Replacing the Viscous Coupling in a 4410

[Dignan]

I have a mountaineer with a locked up viscous coupling. My tranny shop wanted 700 bucks for the part and 500 bucks to put it in. Suffice it to say, I told them no.

So I'm going to do it myself. I bought a coupling from www.stecouplers.com for 270. I've searched this sight and the web for some directions and/or pictures. I saw a thread in which someone said that it was a matter of opening the case, pulling the chain, sliding out the old VC, and assemble in reverse order. Sounds pretty simple, but I've never opened a transfer case. If anybody has a link to a good write up or has some pictures or insight, I would love to hear it.

 

[jrford]

more write-ups on BW4404 same thing and very similar . . .might help.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=225515

 

[Dignan]

I've read through some of those and they are the reason I decided to try it myself in the first place because gavin made it look so easy.

I guess the only hesitations I have from going outside now and taking things apart are:
1. Are the 4404 and the 4410 related closely enough for me to rely on the 4404 write-up when working on a 4410?
2. Do all the pieces just slide apart and then back together or will I need a press or any other special tools?
3. Should I rebuild it while I'm in there or is it simple enough that I can just pop it open again when I want to rebuild it (i.e. when the repair fund recovers from all the other crap I've been doing and still need to do to the car)? If its better to do it all at once I can wait a few weeks before doing the coupling, but I'd rather not wait because I don't like driving with it binding on that front driveline that I just paid a bunch of money to rebuild.

 

[my pos mounty]

Would this help?
BW 4410 exploded view
http://www.rsgear.com/products/ep-diagrams/borg_4410tod.asp

compare it to this: BW 4404
http://www.transtarindustries.com/catDownload.asp?ID=651

 

[Dignan]

Thanks for those links. They do look fairly similar. Does anyone know if I need special tools?

 

[IZwack]

Most transfer cases do not really require special tools. The only thing thats "special" are probably the Torx bit for the external bolts and tools to deal with the (rather large) snap rings - but I'm sure you can inovate with some screwdrivers and metal picks. Oh and obviously air tools help during case disassembly and assembly just because sometimes its hard to prevent the case from spinning and there are quite a number of bolts holding the two-case halves together - so air tools just makes this part go a lot faster.

 

[Dignan]

I appreciate you taking time out of your schedule to answer me Mr. President. I do have air tools to open the case, so I guess I can do it. My explorer has room to actually crawl underneath and pull it, but this Mounty is so low to the ground. So the only thing really holding me back is not having a hoist. I thought about taking it to the abandoned car dealership and driving it up onto the display rack.

Anyway, I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

 

[Dignan]

Got it done. I wanted to take pictures but the phone died and I don't have a real camera. For clearance underneath, I just borrowed some ramps from a neighbor. For those of you looking to do it yourself, it is possible if you have some ramps or jackstands or if your car is lifted. Once the case is out, it is nice to have air tools to open it, then just pull it apart and put in the new VC.

One thing I forgot to ask on here before I did it; does it matter how pieces line up when you pull the chain? I marked the chain when I pulled it, but did I really need to?

 

[gavin]

I never marked the chain or gears, and my t-case has been apart 3 times now, I believe. Maybe 4?

I doubt the t-case is built around needing anything "lined up" in the way I believe you're asking.

shouldn't be anything that needs to be "in phase," short of the chain fully engaging on the teeth of the gears anyway.

 

[mcmurray76]

Great Info!!