK in the past?
A disclaimer; the previous trans had a major issue when the torque converter took a shit. Some may remember from last April when I was frantically looking for parts while at Sand Hollow. This is the replacement trans and although we worked hard at flushing the trans cooler and lines, there was still a little debris in the pan and on the filter when I pulled it this time. BUT ............ the spool shifts smoothly by hand.
I saw people bashing TCI on a facebook rock crawler page but when I asked what the issues were, I didn't get any responses.
Anyone have a similar issue?
Thoughts?
This happened a couple times. Threw the buggy on the hoist and found the shift arm a little loose on the shift rod. Hmmm....... this must be it. Tightened it up, no change. I've wheeled it about 3 times with the same issue. Sticky when cold, then seems to solve itself. This last time, after shifting all the way to third to get it to move, it found neutral at the 1st position and reverse at the neutral position. Then all of a sudden it's working.
So I pulled the pan to look for issues. Can't find a thing. Sorta....... Having the wife go through the shift pattern, I found that the shift cable was off by one revolution to fit perfectly when the trans was in gear and the detent roller was properly seated in the rooster cogs. I can't believe that is the issue. I think it's a standard 1/4-28 thread, so one rev is .036". Is that enough to be off? I don't think so, and there are a couple reasons why. When the shift arm was sloppy, the roller would have self centered in the rooster cog. Also the Art Carr shifter can allow for a little play. And, when I look at the throw of the spool, I wouldn't think .036" would be enough to be off. And as noted below, the shifter position seems to be off by almost a full gearshift position.
I've searched on line and only found one thread from several years ago on (the other site) where someone said the adjustments are really fussy. OK, running with that, why did it work OK from June to December with no issues, and now it's an issue? And I don't think I made any adjustments to the linkage when I swapped transmissions, so I think it's had the same adjustment for a long time.
I've talked to my trans guy Tom, who has built a lot of U4 transmissions and he thinks it's all in my linkage and there is nothing in the valve body that can be doing this. But again, why has it worked OK in the past?
A disclaimer; the previous trans had a major issue when the torque converter took a shit. Some may remember from last April when I was frantically looking for parts while at Sand Hollow. This is the replacement trans and although we worked hard at flushing the trans cooler and lines, there was still a little debris in the pan and on the filter when I pulled it this time. BUT ............ the spool shifts smoothly by hand.
I saw people bashing TCI on a facebook rock crawler page but when I asked what the issues were, I didn't get any responses.
Anyone have a similar issue?
Thoughts?
