Slight problem with a NV3550 from the wrecking yard

[Darren]

Hey guys,

Well after taking a few years off I am back working on the Bronco.

I have a little dilemma with the 3550 I got from the "Pick n Pull" few weeks ago.

When I found it at the yard I checked the shifting and everything seemed fine, and after I got it out of the Liberty I gave the input shaft a few 1/4 spins and again no problem.

So yesterday I pulled the bell housing off, and removed the drain plug that they punched out to drain the oil and started playing with it a little more. That's when I noticed that I can turn the input shaft and then it locks up at one spot, and I can turn it the opposite direction and it locks up in almost the same spot.

So I am assuming (I know... ass out of U & me) that when they punched out the drain plug the magnet from the plug stuck to a gear and is stopping me from turning it a full rotation.

I did shine a flashlight in the plug hole and I didn't see any damage to the gears nor did I see a magnet.

Does anyone have any ideas that doesn't include taking the case apart?

 

[SHX669]

What do you mean by " punched out " ?
You can remove the " tower ' assembly and get a better look inside.

 

[Darren]

Well the hole that's through the drain plug looks like it was some type of punch rather than drilled out. I guess it could be drilled.

I did take the shifter off but I couldn't see any gears.

 

[Darren]

I guess in my mind I am picturing something like Javier Bardem used in the movie “No Country for Old Men”

 

[SHX669]

Oh - so instead of removing the plug they punched a hole in it -- maybe some of the debris from the ' punch out " landed somewhere inside where it shouldn't have.
In the future I wouldn't trust anything from "that " pick n pull if they couldn't remove a plug .

 

[roundhouse]

Oh - so instead of removing the plug they punched a hole in it -- maybe some of the debris from the ' punch out " landed somewhere inside where it shouldn't have.
In the future I wouldn't trust anything from "that " pick n pull if they couldn't remove a plug .

Every pick and pull punches holes in everything

They put the car on a stand with a skip loader and a minimum wage worker takes a hammer and a screwdriver and knocks a hole in the radiator , oil pan , the trans pan and the gas tank and stands back
And let’s all the fluid splash and mostly go into one giant sump



You’d think they would want to sell those parts but getting it drained and on the yard as fast as possible is the goal

The ones I saw weren’t using a brass punch and when they couldn’t punch the gas tank on one car he got a sawzall and cut a corner off the tank
Real genius

 

[Darren]

Yup, I can't understand it either.
Punching the holes is pretty annoying... now I have to buy a new plug, looks like some kind of metric thread definitely not NPT.

 

[SHX669]

Ya punching through a plug on an aluminum cased transmission seems - ah - dumb.
I don't remember the size of the threads on the drain plug but they definately aren't pipe thread.

 

[blubuckaroo]

My theory is, they punched a hole in the plug because they didn't have a 17MM allen socket in their box.
I didn't have one either so I made a drain plug socket for that by double nutting a bolt and a couple of nuts together.

 

[roundhouse]

My theory is, they punched a hole in the plug because they didn't have a 17MM allen socket in their box.

I didn't have one either so I made a drain plug socket for that by double nutting a bolt and a couple of nuts together.

They pinched it because it’s a lot faster than removing it

They punch the oil pan and gas tank too
Because they are too lazy to remove the plug

 

[SHX669]

My next question is why would they drain the oil from a sealed transmission and then leave an opening to allow condensation to form internally ?
Rhetorical question I guess - ��

 

[blubuckaroo]

My next question is why would they drain the oil from a sealed transmission and then leave an opening to allow condensation to form internally ?
Rhetorical question I guess - ��

It's a haz-mat thing. They dump everything. In CA anyway.

 

[Darren]

Yeah, all liquids are drained... all the jacks are removed as well. I had to use a ratchet strap through the shifter hole in the floor, hooked on a pry bar.