Swapping an MT643 for a manual

[cadillackid]

I hit send to early.. grrr

soft use isnt what kills the clutch pack.. (you could just have a stuck valve body piston as you mentioned.. thats what started happening to my 545 when it was run for ??? with a bad modulator)..

anyway what kills the clutch is full-throttle use with the modulator not extended.. so the transmission is shifting in a mode made for soft-throttle. only the driver is at full throttle.. so the shift is not as firm.. slides into gear which heats up and glazes the clutches making them want to slip more == worn down-to-the-metal discs..

-Christopher

 

[cincycrew]

That would be great, we may have to arrange a trade. I've been planning on going out to one of the yards for some time now, maybe we'll do it this weekend when everyone has time off for the holidays. If so, I'll keep an eye out for a bluebird switch panel for you. Apparently there's one near Washington Courthouse too, not sure exactly where though.

That makes sense about the clutch packs burning up from higher than designed for throttle. Still hoping another modulator will be the fix or at least tell us more about the problem.

 

[cadillackid]

im right up the street in Cbus, I get down to or go through the dayton / cincy areas quite a bit so I can easily meet up with you someplace if you go out yarding. im in town this week, may go to Bronners in michigan this weekend if the weather is nice, then likely heading to Miami next week. all still is up in the air - my schedule changes hourly it seems.

if the material in the pan is not bad, then it might be worth dropping the valve body and making sure all is good there.. all it takes one speck of metal in a spring and there goes a shift..

having torn apart automatic transmissions it becomes amazing at some point that they work at all.. and then the newer electronic ones.. wow.. you can simply alter the computer program such to either have perfect shifts or be picking up metal off the freeway...
-Christopher

 

[cincycrew]

Sounds like a hell of a schedule. I'll give you a heads up when we plan to. Enjoy the Miami weather.

That statement about automatic transmissions in general is both frightening and relieving haha. And where a lot of the appeal of a manual comes from, but oh well, we may as well work with what we've got.

 

[cadillackid]

manuals are definitely much simpler than automatics... they come with their own set of challenges.. that said.. **MANY** failures in manual transmissions are due somehow to user error.. esp truck transmissions that are often non-synchro or where heaving towing loads are involved .. theres no mistaking the smell of burning clutches from inexperienced truckers backing a rig into an uphill dock..

-Christopher

 

[cincycrew]

That would be the greatest challenge (more so than installation, I think) that we'd face. The transmissions that we were originally look at for replacement were all non-synchro, and only myself and another member of the group have driven non-syncho before. And half of the others haven't driven a manual in anything at all, so that would have taken some time to get them up to speed on the backroads.

Are there any synchronized manuals that are readily available and would fit a skoolie application? Spicer is the only ones I've heard of that are synchronized (IIRC).