NP208 trouble

[cubuffsfan]

I've been lurking here for a few months, this is a great site. Was getting my 85 trail ready this morning had to fight it to get in to 4hi, after finally getting it to shift and going throught all the gears and then went back into 2hi no problem. Then after getting some rain this afternoon deciced to go to a local mudhole . When I went to shift in my transfer case wouldn't shift into four wheel drive. The shift lever moved freely through all positions without any resistance or shifting . On the way home it somehow worked itself into neutral , now I can't put it into gear, the shift linkage is still attatched. Has this happened to any one here before? Anyone have any ideas on where to start?

 

[Hossbaby50]

Check to make sure the shift arm on the outside of the case is tight and that it is moving the knob it is attached too. If it is and you are still not able to shift is will most likely be a problem with the shifter gear, range fork, or mode fork on the inside of the tcase.

Harley

 

[cubuffsfan]

crawled underneath to ry and shift it from below everything is still attatched. The linkages didn't seem to be loose at all, but there was no resistance to banging it back and forth from down below either. I'm guessing I have to rebuild it, but I've never rebuilt one before. Is it difficult?

 

[Hossbaby50]

If your mechanically inclined it is not difficult at all. Just keep track of things as you pull them out and find the problem. If you are worried take some pics as you pull the parts out.

Also get an exploded view diagram and have it on hand so you can have a reference. Just go slow and label things if you have too.

If you do pull the case apart there is 2 gears that the chain rides on. Pull those snaprings to get the gears off and pull the chain off. Then pull the whole output shaft out of the case. Don't dissassemble the long output shaft if you don't have to. There are like 80 needle bearings in it that will fall all over the place if you take it apart. Only take it apart if there is something wrong with it. The needle bearings were the biggest nightmare when I rebuilt my first 208.

Harley

 

[cubuffsfan]

can you get to the forks without rebuilding the whole case, or is it easier to just go ahead and do it all while you're in there?

 

[Hossbaby50]

You have to take apart the case to get to the forks. The 3 cases I have "rebuilt" are not true rebuilds. I go in tear it all apart and replace the parts that are bad. If the parts and bearings are in ok shape I leave them alone. I don't go threw and replace all the bearings when I have "rebuilt" my cases. You probably won't need to either unless they are fired or trashed.

I would bet that your problem is in the shift forks though and I bet that the one on the planetary gear has slipped off the planetaries and is causing your problem. It will probably have slipped off from wear which means you will probably need a new fork.

Harley

 

[cubuffsfan]

Thanks for your help, guess I'll just have to drop it out of there and give it a shot! Where is the best place to get the parts? I just called advance, checker and autozone for a kit and all they have is the output seals.

 

[Hossbaby50]

www.drivetrain.com cares some parts. This is where I got some of my parts for a rebuild. If hard parts like the fork is trashed you will probably have to find it used on the net.

I know there are people on here that have 208 parts laying around. I have some in my personal stash of parts. I have case parts from a few different cases I have torn apart, rebuilt, etc. I run my truck pretty hard so I have actually bought parts cases to tear apart to keep my 208 going.

Harley

 

[cubuffsfan]

forgot to mention I heard a small amount of gear grinding when I shifted into park. Does that tell you anything?

 

[Hossbaby50]

The only gears to grind in a 208 are in the planetary setup so that would lead me to basically what I said earlier.

Harley

 

[cubuffsfan]

thanks for all your help

 

[Blue85]

The "gear grinding" that you hear when shifting into Park is actually the transmission parking pawl ratcheting because the transfer case in in nuetral. Even when the tranny is in neutral, the output shaft can still spin from the slight drag of the clutch packs. Usually the output shaft is held still by the driveline via the transfer case, but when the T-case is in neutral, that lets it spin. So the pawl ratchets for a few seconds until the output shaft comes to a stop, making the grinding noise.

Make sure you use your parking brake since Park will not hold the vehicle in place while the T-case is in neutral.

 

[cubuffsfan]

Thats good to know, rules out any transmission problems. The parking brake won't help though haven't had one of those since the 14ff went in. Have the front tire turned into the curb to keep it from rolling right now. Found another 208 bolted to a sm465 today $175 for both. If I'm not mistaken all I need to do is swap the input shaft and I'm back on the road, may still get some wheelin in this weekend!!!

 

[MOABDADC22]

I just got done having the same problems with my 208. The range fork took a dump on me. I also wiped out the input gear on the transfer case.

Here are the pics.

 

[cubuffsfan]

Were your symptoms the same as mine? I'm hoping my input gear is ok, seeing as how I'll need it to put this other case in. Won't have time to work on it until sunday morning, so if its toast the k5 will be down for another week. Took a diagram to our 4wd systems tech at work and had him explain to me what I have to do, (I'm a salesman at a chevy dealership), so I'm feeling more confident about it, we'll just have to see how it goes. Thanks for the pics they help, I can never figure out how something works from an exploded diagram, but when I see it I seem to understand it pretty quickly. Wish me luck!

 

[cubuffsfan]

Ok got the case out and disassembled. The post that connects the actuator to the shift linkage appears to have sheared off. There were also three small clat clips with tabs on them loose in the case. I'm not sure where these are supposed to go.
Can't figure out how to post pictures on here, does anyone know what these tabs are?