Fairey OD help needed

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Just skimming that manual, it says that to fill the unit you remove the fill plug on the transfer case then fill thru the O/D fill hole until fluid comes out the T/C hole. So filling both units is one step, not two. At least as I read it on page 12.
 
hobbes said:
Just skimming that manual, it says that to fill the unit you remove the fill plug on the transfer case then fill thru the O/D fill hole until fluid comes out the T/C hole. So filling both units is one step, not two. At least as I read it on page 12.
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That makes sense.
 
So I crawled under the FJ40 again and looked a little more at the situation. I really can't believe how much higher the fill plug on the OD is compared to the fill plug on the TC. There is literally no way you could fill through the TC plug and have it run out the OD plug. I'm hoping to get more pictures this weekend if I have time to work on it.

I tried shifting the lever back and forth and it just doesn't feel like it really engages in hi or lo. I would think it would feel like a transmission shifting into a gear....you feel it go into gear. At this point it doesn't feel like that. It just goes forward and back....easily.....but not really "engaging" into anything. Maybe the solvent trick the transmission guy suggested will loosen things up in there. We'll see.

Just checking again....is there any way to look inside the unit without completely removing it? Can I drop the lower end by removing the bolts without messing things up (except for having to cut a new gasket) or can I pull the round rear steel cover to see inside? Just curious.

THANKS AGAIN everyone for all the help. I'm hoping this turns out to be a simple fix. I'll definitely update this thread when I get it resolved.
 
adavis said:
So I crawled under the FJ40 again and looked a little more at the situation. I really can't believe how much higher the fill plug on the OD is compared to the fill plug on the TC. There is literally no way you could fill through the TC plug and have it run out the OD plug. I'm hoping to get more pictures this weekend if I have time to work on it.

I tried shifting the lever back and forth and it just doesn't feel like it really engages in hi or lo. I would think it would feel like a transmission shifting into a gear....you feel it go into gear. At this point it doesn't feel like that. It just goes forward and back....easily.....but not really "engaging" into anything. Maybe the solvent trick the transmission guy suggested will loosen things up in there. We'll see.

Just checking again....is there any way to look inside the unit without completely removing it? Can I drop the lower end by removing the bolts without messing things up (except for having to cut a new gasket) or can I pull the round rear steel cover to see inside? Just curious.

THANKS AGAIN everyone for all the help. I'm hoping this turns out to be a simple fix. I'll definitely update this thread when I get it resolved.
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Removing the lower half it will look like the. Bottom is on the left.
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Nothing should fall out. Just a idler gear in the bottom. It's the top that is trickier to get together and apart.
 
Thanks for the pic @Living in the Past
So it looks like its super simple to drop that lower half to get my eyes on the fork/syncro/shaft if the solvent trick doesn't solve the problem. Hopefully it won't come to that but I feel better knowing I shouldn't have to pull the engine to look inside the OD. 😁
 
adavis said:
So I crawled under the FJ40 again and looked a little more at the situation. I really can't believe how much higher the fill plug on the OD is compared to the fill plug on the TC. There is literally no way you could fill through the TC plug and have it run out the OD plug. I'm hoping to get more pictures this weekend if I have time to work on it.
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Your got that backwards. Fill thru the OD until it comes out the tcase fill plug.
 
Well I found the issue....I think. Now hopefully someone can tell me what to do to fix it....

I drained the oil this afternoon and filled the TC and OD with solvent. I then took my 16 year old daughter around teaching her to drive stick. I didn't try to shift the OD....just drove it around slowly....first in low transfer and then in high. After about 15 minutes I dropped her off at the house and took it out for a few quick minutes. On the last straight stretch before the house I decided to try and shift from Lo to Hi on the OD......bad mistake. I couldn't get it in to Hi and then couldn't get it back in Lo. This time it was different though, because no matter what I did I couldn't get it to grind. It just wouldn't do anything. Luckily I live in a small farming town and a local farmer pulled up behind me after less than a minute and asked if I needed a tow. He got me to the front of the shop and I used my tractor to gently push the FJ40 inside.

