firewall clutch bracing

[zpd307]

well.......... the e40d almost completely died on me his weekend. i was pulling a little 12 foot camper from the 70's 3 1/2 hours west for duck hunting opener. by the time i got there, the tranny was stinking and hot. i was losing power but i thought it was from the major 30 mph headwind. it took 5 quarts of tranny fluid to refill what was lost and it was orange and BURNT. i could not find where it was leaking for the life of me. the tranny was wet, but has been for a long time because of a leaky rear main seal. i limped it home in 3rd the whole way, which seemed to help. anyway, the zf5 is going in asap. my question is, should i buy the full firewall bracing now before it goes in or just go with the small kit. or nothing at all and hope for the best. since it seems to be an issue with these, i would like to anyway. but, this is an unscheduled transplant, so money is an issue. i have to get this done before deer hunting which is mid november, in which i will be pulling up a camper again.

 

[sle2115]

I never liked the small kit, but in your case, with a pristine firewall, I'd say put one on and then if you ever get flex, you could opt for the big kit. Just my .02.

 

[zpd307]

i see that the small kit is super cheap. so what does it do, to help with flex.

 

[sle2115]

Supposed to stop firewall from cracking, thus allowing flex. If you want to pm me your email addy, I can email you the TSB on it.

 

[zpd307]

i checked online, the small kit was $12.00 and the big kit was $150.00. i was just wondering what the small kit did compared to the big kit to warrant such a price difference.

 

[sle2115]

Small kit is just a plate that goes around the clutch master cylinder, large kit goes clear to the transmission tunnel and bolts in place there and under the cowl. Small kit is just preventative maintenence, large kit is to fix the wound!

 

[1990350idi]

I heard somewhere once that the cooler lines to the tranny can get plugged and causes it to overheat. Dont know if it is true or not. Idk where the fluid would have gone though. Just thought you might want to check this, could be a cheap fix.

 

[zpd307]

i thought about trying to limp this thing along...... but, it is still used to haul the kids around and i am not going to drive 5 1/2 hours up north for deer hunting while praying that it holds up. i have never smelled such a burned up tranny before. when i changed the fluid and filter last fall, the fluid was still bright red and there was nothing, and i mean nothing on the pan. it was starting to flare and the 2-3 shift on the warmer days this summer. i am surprised that i even made it back home this weekend. the shifts were getting pretty ugly and the tach was at 2400 at 55 mph, in 3rd. i think the tranny is done. i just ordered the small brace kit and i have to get different driveshafts and a clutch kit. then the fun begins.

 

[Diesel JD]

Yeah man, you're doing the right thing by getting that swap done. An E4 can be a good trans but at this point it's already a basketcase and it would cost a lot of money to fix. This swap could be pretty cheap if you already have the parts. A new clutch, master and slave cylinder, spend the cash for the kevlar pilot bushing, you won't regret it! New TOB and everything else should be able to be scavenged.