Is this Flywheel shot?

[Captain Morgan]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here, a member over on www.syty.net set me over this way to check out some stuff, so I figured it would be best to ask my question here as well. Im over on dodgetrucks.org as well but that please is dead to say the least.

Anyway, Im replacing the clutch in my friends '98 3500 Cummins Dually 4x4 with a NV4500 5-Speed.

He said one day he went to start it up, pushed in the clutch and when he went to take off the clutch never engaged, basically like the slave was stuck. He shut the truck off, hit the pedal a couple more times and it came back to normal. He felt that the pedal itself was engaging closer to the floor than when he got the truck (used) back in April, so we planned a clutch change and now here we are.

I just got everything out of the truck this morning and although the clutch was worn and could use replacement, it wasn't grinding at the rivets just yet thankfully.

The thing that has me concerned the most is the extremely harsh wear on the pilot bushing surface, or at least where the shaft goes through the flywheel. I snapped a couple crappy pics.

click on thumbs for bigger view


Now browsing through the parts catalog, I noticed there was both a pilot bushing and a pilot bearing, but I assumed they pressed into the crank, not the flywheel, so the big question is, is that worn out hole in the flywheel actually something that I can press out and replace, or is the flywheel toast?

Thanks in advance,

 

[partsguy662]

Wow...that's one hammered bushing...:ugh:

 

[Captain Morgan]

Wow...that's one hammered bushing...:ugh:

yep, and believe it or not, that was still part of it in there.

after I posted I decided to take the flywheel off since it was going to have to come off one way or the other (replace or repair) and by looking from the inside, you could actually see there was about 1mm worth of bushing still left hugging the inside of the hole.

soooo, a little torch action and a little hammering later, I actually got it out! So I guess I answered my own question, but hey at least I got a reply over here, usually takes a week for anyone to even view a thread over on DTO, lol.

Needless to say, we have 3 diesel dodges in our fleet so I have no doubts Ill be frequenting this forum quite a bit.

Well, not I just need to see if I can salvage the input shaft side of things and we'll be ready to replace some parts! w00t!

 

[partsguy662]

You might want to invest in a puller for those bushings..Taking a torch to a flywheel isn't the best idea...

As long as you have it off, you might as well make sure it is flat and surface it before putting a clutch in.

 

[Captain Morgan]

You might want to invest in a puller for those bushings..Taking a torch to a flywheel isn't the best idea...

As long as you have it off, you might as well make sure it is flat and surface it before putting a clutch in.

well there wouldnt have been anything for a puller to grab into, but no worries it was only a little had held Mapp gas torch, nothing major.

I just ordered the clutch kit about an hour ago, ill probably drop the flywheel off at the local machine shop to be checked out when i go up to get the new parts.

Now I just need to find a good place to get a seal kit for the 241DHD and the NV4500. local Dodge dealer only has a kit for the trans, gotta order everything individually for the t-case.

 

[Billysgoat]

Have the flywheel surface ground, it will make a nice difference in the service life of the new clutch.

If you look around and do some searching, you can find numerous tranny and transfer case parts wholesalers on the web. For NAPA parts though (at VERY good prices) PM the exploding chicken man himself, partsguy

 

[sb clutch]

The flywheel has been machined once already. You may want to have the machine shop bore the pilot area for a roller brg. Get a 1635-2RS. Also, you should take concern with the input shaft and front transmission brg. They are going to be bad. I have the complete kit at a very reasonable cost.

Peter

 

[Captain Morgan]

alright.... first, I would like to thank everyone for their replies, believe me if this was my truck Id probably rebuild the whole trans as this point just to be safe, but since its just my bosses work truck, he just needs it back on the road ASAP.

Here is the status so far.

I dropped the flywheel off on my way up to get the clutch kit this morning. Picked up on my way back, they said (like a couple here mentioned as well) that it was already surfaced once, the surface was true and they didnt see any reason to replace it based on the application its used for.

So with that, I got back to the shop, started degreasing the transfercase and tranmission housings. Hard to believe there was actual metal under that dirt and grease.

I brought the t-case in and removed the front flange so I could remove that seal, and popped the rear seal off as well, everything else seemed free of leaks on the t-case so it will be left alone.

Once the trans was dry, I put it up on my bench and removed the tailshaft extension to get out the rest of the fluid and because I want to reseal everything as well as replace the output shaft seal.

After that I removed, cleaned and resealed the PTO covers.

Next I removed the top cover, inspected the forks and gears and put the cover off the side for now.

I was a little hesitant about removing the input shaft since I wasnt sure what exactly was going to fall apart when doing this, but I went ahead and removed it anyway since I knew there was a seal in there and I definately wanted to replace that. I got the seal out, as well as the race for the bearing, then I finally removed the input shaft, wasnt too bad afterall.

My only question at this point is.... obviously there is a special puller to remove that tapered bearing from the input shaft, but Im just curious is there is a "back yard" way of removing it without risking damage to the shaft itself. Im going to toss it in my car tonight when I leave work, I'll see if the local trans shop can do it it tomorrow morning, otherwise Ill attempt the stealership or work on plan C.

Thanks again everyone, Im glad I was directed to a forum that actually has knowledgeable people on it. Definately puts my mind at ease knowing if I really screw something up, someone can help me get back on the right track