[JimmieD]

Chrysler Corp. put out Technical Service Bulletin 21-10-98 to cover warranty repair of any NV4500 due to 5th gear nut. This recall includes dealership instruction on how to fix. Most Dodge NV4500 trannies should already be fixed because of this TSB. If one was done by a dealership it was to be stamped 'New Nut' on top of transmission case, but not all were stamped.

One transmission company decided to capitalize on this problem and offered their revolutionary, none other like it in the world, finest, coolest, bestest repair kit ever invented. That was supposed to justify their ridiculous price I guess? Anyway, for some reason their extra-superfine repair kit soon became unavailable with little explanation, but lots of BS. Prior to that this tranny shop posted all sorts of extremely negative comments about all the other repair kits, explaining how they were complete junk, and how none were any good, except for theirs of course. They've now backed off some on all the bum-kicking and negative hype, but the damage was done, and not by the 5th gear nut. Far as I know even several years later now, their wonder kit is still unavailable.

BTW: my '96 Dodge/Cummins 2WD NV4500 uses 4 qts fluid to bottom of fill hole on level ground, from bone dry.

 

[JimmieD]

Yes it can, but it may be cheaper to buy the right one up front, unless you plan to go through it anyway. The parts aren't cheap at all, but it can be done. Also might be able to swap with somebody who wants to go in the other direction? Save you both a whole bunch of work.

 

[JimmieD]

BTW, better than 1/2 the failed NV4500's I repair are equipped with dodges "super nut". Thier fix is a joke. It doesn't take a genius to realize while tearing down your first NV4500 that the nut is still in the same place it was when it was originally installed. The nut didn't back off. The interferrence fit that's supposed to be there between the mainshaft and 5th gear is no longer there, you can wiggle 5th gear all over the place if your lucky, if you're not so lucky you can spin 5th gear freely on the shaft.

Actually, in my estimation, you're far too much of an egotistical, self-centered and self-proclaimed expert to have a rational conversation with.

Even though you are one of very few people who hold this opinion of Dodge NV4500's in general, you've convinced yourself that you have superior cognition of all things transmission. Your opinion of your own vast knowledge [accumulated in how many years?] is so expansive that it's your regular habit to be insulting, condescending, and a tiresome boor, even on a friendly internet forum. Your opinion, though astoundingly impressive in your own higly compressed cranium, is not shared by the very large majority of happy Dodge Cummins NV4500 owners.

 

[JimmieD]

Thanks, accepted, and back at ya.

I've dealt with a lot of different trannies myself and this is the first reference I've heard to 'case stretch'. Doesn't sound good. Maybe somebody needs to come up with a simple case girdle to addess that issue? That is unless it just gnarls out thrust surfaces instead of actually stretching the casting. I'm sure if the case is stretching on the thrust line there must be some deformation laterally as well, so it seems that metal fatigue of the casting is a rather scary issue to consider.

Sounds like the gear and shafts may be able to handle increased torque, but as Bob S said, it's well beyond ZF's design limits for applied torque in a high output installlation.