Let's play "What's wrong with it now?!"

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adaml23

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So I'm just gonna start a new thread since my other ones on the topic probably sound like a bunch of random, frantic jibberish - because they were... :sorry:

Its a 1979 1/2 ton Scottsdale 400 motor with TH350/203 (no part-time kit currently) that my Dad bought new. It has sat now for ~8 yrs. I got 3.73 3/4 ton axles for it earlier this year (because the rear was shot). It had 3.08s originally. I replaced the rear axle and disconnected the front driveshaft planning on just driving 2wd for the winter until I could clean/paint/rebuild the new front axle over the winter and put it in in the spring not realizing the 203 is full time.

When the tcase is in Lo or Hi it wouldn't move at all. When in lo-loc or hi-loc and shifting into D or L2, the truck tried to move forward but acted like a clutch is slipping or something. But if I put it in L1 or reverse it'll clunk hard into gear and move normally. Occasionally, it would make a horrible banging/grinding noise when trying to put it in reverse.

After realizing the full-time tcase thing, I thought "Great! I just need to install the new front axle and connect the driveshaft and it should be fine"... Well I got the different axle put in yesterday but its doing the same thing! As I attempted to go down the road a little bit, I could manually up-shift and it, but it slipped a little but then shifted. I initially thought it might be the tcase but after it slipped when manually shifting, I'm thinking the tranny may be the problem. It was about 4 qts low when I initially checked it after sitting for the ~8 years.

Oh and the original front axle didn't have manual hubs. The new front axle does have manual hubs installed but I checked and they were turned to LOCK.

Any thoughts?

I hope this is a little more coherent of a thread...:)
 

PrairieDrifter

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Running a full time transfer case with out the front driveshaft is a big nono haha. Im not sure if you can run a full time transfer case without having automatic locking hubs in the front.. But don't quote me on that.
 

firebane

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Running a full time transfer case with out the front driveshaft is a big nono haha. Im not sure if you can run a full time transfer case without having automatic locking hubs in the front.. But don't quote me on that.

You can.. Not recommended for long periods of time. But it honestly sounds like his transmission is shot.
 

adaml23

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Yea I only drove the truck around the house one time before stopping. It didn't move much without the front shaft in.
 

PrairieDrifter

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Yea I only drove the truck around the house one time before stopping. It didn't move much without the front shaft in.

My fault I thought it has been driven around a bunch without the front driveshaft.. not just around the yard lol.

It seems strange that the trans was 4 qts low. It could have just been from temperature change.
 

crazy4offroad

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Agreed it sounds like a trans rebuild in the near future. Might as well convert to an NP205 while you're at it. Might be easier to buy them paired together already than piecework.
 

adaml23

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So looking around, I found a th350/205 combo (still mated together) with the tranny rebuilt ~5000k ago. They're asking $450 for both of them. Does that seem like a good price?
 

mistaake

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Is there paperwork and warranty on that? If not, it seems very risky.
 

PrairieDrifter

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Make sure its a 205, and not a 203. the 205 has a circle cover with three bolts on the back side of the transfer case and the 203 does not.
 

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