How to: BW 4405 Transfer Case Rebuild Diary - Comments, Questions and Input Thread

[Glacier991]

Lead in to the 4405 Rebuild Diary Questions and Comments Thread (below)

Well, I have a slew of pictures of a BW 4405 TC disassembly... now I need to educate myself to explain what's in them.

Ya know, everyone starts somewhere in learning new things. I do and have freely admitted I know little about transfer cases. I have long planned to do rebuild diaries on the Borg Warner 1354 and 4405 transfer cases... but the time to educate myself seems fleeting and the fire in the belly needed to get going has been absent.

This weekend I had the chance to assist a member with his stranded vehicle due to a transfer case issue... so I had him drop his old one for me to "rebuild". Trusting soul. Nice young man and a good father by his side to assist (in the dark under the car on asphalt...replacing a TC in the dark. Dad of the Year nomination time if you ask me). Anyway...

Tonight I opened up his 4405 (split the case) carefully (Thank you IZWACK for your wonderful thread and cautions therein). It came apart nicely and I did my usual pictorial of me taking it apart piece by piece, damaging nothing.

I expected to find chaos. But instead things were in pretty good shape. There is a fractured piece (the high low shift collar I have found out it is called) in the Transfer case that wiped out the plastic inserts on the fork, and what looks like a slightly munched gear on one edge... and I confirmed that the helical ramp shaft does in fact oval out the case holes.

So now I need to find out what level of build my young friend wants. Me? I'd do the Omega Machine new case halves, new bearings and replace anything remotely suspect...including without question bearings and bushing(s).... but the call will be his.

As I learn I'll be preparing the Diary, so when I post it I won't appear totally stupid, as I more or less am now. All advice and assistance greatly appreciated... in the next week or two we will have a new Diary.

ps. Meanwhile I have started photographing the 5R55W as well....interesting transmission. That will follow soon after, as well as the finish of the 4R70W Diary.

 

[IZwack]

Subscribing

BTW: "There is a fractured piece in the trans that wiped out the plastic inserts on the fork"

 

[Glacier991]

Old habits DIE hard!! I've fixed it, thanks buddy. Hey YOU are the transfer case Guru.... the piece that the fork moves up and down.... is the bottom of that gear machined with little ramps on each tooth ?

 

[IZwack]

the piece that the fork moves up and down.... is the bottom of that gear machined with little ramps on each tooth ?

If you're talking about this gear, then yeah:

Of course the planetary gear that gear engages is also machined with the same "ramps" on each tooth:

This is why the transmission must be in Neutral when going from 4HI to 4LO -- or else the probability of these two gears engaging each other properly is pretty small. With the transmission in Nuetral, the shift motor has enough torque to "push" this gear into the planetary set which most of the time requires this gear to rotate slightly in order to engage (thanks to the machined "ramps" on each tooth).

Hey YOU are the transfer case Guru....

I think at this point, GIJOECAM knows a lot more than me when it comes to transfer-cases

 

[Xpl0rer]

looking forward to this glacier love ya write ups man, keep up the good work

 

[Glacier991]

That is the piece that has a fracture line in the disc.... seeing your pics... and knowing what you know maybe we should collaborate on the Diary.

ps. Thanks for the encouragement XplOrer!

 

[IZwack]

That is the piece that has a fracture line in the disc.... seeing your pics... and knowing what you know maybe we should collaborate on the Diary.

Just my $0.02 -- I would also check to see whether or not the fork is bent as a fracture in this gear will typically "kick" that gear out of the planetary with quite a bit of force. Hopefully the white plastic (or rubber?) pieces did their job and took some of the shock.

I cant wait to see some pics of the carnage .. I'd be more than happy to throw in what I know but I know little at this point

 

[Glacier991]

I plan to replace the fork anyway. Omega makes one with a longer ramp engagement roller on it. But at first blush the fork looked fine, merely missing one plastic insert and the one left was hardly anything left at all.

 

[IZwack]

I plan to replace the fork anyway. Omega makes one with a longer ramp engagement roller on it. But at first blush the fork looked fine, merely missing one plastic insert and the one left was hardly anything left at all.

Ah yes, I remember your thread about Omega's longer ramp engagement roller One particular thing I'm waiting to see is how you replace the bearings -- thats one thing I said to myself no way I'm getting those things out and buttoned up the two halves

 

[quasarsky]

i'm curious as to what the inside of the one i sent you looks like

 

[Glacier991]

Glacier screws up again

Ok well a little further into complete disassembly.... working on the front case half (the one towards the front of the vehicle installed). The bearing for the front output shaft came out with the help of my 12 ton press... rather nicely in fact... so maybe once I can get the pics up in the diary you can see how to do that one IzWack!

But... (sigh) minor disaster when removing the planetary carrier. I have the FORD CD for 97 (which this TC is) and is said remove the snap ring, and remove the carrier. Well like an idiot I see a snap ring (although for the outer ring that stays in the case) so I remove it.... and the carrier won't come out.

