Roundeye67 Posted December 1, 2015 Report Posted December 1, 2015 A couple years ago when I picked up my '48 plymouth from my step dad we loaded it on a car dolly. He thought it was in neutral, so I headed home. It was about 5 miles to the highway and when I got on to the highway and got up to about 55-60 I looked back and seen smoke coming out of the back of the plymouth. I pulled over and looked under the car at the rear end, It had thick black stuff seeping out of the rearend. So I unhooked the driveshaft from the rear end and was on my way. I noticed the tach in my truck was at 2000 rpm after I dropped the driveshaft instead of 3000 rpm before. What are the chances that my drivetrain is messed up? Quote
55 Fargo Posted December 1, 2015 Report Posted December 1, 2015 Good chance that diff was good and heated up. No point guessin, time to open her up and have a looksy. Does this engine run? To get into this diff, pull drums and brakes, by undoing the brake lines, unbolt backing plates, pull axles, and unbolt the diff carrie, you will then see what you are up against. Let us know what you discover..... Quote
Roundeye67 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Posted December 1, 2015 I know 3 years ago it ran and drove, but since I ve had it I haven't messed with it. The first thing I planned on doing was getting a battery and seeing if I could get it to run. Do I need to add anything to the fuel or can I just run unleaded fuel? As far as the tranny do I need to do anything to it? The brakes on the car don't work, I planned on upgrading brakes all around. So prolly wont even mess with the rearend thats in it. I think I read somewhere I can use an explorer or grand cherokee rearend but not sure. Is one better than the other? One more thing, what is the shift pattern (I have 3 on the tree). Quote
Robert Horne Posted December 1, 2015 Report Posted December 1, 2015 I know 3 years ago it ran and drove, but since I ve had it I haven't messed with it. The first thing I planned on doing was getting a battery and seeing if I could get it to run. Do I need to add anything to the fuel or can I just run unleaded fuel? As far as the tranny do I need to do anything to it? The brakes on the car don't work, I planned on upgrading brakes all around. So prolly wont even mess with the rearend thats in it. I think I read somewhere I can use an explorer or grand cherokee rearend but not sure. Is one better than the other? One more thing, what is the shift pattern (I have 3 on the tree). Several people here have used the Explorer rear, 94 and older have drums, 95 and up have disc, I believe. I used a Ranger rear. It is not wide enough, so I used spacers to get the tires out where I wanted them. I have a 1998 XJ Cherokee rear, 3.55 gear,,, I want to use next. It looks to be a good fit............ Quote
55 Fargo Posted December 1, 2015 Report Posted December 1, 2015 Get a fresh battery, get some gas, check the oil and coolant levels.See if it will fire up. Gas tank and lines could be cruddy or filled with varnish deposits. You could always disconnect fuel line to fuel pump, and make a short line into a clean gas can to get her running. Let us know how it goes. The diff swap is a fairly straight forward event, and you could get 3.55 or 3.23 gears to boot..... 1 Quote
suntennis Posted December 1, 2015 Report Posted December 1, 2015 Removing the drive shaft if the trans was in neutral and the park brake off should not make that much difference in RPM for the tow car. Maybe the park brake was set and that is what was causing the extra drag and smoke. Quote
greg g Posted December 1, 2015 Report Posted December 1, 2015 The extra drag probably kept the tow vehicle from shifting up into its highest gear hence the rpm change when the load was relieved. How far did you tow it in gear? What gear was it in? How fast do you think the engine was turning if the tow vehicle was turning 3K? I think I would do a compression test before trying to start the engine. This will give you a basic idea of how the engine internals are before you try to get it running. The smoke as noted might be from the E brake which is located on the end of the transmission. Quote
mopar_earl Posted December 1, 2015 Report Posted December 1, 2015 Might of been spinning the engine over or if the engine is seized, maybe loading up the fluid coupling if it has one. Earl Quote
Roundeye67 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Posted December 1, 2015 My stepdad thought it was in neutral, im not sure what gear it was in or if it was even in gear. The e brake doesnt work as of now but the driveshaft is still disconnected if that makes a difference. Im assuming everyone uses the v8 axle from the explorer? Also what engine oil does the flathead use? Quote
55 Fargo Posted December 1, 2015 Report Posted December 1, 2015 Just to get her going just through in some cheap 10W30 or 10 W 40, if it's cool in your area, use some 10W30 to get her going... Quote
desoto1939 Posted December 1, 2015 Report Posted December 1, 2015 My stepdad thought it was in neutral, im not sure what gear it was in or if it was even in gear. The e brake doesnt work as of now but the driveshaft is still disconnected if that makes a difference. Im assuming everyone uses the v8 axle from the explorer? Also what engine oil does the flathead use? I still have the original rear end and drive train in my 1939 Desoto and the drive shaft has the Pinion and trunon style universal joints with the leather covers I can cruise down the road around 50-55 MPH with the original drive train. I use 10W40 because my engine was rebuilt and also had the filter on the engine. Rich Hartung Quote
Don Coatney Posted December 1, 2015 Report Posted December 1, 2015 Im assuming everyone uses the v8 axle from the explorer? Not sure why you would assume that. Many different differential assemblies will work. The key is measuring to insure track width is acceptable and more importantly do the math to insure you select the correct ratio. Quote
Roundeye67 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Posted December 1, 2015 Guess I should clarify, what I meant was everyone that is using an explorer rear end is using the v8 rear instead of the rear used behind the v6 explorer. Quote
mopar_earl Posted December 1, 2015 Report Posted December 1, 2015 Guess I should clarify, what I meant was everyone that is using an explorer rear end is using the v8 rear instead of the rear used behind the v6 explorer. It's the same axle, Ford 8.8. They come in many ratios and with drum or disc brakes. Early ones for drum brakes and later for disc. Believe 95 to 01 for disc. Prior for drums. Earl Quote
Roundeye67 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Posted December 1, 2015 Actually they used the 7.5 rear axle and the 8.8 Quote
mopar_earl Posted December 1, 2015 Report Posted December 1, 2015 (edited) Actually they used the 7.5 rear axle and the 8.8No idea, I'm far far from a being a ford person. Lol all I know is everyone says they are 8.8. From the searches I've done, all I found were the 8.8. 7.5 would be awful small axle in a SUV. I could see using it for the front axle. Earl Edited December 1, 2015 by mopar_earl Quote
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