Gears

[HarryMann]

The cup has what seems like a wear lip it definitely bigger inside than at it's lip whist the ball looks ok.

Yup, you're right, that's pretty common on high mileage without a well fitted and sealed boot (tend to need a thin hoseclip and the patience of a Saint to keep it on a diesel cup IME)

You'd be surprised how much lost motion that rear shaft wear combined with the rear bushes causes... shame we can't just rotate the shaft 180°

What we need is a set of platsic or Tufnol bushes to accomodate 40 to 60 thou wear on the shaft (below the 20mm nom).. Ian

I do Ian (want Ally Bronze), but it was a bit tongue in cheek (or ball in cup )

[silverbullet]

I'm not cupping anyone's balls, thank you very much indeed...

[rollercoaster]

Thanks to Aidan for the new ball,
and LHD for a cup,

Been toiling under the van and got it back together,
though it may still need some adjustments.

First the new ball and the cup - when I tested them together showed a fair degree of play in what seemed to be the obvious wear position, (very nearly as much as my old set) however it made me think of changing that position a bit by raising the cup so the ball sits slightly deeper by 1 or 2 mm, then there would be no play at all. First thought was to slot the mounting bolt holes, but then I realised that if the sliding joint had less play then the cup would sit higher, which would help even though I had discounted that from influencing the throw of the backwards and forwards, I can see now that it all needs tightening up, not just one bit.

Somebody does need to work out how to make the cups a serviceable item, if new is no longer available and if it is bushed it would be better than new, seems like an obvious improvement, is there any alternative?

Depressingly the initial drive was disappointing, it went into first fine, I just slipped it gently, the kind of shift that previously wasn't good enough and then changed to second, where did that smooth shift go? Never felt like that before. I marked the bits carefully so the splines went back as they were.. Anyhow it still doesn't always get into first properly with a casual shift and a "lump" is intermittently between first and second now.

It may be that I can fiddle with it and improve things, but the more I look and touch, the more I just want it to be perfect.
As I mentioned the drive shaft seals have been weeping, and they need replacing, I checked the oil level and it was about a cm down, having been filled with new oil recently. What with those seals, a bit of thrust bearing noise, and all that leaking gearbox oil probably making its way to the clutch, (and now I can understand why the engine is always a bit stinky after a run) well...

Its time to get onto Aidans gearbox rebuild waiting list!
When the time comes, is it likely I could happily take the box out myself I wonder..
Or more importantly get it back together changing gear perfectly..
I would hope to replace all the parts of the linkage that i can,
seems like this is a job worth doing well.

I am guessing many people have been through this, any experiences to relate?

[rollercoaster]

Update on progress,

and its good news, due to a combination of :
Previously changing the ball and cup.
New rear onion, (the plastic bush that lets the shaft slide through it)
A top tip from Aidan, a mild version of my idea to slot the holes on the rear onions mounting bracket; Aidan said to assemble loose, then push the mount up (forcing the ball deeper into the cup) before tightening the bolts.
Rotating the shaft where it splits half way down the van round just one spline, and lengthening by a mm.

Sorted.

Next its due for the gearbox overhaul which it needs as its weeping oil from the seals and I guess its done 200K miles.

Shopping around for something to keep the oil topped up in the meantime this is what I came up with from Road Runner:



The oil recommended, that I was looking for anyway 75/90 GL4 just wasnt listed, and I got tired of asking so got GL5.
It was possible to pay £18 for one litre but this one was £19 for 4.5 litres.
Looked at a "cheap" filler pump at £20, but thought these syphons might work, only available in packs of two for £2
Trimmed the length..



Now the whole container and pump slides under upright without jacking the van and pumps in really easily.
Unused oll drains back into container:



Out for a spin yesterday and its shifting fine.

[silverbullet]

You can get 75W90 GL4 easily from Comma, mine came from CAF.

To refill you need about 3-4 foot of clean garden hose and a funnel crammed on the end. Route the hose via the wheel arch (on a syncro) and pour slowly and it can be done in about 15 mins.

No need for those pump things