Pulling Dana 300 out of Scout and replacing seals

J

jmalloy

Member
Hello -

I have a 1980 turbo diesel traveler with a t-19 in front of the Dana 300 (single stick). The Dana 300 is leaking from (at least) the front drive shaft seal.

I have a new set of seals. I'd like to pull the transfer case, clean it, inspect it, and either replace the seals or decide it needs to be fully rebuilt. I've never pulled a transmission or transfer case before and I've hit a seemingly trivial issue that's got me stumped: how do you remove the shift arm?

It seems like it ought to be removed before I drop the transfer case, but it's not clear to me how to do so. I gave up this morning just before leaving on a trip, and I won't be back in front of the Scout until next weekend. I can post pictures then. I'll also try to post pictures as I go through this process.

I own the manuals, and I have read them. I've searched this site and the web in general, but most posts start with the t/c sitting on a bench, already missing the shift arm or show shift arms that are different from the one on the Scout.

Since I've already started asking questions, what other "gotchas" am I likely to run into? I know the t/c weighs about 80 pounds. I've removed both driveshafts. I'll disconnect the speedo cable. The 4wd indicator isn't hooked up, or I'd remove it too. Once everything else is off, I'll drain the fluid and then pull the 4 bolts holding the t/c to the transmission. In theory, I should then be able to slide it back (while fully supporting the weight) and down to the ground.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
--jim
 
Don't have a 300, but I would think that the lever comes off the same way on a d20, so I will offer up advice

between the shift rails, on the front of the unit, there is a bolt. Loosen this bolt, and then you should be able to grab hold of the grease fitting and pull it and the shaft that the shift lever rides on out releasing the lever.

On the passenger side (if the 300 is like the 20), there is a small bolt at about 4 o'clock or so that sits in a recess and faces opposite of all the other bolts. If you dont excavate all the crud and remove this bolt, you will spend a while wondering why the heck the transfer case wont budge when you have all the bolts out.
 
Thanks!

I found the bolt you mentioned between the shift rails. Curiously, it's not listed or shown in the manual - although the bolt hole is drawn in the diagram. The grease fitting and shaft didn't want to budge and I didn't want to force it. Also. It doesn't look like there's enough room between the t/c and the hump to slide it all of the way out. The po replaced a bunch of sheet metal, perhaps the clearance has changed... I'll figure something out.

Are you saying there are five bolts holding the t/c to the transmission, or that one of the four is "backward"? I can handle backwards, but think I'd go crazy if I missed one completely.

I'll let you know how the removal goes next weekend.
 
It is not uncommon to have to drop the tc first before you can remove the shifter.

There are 5 bolts that hold the tc to the trans. Take a look at the texas shaped gasket that goes between the two and it will show you where the bolts are located. The one in the 4 or 5 oclock position is the one that is hidden and turned the opposite way on the trans
 
Thanks!

Not sure why I decided there were only four bolts... Happy to be corrected before I started rather than after I got frustrated:)

I still can't touch the Scout until this weekend at the earliest. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
Ok -

I'm finally back in the same state as the Scout, and I had a little time this morning to work on pulling the transfer case.

There appear to be four 9/16" bolts at roughly (looking from the back of the Scout) 2:00, 5:00 ("reverse" bolt from front of Scout), 8:00 and 11:00. The bolts at 8 and 11 are easy to get to. I have loosened both 1/2 turn just to make sure they would budge. The reverse bolt at 5:00 was annoying, I ended up supporting the transmission and dropping the cross member to give me room to get a wrench on it. My problem is the fourth bolt - if it is where I think it is, I have no idea how to get a wrench on it.

I think the last bolt is under the bracket on the right in the attached picture. If so, I'm not sure how to get a wrench on it - no room for a socket, and no room to swing a box or open ended wrench because of the bracket sitting there. Am I actually looking at the right spot for the last bolt?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

--jim
 

Attachments

  • t case fourth bolt5.jpg
    t case fourth bolt5.jpg
    62.5 KB · Views: 1,856

Attachments

  • d300bullgear.JPG
    d300bullgear.JPG
    61.7 KB · Views: 2,325
jmalloy said:
Once everything else is off, I'll drain the fluid and then pull the 4 bolts holding the t/c to the transmission. In theory, I should then be able to slide it back (while fully supporting the weight) and down to the ground.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
--jim
Click to expand...

