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Th350 removal

TJ1978

TJ1978

I have MANY questions
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Can I remove my th350 without having to remove the np203 or does it all need to be pulled? As in having to drop the Tcase in order to pull out the tranny? Is there or will there be enough potential slack to slip the transmission out without having to remove the Tcase?

Im in the process of weighing options on my transmission. Whether to go with a new one or rebuild my old one. I’m just wondering what I can do in my garage and what may need outside assistance.

Also what are some tells its time for a rebuild? Mine seems to shift ok while driving. It is a bit clunky when shifting from P to say, Drive or Reverse.

I have no knowledge on this transmissions history.
 
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I always pull the transfer case before pulling the transmission for the shear fact it's a pain in the butt maneuvering all of that stuff around together underneath a truck.
 
Check and see where the play is. Normally clunk when shifting drive to rev or park to drive is driveline related.
I diff back lash, u joint, slip spline wear. Possibly even in the case.
 
Let me rephrase, can I remove the transmission without having to take down the transfer case? I understand that removing then as one piece is heavy and not functional.
But does the transfer case need to be removed and taken down/off in order to remove the transmission?
 
It could be as simple as bad tranny/motor mounts. Fluid makes rubber mounts soft, which allows them to move around a lot more than they should. With your leak(s) make sure the trans mount especially, is still good.
 
TJ1978 said:
Can I remove my th350 without having to remove the np203 or does it all need to be pulled? As in having to drop the Tcase in order to pull out the tranny? Is there or will there be enough potential slack to slip the transmission out without having to remove the Tcase?

Im in the process of weighing options on my transmission. Whether to go with a new one or rebuild my old one. I’m just wondering what I can do in my garage and what may need outside assistance.

Also what are some tells its time for a rebuild? Mine seems to shift ok while driving. It is a bit clunky when shifting from P to say, Drive or Reverse.

I have no knowledge on this transmissions history.
Click to expand...
Is your idle a little high?
It will cause the clunk.
 
Have somebody else hold the brake and shift between D and R multiple times. You'll probably see your driveshaft move a lot due to slop in the rear differential. The clunk is the driveline hitting the end of this slop. Sounds crazy to pull the T-case and tranny out before checking the driveshaft U-joints and rear differential. Then, once the transmission is on the ground, how will you figure out the problem?
 
dyeager535 said:
It could be as simple as bad tranny/motor mounts. Fluid makes rubber mounts soft, which allows them to move around a lot more than they should. With your leak(s) make sure the trans mount especially, is still good.
Click to expand...

Yeah the mounts under the tranny need replacing. ATF has done a number on them.

Can you recommend a mount replacement? And how difficult is the replacement of them?
 
IMO the easiest way to remove the 350/203 is with a good stable transmission jack under the crossmember, drop driveshafts, unbolt bell housing and crossmember, drop entire unit, jack up truck, roll the unit out from under the truck and then divorce them. Done it at least 5 times this way with ease.
 
In my experience ,reverse is what goes away first in TH350's..at first you'll notice a lag or delay when you shift from a forward gear to reverse,and it doesn't feel like it locks in firmly,it kind of "slides" into reverse..eventually it will slip in reverse,or just not move any more without much warning suddenly..this is how 2 of my plow truck's TH350's went sour..

Though you can drop the transmission with the NP-203 still attached,it is a heavy ingot and it'll be very a$$ heavy,you'll need a good transmission jack and probably leaving the cross member attached would let you bolt the jack to it to avoid it doing a nose dive once it pulls free from the engine..
 
Another thought on dropping the trans with or without the tcase is the method you have for raising/lowering. A good transmission jack (as pictured above) will do the job just fine and control the load of the 125 pound transmission and 200 pound tcase safely. If you are planning to use a Harbor Frieght scissor style jack: https://www.harborfreight.com/450-lbs-low-lift-transmission-jack-61232.html they are terrible... and you are probably safer separating the units and then dropping. Any of the aluminum tcases: NP208/231/241 stuff are like 90 pounds and you can just drop them by hand most of the time, so it helps. But when dealing with the NP203/205 cast iron cases you need to plan ahead.

Most say: buy the 800 pound HF jack (https://www.harborfreight.com/800-lbs-low-lift-transmission-jack-60234.html) if doing it once/twice or the 2000 pound HF jack (https://www.harborfreight.com/2000-lbs-low-profile-transmission-jack-60240.html) if you are going to make a habit out of dropping transmissions (This is the one I have... its great, just huge and impossible to store nicely)
 
The HF scissor jack works fine if you're dropping a t-case and the transmission separately. I used the crap out my HF scissor jack dropping NP203's, NP205's, TH350's and TH400's. If you're planning on doing it fairly often I would upgrade to a better jack (I have the HF 2K now).

IMG_7452.JPG

IMG_7464.JPG
 
Something I learned here and worked like a charm twice for me so far. Engine hoist from the passenger side, through the shifter hole. Drop chain through, wrap right at marriage and drop cross member. And doesn’t the 203 weigh more like 350?
 
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