RAN 3 speed difficult to get in reverse

[tutone]

I had a shifting issue w/ my RAN transmission so decided to pull it and rebuild. After rebuilding and installing it is tight in reverse. All other gears seem fine, but reverse is very tight all the way from neutral to full engagement, and tight to shift it back out.
When I loosen (a full turn) the 5 bolts between the transmission and xfer case adapter, the tightness goes away and it shifts fine. All linkages are fine and not binding or interfering and the issue exists even without the shifter linkages connected.

It's almost like the gasket between the transmission and adapter needs to be thicker, but I can't figure out what is causing the tightness when they are bolted together fully.

 

[tutone]

it's clear that the1st/reverse shift rail that sticks out the back of the transmission case when in reverse is the culprit. I tried loosening the bolts and shifting the xfer case side to side, up, down, etc, but everytime i torque the bolts it becomes difficult to shift into reverse. I'm stumped, and pulling the xfer case for the 3rd time now.

The manual says nothing about this. Just connect them and bolt them together.

 

[DirtDonk]

Is there any chance that the gasket you put in there doesn’t have a relief hole for that shaft?
And on the negative side of things, is there any chance at all that any of the un-caged roller bearings in the center of the transmission fell out of place when you were putting things together?
Seems like if that was the case, you’d have difficulty in all gears and there would be noise coming from the box. But I don’t know that for a fact.

 

[tutone]

I checked the gasket, it clears with some room.

I'm pretty sure the bearings are ok, the tailshaft sits where it should. Not sure if there is noise though, I have not driven it. Decided to tear it apart when I could not get it into reverse without a lot of force.

 

[Oldtimer]

Since you have them out, place extension housing on transmission, without gasket, and verify both surfaces are smooth and flat.

Also look for rub marks on shift rail, and in clearance bore in extension.

 

[tutone]

I was trying to avoid having to pull both, kept pulling the transfer case only. I thought I saw marks on the shift rail, so I opened up the pocket on the intermediate housing but that didn't do anything. The last time I had it out, I wondered why there is an oil return from the intermediate housing since there is a seal there so it got me thinking why there was a seal and looking at the book, no seal. The kit I bought from Jeff's had a seal that fit in the intermediate housing opening (and seemed to be a lip to match), so I assumed it went there. So I caused my own problem, which I seem to be good at.

Pulled the seal, mated up the transfer case, shifts like butter. Why that was causing shift issues in Reverse, I don't know.

 

[DirtDonk]

Well, at least you found it! That was a good catch.
Are you sure that seal isn’t for between the transfer case and intermediate housing? Is there a seal there already? Are they two different seals?

 

[tutone]

No, there was another seal for the intermediate to transfer case and it was different than this one, and that seal came with the Dana 20 kit. I had to press the gear and bearing off of the intermediate shaft to replace that seal.

This extra seal was a double lip seal, so I'm wondering if there are some instances of the 3.03 transmission that need the seal, but not for the Broncos?

Oh.. I just went to Jeff's site and read the description of what came with the kit

• RAT output seal

and I have a RAN. I should learn to pay more attention. I pulled the transfer case 3 extra times to figure this one out.

 

[DirtDonk]

And just when you thought it would be a quick and easy install!