After getting it up on jack stands I drained the OD. The fluid looked fine. I could move the shift linkage easily back and forth, but it didn't feel like it was "engaging" into either Hi or Lo. Soooo I made the decision to pull the bottom to see how bad things were. I removed the 6 bolts and lightly tapped on the wings of the lower section and it easily came loose. Nervously I lowered it to the floor, expecting to see gear teeth and metal shavings, but to my surprise the insides of the OD are perfect from what I can tell. All the gear teeth look great and the synchro's look perfect too. I don't see any damage whatsoever....no corrosion or rust either.

With no visible damage, I started trying to figure out why it isn't working. The shift fork was obviously in between Hi and Lo so I tried shifting the outer linkage. Surprisingly, I could easily move the shift linkage while laying underneath the vehicle, but the shift fork wasn't moving at all. I took a large screwdriver and moved the shift fork back and fourth from Hi to Lo and it DEFINITELY definitely snaps into each range. I could see the shaft from the outer linkage move but it wouldn't do anything to the shift fork. At that point, I think I realized what is going on. I'm attaching a couple pictures, but I believe the problem is the roll pin that attached the outside shift shaft to the shift fork has come out of the hole. You'll see it in the picture. Now here's the big question.....is there ANY way I can fix that without totally removing the OD??

Anyone seen this problem before? I mean the original owner never had an issue with it but after it sits for 20+ years the pin dislodges?? Seems crazy, but I guess I should be happy that the entire insides of the OD are destroyed/corroded.


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Rocky_LC said:
Can’t you just take a long thin punch, and drive the pin back into the mating hole, then try and sewage it wider with a pointed punch?
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The end of that roll pin is behind the the shift fork. Not sure how you could get a punch on it to drive in much less flare the end. It's really the end you can't see that needs the end flared. I'm not ever sure the pin is still in the shaft. Later this we be around mine and see if I can see exactly this goes together. Besides clearance to the torque tube it is some what evolved to remove the OD from transfer case.
 
I didn't get a chance to work on it yesterday, but I've been thinking about it a lot. I'm guessing that the detent for the shift for was gummed up from sitting for so long above the oil level and when I tried to engage the OD it bent/sheared the roll pin. That's the only way I can figure that the pin is sitting where its at now.

I don't really see any way to get that pin re-installed without pulling the OD off the transfer case. I'm hoping that isn't a crazy difficult task, but hopefully someone like @65swb45 has a super cool trick to getting that pin installed without pulling it at all. I'm not in a huge hurry and don't want to go any further without some expert advice so feel free to chime in with whatever you have. I guess I should look at the bright side.....at least the inside of the OD looks beautiful and should work perfect once I get that roll pin installed correctly.

@Living in the Past if you can get some pictures/advice on what I should do I'd REALLY appreciate it.

Oh, and while I'm at it....does anyone have any gaskets for a Fairey OD?? 😁
 
I do not have any spare gaskets. May have one for the two halves. As I remember the back cover of the OD is a thin paper gasket and also has an O ring. Not sure if the regular back cover transmission output shaft on the transfer case is the same as when the OD is installed? The gaskets used on the two halves is the same thickness as the one used be transmission and transfer case.

One time a pretty good collection of Fairey OD parts.
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Wow @Living in the Past that is quite a collection! I wish I had a few of those parts...or a spare OD. I'm lucky that mine looks really good inside. Now I just have to figure out what it takes to get to that dang roll pin without messing up the rest of the OD.
 
OK so I've been thinking about this OD situation pretty much non-stop and I'm hoping someone can clarify/verify my idea. From what I can tell, I need to pull the entire gear assembly out of the OD to get that pin reinstalled. Is that correct? Can I get to that pin without completely removing the entire house? To remove that gear cluster I assume that I pull the round end plate off and there will be some sort of nut at the end of the shaft that I will need to remove. Then the gear cluster will slide out the rear? I just want to make sure I don't screw something up or doing more than is necessary to get my FJ40 back on the road. ANY help, info, or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.
 
