Basic T14/D18 user question

Okay, this question will show my experience with Jeeps, but oh well.

After getting my Jeep rolling today (thanks guys), I put a few miles on her around the neighborhood. I noticed that the T14 frequently grinds into 2nd, but not into 1st or 3rd. I found that there is an area to the extreme right that, if I hit precisely, will minimize grinding. Is this common with the T14? Synchronizers?

Also, I can't seem to find neutral or 2WD on my D18. 4HI and 4LO work well. I have just been leaving the hubs unlocked, but I don't want to wear something out. My well-worn sticker on the dash shows that they should be somewhere inbetween 4HI and 4LO, but there is no detent anywhere. Is there a trick to this, or is my sticker wrong?

In 4LO I noticed that the case makes a low pitched growl. Not grinding, just a "growl", kind of like a set of mud terrain tires make on pavement. Is this normal?

 

Does your tcase have 2 shifters?? If so the one on the left should engage/disengage your front axle. And the neutral should be in the middle area on the right shifter with all the way back being 4lo and forward being "high" range wether its 4 or 2wd depends on wether the front axle is engaged or not.

And my d18 growls also, if I'm not mistaken its due to the gears being strait cut.

 

Sorry for leaving out the crucial info - it's a 1970 with T-14, single shift D18, Warn OD, manual hubs.

 

you got it on the syncros. common problem on most jeep trannys. growl is more than likely for the way the gears are made.

 

sticker is wrong, methinks:

 

Jayhawkclint, if you are used to driving a passenger car with a manual transmission, the truck transmissions (like the T-14) are different.They are not meant to be shifted quickly.

Since you mentioned that you can minimize the gear clash by moving the shifter way to the right, that's what you should do. I expect that you are clipping reverse on the 1-2 shift if you do not deliberately go up to neutral, across, then up to 2nd. The gate (the left-to-right wobble in neutral) is very wide on these transmissions compared to a passenger car, and you must move the shifter all the way to the left or right in the gate before you move the lever forward or back into gear. No fast shifting allowed!

If you were hearing gear clash on the downshift from 3rd to 2nd, I would say the 2nd gear synchro is worn. These are more properly called the blocking rings, and are brass rings that act as a clutch between the spinning gears to prevent gear clash. 2nd is the one that wears out first. However, synchro performance should depend on how fast you shift, not where the shifter lever is.

Your shifter top may be worn if the shifter is so sloppy that you can clip reverse easily. If that's the case, then you can accomodate it by shifting slowly and deliberately, or maybe they can be rebuilt - I have not tried to rebuild a Borg-Warner shift top.

 

BTW the transmission will continue to work fine for a long time with worn synchros. You can slow down your shifting and match engine speed, or even learn to double-clutch on a downshift, to minimize gear clash.