Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 07-13-2016, 03:47 AM   #31
JWA
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Reynoldsburg, Ohio
Posts: 3,765
Send a message via Yahoo to JWA
Anyone reading this thread and looking for ATF check your local Ford dealership---that's right. When I did the Mark Kovalsky full flush method last year on two 4R70W's I saved just about $2.50 a quart through my close-by dealership even after a small discount I receive through NAPA. I was stunned at the price difference.

No guarantee that'll be the cheaper route but always worth a phone call.

JWA is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2016, 08:17 AM   #32
Senior Member
 
MadScience's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Peninsula
Posts: 809
That depends on which fluid you're looking for. BTS wanted Schaefer's 204SAT. Ford dealers are unlikely to have that, but it's actually not expensive mail order, I just got unlucky with multiple shipments being packed poorly.

And yes, when you're buying 18-23 quarts (4r100 + np208), small changes in price add up.
__________________

'99 EB ex ENG KSWB news van, low rent 4x4 conversion (mostly fixed by now), home built interior.
MadScience is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2016, 08:15 PM   #33
Senior Member
 
MadScience's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Peninsula
Posts: 809
Because everything has to turn into a scavenger hunt, the shop ran into a wall figuring out the output shaft seal on the transfer case. Mind you, they were the ones that suggested replacing them to begin with.

So I started looking today at 5. I think I have the right part in hand, I'll confirm the fit tomorrow when the shop is open again. However, both the outside diameter, thickness and the number on the gasket of a timken / national 9449 seem to match what as on my np208.
__________________

'99 EB ex ENG KSWB news van, low rent 4x4 conversion (mostly fixed by now), home built interior.
MadScience is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-19-2016, 12:15 AM   #34
Senior Member
 
MadScience's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Peninsula
Posts: 809
That was the right seal and I got the van back on Thursday.

I then worked until 3 am loading the van and getting an electronic speedo signal translator to work with the output from the transmission rather than the transfer case. Now it will shift correctly in low range. (Previously it was very confused, would not shift and would sometimes want to stay in second gear for a while after shifting back ). Yes, the speedo is now off in low range, but I'm usually not too worried about speeding when I'm in low range. Since it involved running wires to roughly the same places, I installed a transmission temperature gauge at the same time.

Finally I took the thing camping for three days starting on Friday. The transmission seems nice, and handled the 20 miles of dirt road and four miles of trail just fine. I came up Donner pass and was able to get the fluid to heat up by driving like I was asking for it. However, as soon as I backed off a little, it cooled right back down.

Watching both the new gauge (fluid temp in pan) and the scangauge (fluid temp about to exit the transmission) is interesting. As long as there's a spread, things are fine. When getting closer to 200 (which I have accepted as the top end of acceptable for a 4r100) they start to converge, which makes some sense and suggests that that's roughly where my cooling starts to break down.

Camping was wonderful. It's someone else's (legit) secret spot that I was invited to, so no trip report.

So, I'm happy with the end result.
__________________

'99 EB ex ENG KSWB news van, low rent 4x4 conversion (mostly fixed by now), home built interior.
MadScience is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-30-2016, 10:31 PM   #35
Senior Member
 
MadScience's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Peninsula
Posts: 809
Hopefully this is finally all done now, fluid was leaking from the extension housing gasket. So I had the shop that did the install pull the transfer case back out. Here's what they found:



That's a spring lip seal, which is most certainly not on there in the correct orientation to keep fluid in. Sigh.

Nonetheless, I now have die in the transfer case so if there's any more leaking, I'll know where it's coming from.
__________________

'99 EB ex ENG KSWB news van, low rent 4x4 conversion (mostly fixed by now), home built interior.
MadScience is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2017, 08:43 PM   #36
Senior Member
 
MadScience's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Peninsula
Posts: 809
OK, hopefully the final chapter in all of this, the transfer case continued to seep. I handed to the van to a shop with real debugging skills, a week ago. They managed to figure out that that np208 won't seal correctly, against the cutout for fastening the bolts to the transmission, on the bottom of the stock Ford 4wd extension housing. This may be something to generally watch out for when mixing and matching transfer cases. That cutout is huge.

They added some material to the extension housing in that area with a welder and machined the surface flat. This seems to have resolved that leak completely.

They also replaced the slip yoke on the output side which had been seeping just a bit since I got the van. That forced a drive shaft re-balance at which point I had them do the u-joints as well. In hindsight, while I could have lived with the seeping slip yoke, the new u-joints feel wonderful compared to the old ones.

So far the van is completely dry now.

The other outcome here is that I seem to have found a shop in on the peninsula that is both willing to deal with the van (which is big and heavy) and can improvise when things go off-script due to non-factory modifications. Pricing also seemed reasonable given the amount of work involved.

Edit: The BTS transmission is doing just fine as well. In fact shifting seems to have improved after break in.
__________________

'99 EB ex ENG KSWB news van, low rent 4x4 conversion (mostly fixed by now), home built interior.
MadScience is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2017, 08:59 PM   #37
Senior Member
 
larrie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Oregon Ciry Oregon
Posts: 2,843
Glad to hear that the issue is finely resolved and especially that you found a shop that you can trust.
__________________
Larrie
Read detailed trip reports, see photos and videos on my travel blog, luinil.com.
Current van: 2002 Ford E350 extended body camper with Colorado Camper Van pop top and Agile Offroad 4WD conversion.
larrie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2017, 02:47 PM   #38
Member
 
wl1193's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 97
What is the name of the shop?
wl1193 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2017, 06:09 PM   #39
Senior Member
 
MadScience's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Peninsula
Posts: 809
wl1193: I've sent you a PM.

I'll share names publicly after more than a couple positive interactions, I don't want to have to back-pedal publicly.

Anyone else looking for a pointer, feel free to PM me.
__________________

'99 EB ex ENG KSWB news van, low rent 4x4 conversion (mostly fixed by now), home built interior.
MadScience is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-17-2017, 09:58 PM   #40
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Durango, Colduhrado
Posts: 685
MTBike Roamer... can you PM me the name of your shop??
__________________
All things being equal - fat people use more soap.
eddyturn is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:28 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.