1991 Dodge ram 250 - Transmission Rebuilt!

[awptickes]

Meh.

I'm going with these tires, once I get it titled and registered, then the transmission fixed, and then the brakes fixed.

https://treadwright.com/collections/filter/products/warden-ii-w2316e?variant=9474897987

They're only 31x8.5 equivalent. I don't really need another off-road vehicle since the RamCharger is such a good ORV. The truck is just going to be a hauler and might get used to drive across the property while hauling firewood or gravel, but won't be used in deep snow like the RC.

It's got an open-diff in the rear, so I'm not keen on using it off road anyway -- at least not on the good parts of my lawn.

 

[awptickes]

Got it titled and tagged.

Pulled the windshield last night so I can fix the rust on the drip rail. Shouldn't be too bad to clean up the rust and add another drip rail in front of the windshield. I might have a local source for a new roof, so I'll just chop that up and weld the bits on.

 

[awptickes]

I still haven't driven Waylon since getting him home. Windshield is still out. I've been working on getting the brakes unfucked.

Bleeder snapped in rear anti lock valve... so I tried to get it out:

But ultimately it is so soft and so rusted in there that it won't come out short of drilling. So I'm just going to plumb the master cylinder to the rear brake line directly.

I got a new grille, and just have to replace the passenger fender before dropping that in.

The rust on the drop rail looks to be an easy fix, I'm just going to cut the rust out, tack some new sheet metal in, then seam seal it.

 

[awptickes]

I cut the line back, plumbed it into the soft-line, and now I've got rear brakes. Works like a charm. Such a pain to get it cut back though.

The radiator is plugged, unfortunately. Only the right side gets even a little warm, but I'm not even sure the water pump is working correctly yet.


Now left:
Charging system
Radiator
Water Pump (maybe)
Rusted drip rail
Windshield
Rear tires (front ones are so new they still have the paint rings on them)
Front grille (already bought it, just gotta repaint the plastic inserts black, since they're a little faded.)
New headlight bulbs
Interior Lights
Gas gauge needle
Bench seat repair (tear on driver side)
Windshield wipers


Then figure out what I'm going to do with it.

 

[Briansol]

Where did you come up with the name Waylon?

 

[awptickes]

It's a w250, so the name had to start with a W. It was made in Detroit, so it needed to be an American name. The truck looks pretty redneck, so it needed to be redneck.

 

[awptickes]

Radiator is in.

Transmission cooler is plumbed in, after cutting the center support to let the brackets clear.

It drives great, aside from being a little underpowered, but it's still got 100% of the emissions gear on it, so that's not surprising. No overheating issues, even with just straight distilled water. I let it idle for about 30-45 minutes, drove it about 3 miles, cut down a tree for my brother in law, dragged the tree about 300ft for him, then drove 3 miles home. The temp didn't spike at all, which I was glad about, since the new radiator won't work with the stock fan shroud.


All the forward gears work fine, but reverse doesn't seem to want to "grab" at all. I think it's a pressure issue.


Grille and headlights are in, and freshly painted louvres. Now I just need to get a vinyl decal made to put "DODGE" on the front.

Now it's time to rip into the transmission.

 

[TurboMirage]

once you have the trans sorted, what is the plan for your two giant trucks?

 

[awptickes]

I may be selling the red one after I get it totally fixed. I honestly don't know yet. I bought it on a whim to have something to thrash, but it's in such good shape and so saleable, I feel bad doing anything crazy to it.

It probably gets 14mpg, has 4x4, will tow up to 8800lbs, and looks like it came from a 90s movie. What's not to love?

The RamCharger has a bigger cam, and runs pretty well. I'm in no hurry to do anything but drive it and beat on it.

 

[awptickes]

Well, I've got my work cut out for me on this one.

 

[TurboMirage]

kinda neat how they put the dodge logo on the lamps.

 

[awptickes]

Yeah, Chrysler did some cool things, and then some terrible things.

I tore into the transmission tonight, just to see what I'm up against:

And a video showing the band play:

 

[E_SolSi]

is that a staple?

 

[awptickes]

It looks like a steel shaving. It's magnetic.

Probably came with that from the Chrysler factory, but it didn't come with the handfuls of clutch material in the pan.

 

[Briansol]

just get a magnetic drain plug, problem solved :X

 

[awptickes]

Not for Al...

And there's a magnet in the drain pan already. See that doughnut looking mass of steel in there? Lol.

 

[Matts96HB]

Holy carp! That's a lot of material on that magnet.

 

[awptickes]

I did this back on June 19:

Replaced the filter in the trans, replaced the fluids, and it's still got no reverse. Oh well.

I sourced a transmission locally, known good, used, 86k, for $500. I just need about six hours to remove the current transmission first, to see if it's worth fixing/rebuilding, or just picking up the junkyard transmission (with 90 day warranty.)

The roof rust is actually better than I was expecting.

It's not through the middle layer, just the top layer of steel. I'm going to slice it open, clean up all the rust, and then probably weld new steel in. The drip rail is going away. The 1998-ish Jeep Cherokee doesn't have a drip rail over the windshield, and I think that's probably for the best. I'll shave it and blend it into the sides, then put a Lund or similar visor over the front.


I just need time.

 

[awptickes]

I removed this with two other dudes yesterday.

Then as payment, I rebuilt his carburetor in his truck.

All it needed was some carburetor cleaner, high pressure air, and ether to blow the chunks of crud out of the jets. He ran it down to below the tank's pickup without running a couple tanks of fresh gas through it first. I told him to change the fuel filter as soon as possible, then keep a couple in the truck.


Now over the next week I get to tear into this 46rh or a518 transmission to figure out what's wrong. Knowing it's probably a servo problem and that caused all of the clutch material to get burned off.

I now have a new good roof to use to rebuild the current roof too:

Another couple weeks and this thing will be on the road.

 

[awptickes]

Built a stand to rebuild the transmission tonight out of what I had on hand.

Nasty, dirty, contaminated TIG welds, but it holds, and it'll work for any small block Mopar transmission. Not all welds are visible, in these pictures, just the tacks.


First thing I did was check the bands for material still on them, since they were really loose when I got the truck. They both look fine, with plenty of friction material left. While I had it out, I figured I'd tighten the bands to spec, so, did that with a torque wrench and a homemade tool that I fabbed together, but forgot to photograph.

Then, I moved on to the overdrive section, what I was almost positive was the issue, since only reverse is malfunctioning.

The clutch plates are BLACK like the new iPvone, and the steels are totally gone. I'm going to mic them out later just for shits and grins.

And now all that's left is to get into the Direct Clutch drum in the OD housing. But since it has an 860lb spring loading it, that's another adventure for another day.