Your Associated transmission does not feel right, but you can't quite pinpoint the problem? We created this page to help troubleshoot one of the most important parts of your car or truck. To help locate the problem area start with this simple test.
1 First tighten the torque (slipper) clutch until the nut stops or the spring is fully compressed.
2 Now hold both of the rear tires in your hands. At the same time grasp the spur gear with your right thumb and forefinger and try to turn the spur gear. Make sure you are holding both tires as you do this.
3 Now look at the #9251 inner torque clutch hub behind the spur gear. Does the inner hub turn at the same rate at the spur gear? It should be very hard to make the spur gear turn if everything is correct in the transmission.
The inner clutch hub turns at a different rate
than the spur gear.
This means the torque clutch is not working correctly. The cause of this
is either a missing or wrong part, or incorrect assembly and adjustment. See step 9 below.
The inner clutch hub and spur gear turn at the
same rate but they turn easily.
This means the problem is in the differential. See steps 7-8 below.
The inner clutch hub and spur gear turn at the
same rate but it is extremely hard to turn the spur gear.
This means that the problem is not in the transmission and you will need to look at the engine
clutch and flywheel area for problems. (This page does not address clutch and
flywheel problems.)
The adjustment of the differential could be
off.
In the manual it says to tighten the diff bolt until it stops and then back the bolt off
1/4 of a turn. This is correct but here is where most people have a problem. You are then
suppose to recheck the differential adjustment about 1 minute after you first start
running the truck. This is because the parts will seat in and then the bolt will loosen
up.
The adjustment range on the diff is 1/8 turn to 1/4 turn back from full tight. If you start at 1/4 turn and you do not recheck the diff adjustment the diff will go loose and it will then start to damage the diff if driven. I tell people to back the diff bolt off 1/8 of a turn so if they forget to recheck it will still stay within the 1/4 turn adjustment range and not be a problem.
The T-nut could be defective.
To check this, take the transmission out and take the differential apart. After you have
the diff apart thread the diff bolt into the T-nut. If the bolt threads all the way
through then the T-nut is good. If it will not thread all the way through then the T-nut
is bad because there is a problem with the threaded insert. The T-nut needs to be replaced
to correct this problem.
Incorrect assembly or missing part.
The amount of possible problems here is great but here are three areas to consider:
a. A part is missing.
With the first GT manual, some people missed the step where we install the second diff
drive ring (#7666 for the GT). If a part is missing, then there is no way to make the diff clamp
together, so it will spin freely.
b. An extra or wrong part inside the diff.
Again, the diff will not clamp together so it will spin freely also. This problem can also
be spotted because it will be hard to get the case to close properly.
c. Incorrect assembly.
This is something that has happened to just about all of us, especially if you have been
taking the diff apart several times trying to find a problem. The most common problem here
is when you take the diff apart one drive ring will stay on one of the diff hubs but the
other drive ring will stick to the diff gear. You can accidentally pick up the diff gear
and end up putting both drive rings on the same side. With this problem the diff will
adjust correctly but the diff will not feel smooth. Remember, only one side of the balls
is riding on the drive ring like it is supposed to; the other side is riding on the diff
hub, which is not smooth.