The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline BRONZE WASHER IN TRANNY

I have a bronze thrust washer aprox 1 1/4" in diameter and approx 0.036 of an inch thick. The washer has 4 evenly spaced cutouts on the inside diameter. This washer came out of my tranny during a teardown and I do not know where it goes...
The tranny is a 1953 318 torque tube style. The diagram in the 1953 repair manual does not show this washer. The washers shown in the diagram are all accounted for and are all steel. This is the only bronze washer.
Where does it go???????????

Hy zoegrant, it has been a long time since I have overhauled one of those, but there should be thrust washers at each end of the countershaft, could that be where this washer belongs?

Check the reverse idler gear- - - -there is at least one thrust washer between it and the case, possibly one on both sides.
Jerry

It could go on the reverse idler shaft or on either end of the cluster gear (counter shaft). I suspect it goes on the cluster gear.

Speaking of bronze thrust washers (and also brass synchros) ...

(Jerry - correct me if I am wrong.)
I believe that GL-4 gear oil should be used in the gearbox to prevent damage to the yellow metal components ... not GL-5. At least that's what I use in my '55 MG TF-1500 gearbox.

- Lonnie

Thanks for all the good suggestions on where this washer might go but I do have all washers laid out on my work bench and nothing appears missing. ......this mysterious bronze washer does not fit onto any shaft, all the shafts are too thick to go thru the opening in the washer. ...so how could it be for this tranny ?

We used to call it "mineral oil" as opposed to hypoid lube that's intended for the spiral-contact gears in a rear axle. Hypoid lube has some additives that aren't bronze-friendly, particularly in air-shifted situations like the range splitters on Fuller Roadranger transmissions. It can't hurt to use the same stuff in a less-stressful application.
Jerry

GL-1 mineral oil should be used in gear boxes with bronze parts.

So it's FOD then. Someone dropped it in there at some point in the past. I tore down a slant 6 chrysler one time and found a beautifully polished craftsman 9/16" combination wrench in the bottom of the oil pan.

FOD, Foreign Object Debris.
A former USN friend of mine was sent into the bowels of a tank in a ship with a small threaded piece which was found upon cleanup of said tank. His orders were to find out where it came from and to not come out until he put it back where it goes.
Of course he could not find where it goes. He was getting ready to drill and tap a hole in the tank which the threaded piece would fit (so he would not have to spend the rest of his tour in the tank) when he finally realized that he recognized the piece.
It was the screw which holds the adjuster in place on a Crescent wrench!

"GL-1 mineral oil should be used in gear boxes with bronze parts."

Paul WNC

Here's a detailed discussion of your issue:

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/509692/1

When I raised this question with a lubrication engineer at one of the oil companies he told me that modern GL5 gear lubes are buffered to prevent adverse effects on yellow metals. He also told me that unbuffered GL5 oils of the past do have the potential to erode yellow metals but only at very high temperatures that are not reached in transmissions used in "daily driver" applications.

So this "No GL5 in synchronized transmissions" claim seems to be one where not all "experts" agree. The SAE has laboratory procedures for testing oils. The results of those tests are probably worth researching and very reliable.

FOD = Foreign Object Damage. I did many FOD walk downs in my long Navy career.

I once picked up a bucket labeled "FOD" as FOD on a taxiway. It still had FOD inside it.