Any T45 guys here?

Serfma

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Pulled my T45 due to at low RPM idle it would sound like it was knocking. Scared me because I thought it was rod knock but it went away once the clutch was pressed in. Input shaft had some more play side to side than I remember but it had a slight play in and out that I've heard is from the bearing + race. Pulled tailshaft housing off (for future forum dwellers, YES you need to pull the tailshaft housing off to get the input shaft out! Wiggle, twist, turn and you'll get it out.) and found 3-4 shift fork pad being broken on one end but the other fork looked fine.

Is there anything else I need to look for, or to replace while I'm in it? On a budget currently so I have the input shaft and counter shaft bearing + race to replace, but unsure if there's any other bearings I need to replace while I'm in it or anything else to inspect

Synchros have been good in the trans except for very rarely going into 3rd or 4th with a VERY quick shift would cause it to grind. I believe I have to pull the entire internals out to pull and press new bearing to the countershaft so I'll be able to inspect everything.
 

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Serfma

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Trans fully pulled apart. Bearings and races look to be excellent. The input shaft bearing was Timken, not 100% sure if that's OEM or not, but it's replaced now at least.
 

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Serfma

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A couple videos showing the knocking noise at idle. Second one you can hear it the best. Wanted some more opinions and ideas before I reinstall the trans

Interior of the trans looks great. Replaced shift fork pads, noticed reverse sleeve is marred up some, but otherwise bearings and races look relatively recently replaced.

Going to replace TOB while I'm in it. Don't know if I should go ahead and swap pilot bearing although it has less than 100 miles on it, clutch disk, pressure plate etc
 

J.Rovirosa

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Just finished rebuilding mine. Only issues it had was high rpm 1-2 grind and a leak from the tailshaft. Threw a few upgrades in while I was in there, but other than a cracked shift fork pad, the worn tailshaft bushing, and a shift rail bushing that was really pitted, it looked great inside...even the paper synchros looked to be in decent shape. Got everything from Hanlon and I can't say enough good things about them; real straight-shooters and had almost everything I needed.
 

J.Rovirosa

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Video sounds a lot like a crunchy TOB, but that shouldn't be with 100 miles on it. You did mention input shaft endplay...Ford specs between .0009" and .002", so it looks like you might have had a bit much in there.
 
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Serfma

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Video sounds a lot like a crunchy TOB, but that shouldn't be with 100 miles on it. You did mention input shaft endplay...Ford specs between .0009" and .002", so it looks like you might have had a bit much in there.
So end play I've found is actually measuring input shaft with transmission vertical and pushing upwards on the output shaft. The side to side play, there's zero specs about it. I replaced the input shaft bearing + race along with the countershaft and didn't touch the others because they looked pretty damn mint. I'm wondering almost if I can find an input shaft to measure if the pilot bearing might be already wore somehow?

Idk I might go through the hassle of replacing it while trans is out tomorrow but not sure as it looks pretty mint as well.
 

J.Rovirosa

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Shimmed toward the tighter end of the spec, I was still able to wiggle the input shaft side-to-side ever so slightly which should mean everything isn't jammed in there, if that helps. Picture shows the loose end of spec, and even shimmed there, there was no perceptible up and down movement when trying to move the assembly by hand or using a jack to put upward pressure on the back of the main shaft. Basically, it seems like these things are supposed to be shimmed with little to no endplay on the input and countershaft, while still making sure that there's no preload on anything.

Could you use your clutch disc installation tool to verify the condition of the pilot bearing? Should be pretty close in size to the input.
 

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Serfma

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Shimmed toward the tighter end of the spec, I was still able to wiggle the input shaft side-to-side ever so slightly which should mean everything isn't jammed in there, if that helps. Picture shows the loose end of spec, and even shimmed there, there was no perceptible up and down movement when trying to move the assembly by hand or using a jack to put upward pressure on the back of the main shaft. Basically, it seems like these things are supposed to be shimmed with little to no endplay on the input and countershaft, while still making sure that there's no preload on anything.

Could you use your clutch disc installation tool to verify the condition of the pilot bearing? Should be pretty close in size to the input.

So my question is, if it's shimmed, how would the space be loosening up? My thoughts were bearings but they were all mint and recently replaced (other than by me) from the apperances. I suppose from the gears wearing out between main and counter shaft causing the extra play?

The pilot bearing was replaced within the last 500 or less miles, not to say it isn't now suddenly mucked up, but visually inspecting it looked good. I'll see if I can nab a clutch install tool as I didn't need one this recent time as I never removed the pressure plate. Might have a photo but it looked brand new still.
 

J.Rovirosa

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With heat cycles, pressed-on parts seating, and wear, things are going to shift a bit is my guess. I did measure a few bearings and the replacements were very close in thickness to the originals, but those differences will get exponentially greater if you have several bearings that are different sizes. Gear wear has no effect on shaft endplay...that would be determined by bearing and shim tolerances.

Didn't take note of how much play everything had before I took it apart, but I did have to use a .003" thinner input shaft shim to get that measurement within spec (on the tight-side) with the new bearings.

Is it possible the transmission's been apart before?
 

Serfma

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With heat cycles, pressed-on parts seating, and wear, things are going to shift a bit is my guess. I did measure a few bearings and the replacements were very close in thickness to the originals, but those differences will get exponentially greater if you have several bearings that are different sizes. Gear wear has no effect on shaft endplay...that would be determined by bearing and shim tolerances.

Didn't take note of how much play everything had before I took it apart, but I did have to use a .003" thinner input shaft shim to get that measurement within spec (on the tight-side) with the new bearings.

Is it possible the transmission's been apart before?

I've ran the transmission for around 5k-10k miles over the last 2-3 years. There's been a lot of downtime with it. I may be way low on the mileage. It was only after throwing an engine from a lincoln mark 8 in, new pilot bearing, then a few hundred miles (approximately) it suddenly started "knocking".
 

J.Rovirosa

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Yeah, if it was fine before the new engine and pilot bearing, the TOB would be where I'd look next, especially since the sound goes away with some pedal pressure on it.
 

Serfma

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Yeah, if it was fine before the new engine and pilot bearing, the TOB would be where I'd look next, especially since the sound goes away with some pedal pressure on it.
Right now everything's good besides going through two TOBs, a National replacement, and a FRPP TOB and the latter makes less noise (with pedal pressed) than the other so I'm going with it. I assumed maybe there's a certain amount of wear time before it goes completely away since there was a thin wear strip on the original TOB perhaps. Not sure. No knocking or anything now.
 

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