I never worked on a Fairy OD, but looking were that pin is, you could try to remove the shaft that holds the shift fork, so the fork rotates out of the way or comes out. Then maybe you can get to the pin in question. My guess is you'll have remove the unit from the tcase to repair it. The installation manual, step #20 says remove the tcase. Idk.
 
I picked up one of my ODs today. Not a complete one with the output gear and spacer. But enough to get a better idea of how it is put together. Maybe Friday until I get a chance to look at it. But I will have one available to check out.
 
@Living in the Past
THANKS for taking the time to look into it for me!!
I had an hour tonight so I decided to see how much damage I could do. It took a bit but I was able to get the shift fork shaft and fork out. (After you remove the detent spring and ball you have to keep the fork in neutral to slide the shaft out the back of the case). As soon as I dropped the shift fork out the bottom, the half of the roll pin that was exposed fell on the ground. It hadn't just worked its way out of the hole...it was sheared in half.

I then proceeded to the upper shaft that has the finger that engages the shift fork. It was a bear getting the circlip off the driver's side end, but once that was off the shaft can slide to the passenger side allowing removal of the shift finger and a nice view of the other half of the roll pin still sitting in the shaft.

So now is the big dilemma....I can't get that shaft all the way out of the OD case because it hits the underside of the tunnel before its all the way out. I'm going to try and drive the pin out of the shaft while it's still in the case, but I'm not sure there's clearance above the shaft to do so. That being said....if I can't drive it out while it's in the case how tough is it to drop the back of the transfer case about 1.5" so the shaft will slide out?

All in all I think I'm doing OK. The entire inside of the OD looks amazingn I've figured out the problem and it's a $.50 roll pin and so far I've only got to make 2 gaskets. If I can drive that pin out while it's in the case I'll be well on the way to having this FJ40 back on the road for the last few nice days of fall. If I have to get that shaft out, hopefully someone can share a trick to make dropping the back of the transfer case an easy task.

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Personally if your sure the shaft will clear the torque I would remove the transmission hump. I almost sold my 73 FST around 2007? Came with a hard top installed which probably saved the floor. I do not even remember the carpeting it had. I removed it immediately in 1994. Prior to putting it up for sale I pulled the seats and gas tank. Carpet had been glued down and clean up the remaining backing. Front heater was stock and long gone by 2007. Has an A/C evaporter similar to yours. Part of this was unbolting and removing the transmission cover. Really didn't take that long. I have removed the cover on my 68 a few time by removing the four bolts. Have to remove the transmission shift cane and transfer lever as well. My 68 has a H42 four speed installed. Transfer is right against the torque torque tube. That I have to remove the rear motor mounts. Also loosen the front motor mounts. Also have to be careful of clearances in the engine compartment. Radiator, fan shroud and clearance to the fire wall. 73 still uses a cable versus linkage for the accelerator pedal so that should be fine. Use a floor jack on the oil pan to lower the back. I used a jack stand to support the engine while removing and installing the transmission/transfer case. I see Harbor Freight sells some kind of engine support from the top. Will probably pick that up next time I work on removing the one in my 68 FJ40. Support from the top as well as the jack stand.
 
Its a tough call if I can't get that pin out without remove the shaft from the OD housing. The floor has never been apart and it will be difficult to get to the bolts under/behind the heater and A/C unit. I feel like it would be easier to lower the back of the transfer case by 2", but honestly I really don't want to do either. I think (PRAY) that there is just enough room above the shaft to drive that portion of the roll pin out from the bottom. If I can manage that, I think (PRAY) that I can drive the new roll pin in from the bottom. It looks like I should have just enough room to get the punch by the gear cluster with a punch.

I will post an update when I get a chance to work on it again. Maybe this weekend....
 
I had a few minutes so I figured I'd attempt to get the roll pin out of the shaft. To my surprise, I touched it with the tip of the punch and it fell out! I guess it wasn't a very tight fit.
I'm going toto get a new roll pin tomorrow and see if I can drive it in. I think it will work but will be tricky. Hopefully my next update will be about how easy it turned out to be. 😆
 
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