Magnum Salvage

Very unhappy, last year I bought a 92 W-250 with a 5spd getrag. The owner told me he thought the transmission was on the verge of going out. I believe he told me the syncro or something was probably getting bad. He was very honest about the truck so I guess I can't complain. It had 133,XXX on it when I bought it. He claimed the Dodge garage told him the part wan't worth replacing for the age of the truck. I drove the truck and it shifted fine and no problems. When I got the truck I immediately changed the tranny fluid to 5w-30. No problems.

I have since changed the tranny fluid about 200 miles ago to royal purple synthetic 5w-30 and overfilled it. I just turned 140,000 on the odometer. During the time I have owned the truck I have hauled many loads of junk metal/cars with the truck. This spring I bought a Case 580 industrial tractor that weighs about 10,000 - 11,000 and a new 34 foot gooseneck tri-axle that weighs about 7000 pounds empty. I have hauled numerous loads with the truck. One time I pulled on the scale weighing 28,000 loaded .

Tonight, I was coming home with a fairly light load. I was probably going about 55 -60 in overdrive. I felt a couple clanks and the trailer/vehicle jerked like the hitch was coming loose. Now, I dont have overdrive. Seems like the tranny just spins. I didn't rev it too much. I nursed it home in 4th but I could hear a periodic clanking noise in 4th under load and now 1st gear grinds or makes a bad noise. The tranny goes into every gear but I know I broke something. Any Idea's here? It's raining cats and dogs right now in central Wisconsin and I didn't look underneath yet. I know the Getrags are somewhat of a weak link and I know the heavy loads didn't help but what am I looking at for repair or replacement. Should I upgrade to a different manual tranny? Please help with any idea's. I'm decent friends with one of the owners of a local tranny shop so I'm sure he'll treat me fair but I know tranny's aren't cheap.
Lastly, I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to transmissions so please help. Thanks, Matt.

DennyT

The NV swap is always doable but if your strapped for time and money it wouldnt be my first option. I too have a trashed Getrag and I plan on rebuilding it. The parts are out there and if you have a buddy that has access to the tools to do it go for a rebuild. There are a few options as to what exactly happened, best to open up the top for sure.

1stGen545

Do the NV and be done with it IMHO. Mine locked up running 70 (400K + )and I skidded off the road ( glad it was a farm to market and there was no one on it) It takes a little more $$$ but its worth it to me. Me and DennyT did his and I did mine and a few others over the years. But you can fix yours and it may go 300K or more or it may go out the next day. Good luck. Let us know what you find.

dieselJon

REbuild it. Doing a NV 4500 swap is gonna take more time and $$$ than having someone rebuild the Getty. Also if you do go the route of the NV4500, you will have to worry about the 5th gear nut.

Just my $.02

Jon

Magnum Salvage

If I want to remove the transmission myself, how big of a job is it? How long would it take ? Anything need to be done with the engine to remove it? Thanks.

rockfoot

I just had mine out and back in in less than a day... by myself, lying on the concrete... used a regular floor jack to get out and put it back in.. and I ain't no spring chicken.... Regular tools.. nothing special

wannadiesel

I'd rebuild the Getrag. Even with somebody else building it it's half the cost of a swap.

None of the manual transmissions like being lugged. Keep it over 2000 RPM when it's working.

Magnum Salvage

I believe I'm gonna build the getrag because I can barely afford this let alone the cost of a NV4500 swap. I have off friday so I believe I will tear it out then and take it into my tranny man on Monday. I'll let you guys know what I find out. When the rebuild is in, will I be able to run a synthetic right away or will I need to run something else before it's broke in? The reason I ask is most people I've talked with regarding engines recommend not using synthetic oils or fluids until 10,000 - 20,000 miles for "break-in" purposes. Again this is for engines so don't know if this rule applies to transmissions.

wannadiesel

I'd run dino oil for a couple thousand miles and then drain it and refill with synthetic. There's always a lot of glitter in the oil on a fresh rebuild and you don't want it to cost you $40 to dump that trash out. Other than that there's no reason not to run synth from day one.