A Guide to the NV 246 Transfer Case
This transfer case is one of the so-called “automatic transfer cases,” or “active transfer cases.” This description results from the fact that the 246 has an “automatic 4WD function,” a 2WD position, a 4WD High function, neutral and 4WD Low position. Driving the vehicle in 2WD has all torque flowing through the transfer case to the rear driveshaft, and the vehicle operates just like a 2WD vehicle.
The Chain of Command
There are many parts that technicians take for granted and replace routinely without understanding the technology and engineering necessary to produce these parts. One of the most-common replacement items used by our industry is the drive chain. Once limited to transfer-case designs, drive chains were a natural way to transfer power between parallel shafts in front-wheel-drive automatic transmissions.
Where the Rubber Meets the Road
About 75% of the technical calls we handle are dealing with transfer-case problems, usually occurring after a transfer case has been disassembled and repaired, or another reman or new unit installed. The conversations range from, “I took the transfer case apart and can’t find anything wrong with it” to “This is the third transfer case we put in the vehicle and I still have the problem,” or “The reman transfer case I just bought from you is doing the same thing.”
New Venture Gear Transfer Cases
In the manual-transmission market, stick-shift transmissions make up roughly 20% of the vehicle population, with automatic transmissions grabbing the lion’s share of the market. The transfer-case market has exploded with the variety of SUVs and crossover vehicles being added to the market and the fact that whether the transmission is manual or automatic, a transfer case must be involved to obtain four-wheel drive.
Advanced Clutch Diagnostics
Clutch replacement is a common shop repair that is a profitable and relatively simple job if you follow proper inspection and installation procedures. About 50% of all manual-transmission failures or wear-related problems begin with a worn or damaged clutch.
Broken Brakes: Answers to Some Parking-Brake Problems
Bolt-on parking-brake assembly on some ZF manual transmissions requires careful handling.
Ford light-duty trucks have been equipped with ZF five- and six-speed manual transmissions since 1987. The ZF S542, S547, S547M and S650 have been used behind gas and diesel engines and are manufactured in two- and four-wheel-drive versions.
Mastering the Mysteries of Synchronizers
In a transmission we have a sequence of events that must take place in a precisely timed manner to get a smooth, effortless, clash-free shift. Let’s follow these events to understand the theory of operation and with that knowledge find the solutions that will fix and prevent further shift problems.
Six-Speed Solutions
The T56 now is found in Camaros, Firebirds, Dodge Vipers, C5 Corvettes, Aston Martins, the Australian Holden, Mustang Cobra R’s, the new Pontiac GTO and the just-released Cadillac CTS-V. Tremec also developed an aftermarket T56 unit that replaces the T5 units used in earlier Mustangs, Camaros and Firebirds. This unit is a direct bolt-in, which will require some modification to the cross member, driveshaft and, on Mustangs, the exhaust system.
Making Money with Transmissions and Transfer Cases
At least 50% of the calls on the tech line are generated by shops that are not fully educated in the work they are doing or have not learned to look at the whole vehicle. The modern automobile is a combination of very complex interconnected systems that must function together correctly. Do not let the unit you are working on isolate your thought patterns from the whole vehicle. A knowledge of how these connected systems affect each other is a must for you to remain profitable.
The Tremec TKO Series of Transmissions
The business of doing business for our industry has become much more complicated in the past few years. The general advance of complex designs and electronic functions has made severe changes in the cost and volume of the work the average shop can produce. Add to this the competition for market share that the car dealers through reman programs and the centralized rebuilding centers have placed on the transmission shop, and it is easy to see how the industry is contracting.
What Is New at New Venture Gear?
New Venture Gear is a major supplier of transfer cases to the world’s automakers. A subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler, New Venture Gear began life as a marriage of the New Process Gear division of Chrysler Corp. joining with the Muncie transmission division of GM to manufacture transmissions and transfer cases. That joint venture has now been dissolved, with DaimlerChrysler retaining the New Venture name and continuing to design and manufacture transfer cases at its plant in East Syracuse, N.Y.
The End of the Season
It is 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28, and I am about an hour away from Daytona Beach, Fla., where I will compete in the final race of this season. The sanctioning body is the Grand American Road Racing Association, the road-racing division of NASCAR. This series, on premier race tracks in the United States and Canada, features 10-12 races per season, all televised on the Fox Speed Channel.