I go back and see that there is a bearing.... hmmm, last one needed the press... so back to the press.... a few good pumps, and VOILA, out pops the planetary carrier... but wait, what's this... a wierd snap ring down INSIDE the case I did not see, and...(sigh) a nice round chunk of magnesium case I broke out with the snap ring and planetary. This case half is toast.

Well look at the brght side. It was a core anyway, and probably has some value as magnesium goes, and I was going to replace the case halves so I guess I lost the difference between scrap value and core.... AND (and this is a big one) YOU WILL SEE WHAT NOT TO DO !!! when you disassemble yours.

(Oh the sacrifices I make for you guys).

I pulled the planetary bushing as it failed the fingernail test. I was shocked how easy it came out. I have pics of that too.

Now for the rear case half. There is a blind bearing for the back end of the front output shaft that needed a large slide hammer setup. While I have some setups for that, I do not have a really BIG one for my BIG slide hammer, and I also hate using a slide hammer to remove bushings and bearings. Since I am replacing all bearings in this anyway maybe I'll let the machine shop remove it, we'll see.

Once I have this all apart I'll run everything thru my parts cleaner with some clean solvent and have it all ready for the new case and new parts to reassemble. As I await parts I can start editing the pictures and sizing them and pretty soon after that start writing the Diary.

This has just been a little precursor and a place to share my frustrations.

ps. It just dawned on me from my earlier inspection that someone has been in this case before. There is a repair near the pump with JB Weld. While it seems to have worked, I doubt this would make an acceptable core just because of that... so maybe I didn't lose anything anyway.

 

[IZwack]

Sorry to hear about the carnage of the casing half

Sounds like the rebuild thread is going to be awesome!

 

[Glacier991]

Anything else I should be aware of in my ignorance?

(I guess what is frustrating is that I have been soo careful with this case... I had full support behind the bearing I pressed out so as not to fracture the brittle case.... and then I go and do THAT !! )

 

[IZwack]

Anything else I should be aware of in my ignorance?

Well you already have the meat of the transfer case out so everything else should be easy from here on.
But seriously, I have nothing much to add

 

[gijoecam]

I think at this point, GIJOECAM knows a lot more than me when it comes to transfer-cases

EEGads!! No! Flattering, thanks.... Maybe about the electronic control side of it, but with the mechanical side, I'm just as clueless as the rest of us sheeple on here! I've perused the prints, and compared them side by side to note some of the differences across the years, but until I've had my hands in the guts of a 44-05, I'm not elevating myself to 'guru' status LOL!

I'd love to get my hands on one cheap just to take apart... same for a 44-06 AWD case just out of some mis-guided morbid curiosity.

Subscribed....

 

[Glacier991]

BEGINNING of the 4405 TC Rebuild Diary Comments, Questions and Input Thread

This thread from this point on is where, as you read the 4405 Diary, you should post your comments, questions, point out mistajes, make suggestions and in general post things you might otherwise be tempted to post within the Diary itself.

Open season.

Example: "You mis-spelled 'mistakes' in your first sentence above dummy."

 

[quasarsky]

post a sticky lol

 

[Glacier991]

When it is done the Diary will become a sticky. The linked threads off of it (including this one and any others if there are any others besides this one) will just float unstickied - and be accessed by people from the Diary 99% of the time. I mean makes little sense to post into a comment thread on a Diary you have never seen, right?


ps. I am opening yours this weekend. Describe again your symptoms and we all can guess what I will find inside IT.

 

[Glacier991]

I will try and get the diassembly portion of the Diary posted this weekend. I have been pricing parts for a rebuild. The "Hi-Low Collar" as FORD calls it needs to be replaced ($40), and while the input shaft (which has a geared end on it) *MAY* be reuseable, it looked buggered up enough to me to warrant replacement. It's pricey, $110. The bearing set is about $60, Gaskets about $20. I plan to use the Omega upgraded shift fork ($50) and new remanufactured Omega case halves with the upgrades (price as yet uncertain). I have not decided whether to replace the chain ($60). I may buy a chain and show the slack on a brand new chain as a point of reference for us all. I figure the snap rings etc will run another $20.

Actually, as I am building this for my young friend, he will need to sign off on this... but I think it will be worthwhile to him to have a reman'd unit. Anyway I will run all this by him this weekend if possible.

As for me, I have used this Diary as my excuse to buy something I have long wanted - a set of blind hole pullers. I should have them next week.

Anyway, as I see it, with these parts replaced, this TC will be as good as, or better than new. Equal to a remanufactured one in any event best as I can figure out. The one thing I am not inclined to fool with is the clutch. FORD makes it clear that whenever possible "leave it alone". Knowing what I know of clutches, the friction material is likely fine, so I am tempted to heed FORD's own advice to their techs.

 

[Glacier991]

Well teardown is complete. Other than my one screw up, it wasn't all that bad. I have approximately 125 pictures I need to edit, cleanup, crop and resize then upload here to my gallery so I can start the thread.