Jim,

have you verified that this is a satisfactory method for removal of the tc? I didn't see it specifically confirmed here and I will be doing the same thing this evening (d20). I want to make sure that it won't fall on my face when I have it all unbolted:yikes:

also, can the reverse be used for reinstall? (assuming I can lift 80 pounds!)
 
My apologies for not completing the thread. I have some pictures that May be useful as well.

The bolt at the 2:00 position was a bear to remove. I had to lower the t/c in order to get clearance for a wrench. Newbie error - I didn't account for the clutch linkage being connected to both the frame and the bell housing. It doesn't like to move that much. Either take this into account or plan on purchasing new bushings (which ihon sells!).


The t/c didn't even budge when I removed the bolts. I had to lift and twist while pulling back to get it off. I did successfully drop the t/c onto my chest and then rolled in onto the floor. It wasn't hard to do.

Putting it back was a little trickier. I cut the head off of a spare bolt and inserted it into the bolt hole at the 8:00 position to use as a guide. Even with that, meshing up the gears and sliding the t/c up to the transmission without twisting or folding the gasket was a bit challenging.

I also ended up acquiring a hydraulic press for the rebuild. There is no way I could have disassembled and reassembled the gears/bearings without it. Well, reassembly wouldn't have been to bad, but disassembly wasn't happening.

The t/c is back in the Scout and working great. I do have a very small leak from the rear seal. Fixing that is about #10 on my list of things to deal with:)
 
Thanks for the info jim. I'm in the middle of taking mine off the 727 now. The 5th bolt at the 1 o'clock position is unbearable. I'm getting close to throwing tools. It's sunk down in over a hump in the tc and too close to the housing to fit a wrench. I can fit a socket but it's recessed so I can't fit the anything to the socket....what pita...I have no idea how I'm going to get this one off. I knew this removal was too easy to be true.

Jason
 
Yup -

that one stumped me too. Unbolting the transmission support cross member and lowering the whole setup several inches gave me enough clearance to get to the bolt and also to remove the shift lever. I have a t-19, not a 727. Your mileage May vary.

If I'd had the time and money, I might have pulled the transmission at the same time. Mine still needs to be rebuilt. The synchros are shot. I'd bet that last bolt is easy to get to without a truck in the way...
 
Got it! Wow what a bad idea to put a bolt there. Tc slid right off. Power washed it (still petrified mud on it) and have it sitting on the bench and ready for tear down. I would like to rebuild the torqueflite as well but it's just not in the cards right now. Putting a new l/r servo pivot pin o-ring, transgo tf-2, and servo mod. I hope that keeps it purring for a while. I'm going to use the same method as you to reinstall the tc, I'm just hoping I can invite someone over to pull up on the shift lever while I'm lining up the bolts to take up some of the weight.....if not I'll just work with what I have.
 
I'd be willing to bet that the folks who (used to) do this kind of thing for a living have some nifty tool that can reach that bolt with no problem.

I like the idea of having a second set of hands around. I could certainly have used one. If it were me, I'd throw a rope around the case rather than pulling on the shift lever. While the connections seem pretty beefy there's no reason to stress them, and the shifter is not even close to the center of mass.

Good luck!
 
Oh, I'm sure your right. I tried some flexibly extension on my socket and destroyed it. I finally got it to spin with my erwin specialty socket. (bites down on the head) and then I finished it with a stubby wrench:icon_gonk:

the extension housing, valve body, and tc are all sitting on my workbench now. The scary thing is when I pulled the rear servo pivot pin o-ring it didn't look like there was anything wrong with it.....have no idea why it leaked. I sure hope the new one will work. I'm not pulling all this again for a silly o-ring. The shift kit and tc rebuild where my only excuses this time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top