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Guess It's Time to drop the Tranny Again #: 1035

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Posted: Sat Jul 7th, 2018 10:25 am

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sheltonfilms
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Driving to work yesterday and getting on the on ramp to the interstate. Tried to gun it to merge and truck started revving and slowing down. Turned off OD and it went back into gear. Fine the rest of the way to work.

Left work and about a mile from work, I was pulling out from a stop and acted like neutral again. No reverse or drive, only went forward in manual mode or with OD off.

I think my OD sprag broke (didn't replace when I did my rebuild at 200k). Odds are if the sprag flipped and broke the cage the OD planetary is bad also (inner race is part of OD planetary). So have to get one of those too.

I hate dropping the transmission but man do I hate paying transmission shop prices.

Rebuilt at 200k, TC went out at 235 and replaced it and changed all fluid and filter, now it's at 255k. Time for a fluid change anyway.

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Posted: Sat Jul 7th, 2018 10:48 am

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410customs

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Ah fun!!
the joys of rebuilding your own unit.
You are a smart man, DIY
If you can refurbish a 5r55e you can do just about any auto trans out there!!!

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I build custom RBV, specializing in drivetrain conversions, wiring, suspension and complete custom trucks

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Posted: Sat Jul 21st, 2018 08:26 pm

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sheltonfilms
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Well took the transmission out for the 3rd time of it's life today. 4 hours mostly due to it being like 92 with 100% humidity here in Alabama. Lots of water breaks. That and the transcooler lines seem to take forever as there isn't a good amount of room to use a flare wrench and get good swings from it.

Definitely a smoother process than the first 2 times. Will open it up tomorrow to see the damage.

Got a Borg Warner overdrive/input sprag in this week. May have to get another OD planetary after I open the trans up and inspect it.

Last edited on Sat Jul 21st, 2018 08:28 pm by sheltonfilms

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Posted: Sat Jul 21st, 2018 09:10 pm

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JAMMAN

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Sprags are cool, I used to have to deal with them in sticker and seal spout applicators as quick and accurate stock advancing. I had no idea they were in transmissions also but it makes perfect sense.

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Posted: Sun Jul 22nd, 2018 02:16 am

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sheltonfilms
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Yeah I should have replaced it when I did the rebuild. I'm gonna see if I can measure the teeth height between old and new and see what the wear is over 255k miles. I've always been told the height of the teeth get worn down and cause them to flip and break the cage. We'll see.

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Posted: Mon Jul 23rd, 2018 09:53 pm

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sheltonfilms
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Well here is the damage. The center shaft was stuck to the OD planetary and it wouldn't turn at all. Looks like it scuffed up the OD Planetary race pretty good, also some sharp marks where the edge of the sprag teeth grabbed when it flipped. I bet the center shaft outer race is bad too. Took a part the coast clutch and I've got hot spots on the steels. So gonna rebuild that clutch pack.

Last edited on Mon Jul 23rd, 2018 09:54 pm by sheltonfilms

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Posted: Mon Jul 30th, 2018 12:39 pm

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sheltonfilms
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Just to update everyone. I got a another planetary and overdrive drum.

Since these are new parts it will most likely change the end play. You check this by unbolting the fluid pump and install it and measure the gap from the top of the case to the back of the fluid pump. Depending on the measurement you may have to swap out thrust washer for a different thickness (color coded ones). Haven't got to this point yet but I went ahead and order a washer kit ($10).

Also since the fluid pump is coming off you have to properly align it so that it is concentric with the bell housing bushing. Need a special tool for this and I found a dealer tool for $60.

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Posted: Sun Aug 26th, 2018 08:35 pm

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sheltonfilms
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Well got it put back together last weekend and got it installed this weekend. Everything works good now.

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Posted: Sun Aug 26th, 2018 08:40 pm

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Good for another 70K miles? :)

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Posted: Mon Aug 27th, 2018 09:55 am

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JAMMAN wrote:
Good for another 70K miles? :)
I hope so. Only thing that is left in there that could wear is the low sprag and reverse band. I thought about replacing the reverse band on this drop, but I didn't feel like tearing it 100% apart.

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Posted: Fri Feb 10th, 2023 06:12 pm

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sheltonfilms
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JAMMAN wrote:
Good for another 70K miles? :)
Spoke too soon!

5 years later and 45k miles (just hit 300k 7 days ago), it seems to have flipped again.

Got in the truck this morning and put it in reverse and heard a pop. Then gave it some gas and it creeped like a clutch was slipping. Same symptoms as before, very little movement in drive or reverse but manual 1/2 works fine.

I did replace the overdrive shaft (outer race) and the overdrive planetary with used parts from ebay so that might have been the contributor to the premature failure.

I'm going to source new/reman parts on this replacement.

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Posted: Sat Feb 11th, 2023 12:56 am

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That sucks, you did get some time out of it though.

Welcome back!

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Posted: Mon Mar 16th, 2026 05:20 pm

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Man I can't catch a break on this. 3rd sprag gone. Got to the last road before work this morning and the damn sprag flipped again. Luckily taking it out of overdrive gets you home.

So first one (original) flipped at 255,300 (July 2018), replaced with used overdrive planetary
2nd: 300,324 (Feb 2023) - Lasted 45,024 miles 4.5 years was going to used rebuilt planetary but one i got had QC issues, used old as it didn't have any noticible damage/scarring.
3rd : 327,477 (March , 2026) - Lasted 27,153 miles 3 years

Is Borg Warner quality that bad these past couple of years?

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Posted: Wed Mar 18th, 2026 02:19 am

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JAMMAN

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Sprags are works of art. The precision is undeniable.

The first ones were made in the early 40's. I remember working on production sticker applicators in the mid 80's that used a sprag to advance the stickers accurately, had a cam driven lever that moved it back and forth, one way advanced the other way skated. I was fascinated by the design and when one went bad... I couldn't tell even under a microscope why. They just would start slipping.

Filled with oil and still grips.

Lack of QC would be my guess on the failure.

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Posted: Wed Mar 18th, 2026 11:57 am

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mhoward
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I have noticed that parts in general are having QC issues. It seems you can't buy anything that either works right or lasts very long. Just about everything is made in China now, and they don't care about quality.

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Posted: Mon Mar 23rd, 2026 10:24 am

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Actually, the quality comes down to what the consumer (ie you) is prepared to pay - China is very good at producing things to a budget so if you spec things to low quality, that is what you get.

An example is repro chromed steel bumpers for MGBs - cost to make in China is £10, add transport, tariffs, taxes and profit taken by middlemen and retailer and it sells for £140. If only consumers would pay an extra £10 you could double the quality of the finishing and plating. But they won't - they search around to get the cheapest deal so it is not worth the effort of getting better quality stuff.

Triumph owners are more particular and will pay the extra, so Chinese made bumpers for TR sports cars are top quality.

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Posted: Thu Apr 2nd, 2026 05:14 pm

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I would partially agree with that. People (me as well) tend to look for a good price. With me, depending on what that item is, I may be willing to gamble with Chinesium quality. But let's say I need a camshaft... I'm not willing to gamble on all that time, labor and cost of additional things like gaskets or single-use parts. If I go to a Ford dealer and pay that astronomical price, does that get me the quality I seek? I will bet a dollar to a dog turd that it doesn't. Parts, in general, are sucking in the quality department... regardless of what you pay or where you source it.

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So many mods... so little time...

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