Hey folks I have a 89 Mighty max 4x4 with the 2.6L engine and a 5 speed manual tranny. I need some help please. The tranny has an issue. The truck will not down shift at all and unless you are super careful it will grind the gears trying to up shift.

I recently changed the tranny fluid and the transfer case fluid hoping a fluid change would help it a little do to how thick the fluid was. I could feel resistance when free wheeling when it was cold like the brake was applied. If I let it warm up good 1st the resistance would not be there. When I drained the tranny fluid it looked great but the transfer case oil was full of metal. The transfer case has 215,000 miles on it and 100,000 miles of it was from being towed behind a motor home. It is nearly shot IMO.

I drained the tranny oil 1st at the pan plug and then filled the tranny oil from the fill hole on the side of the tranny with the proper amount called for. I then drained the transfer case and discovered getting to the fill plug was difficult so I took the easy fill option for the transfer case and removed the stick shifter and boot and 4 bolts and removed the shifters and top plates exposing the gears below the main shifter and the 4x4 shift lever. From inside the truck I poured the transfer case gear lube in the stick shifter square holes over the tops of the gears. I put in the proper amount which is something like 2.5 quarts.

I noticed that the shifting gears below the main shift lever and the gears to put it into 4x4 share the same oil. I also noticed that the syncro gears or what looks like syncro gears because they are very thin were chewed up when I looked into the gearbox opening from above. I could actually only see one thin gear. The rest were substantial sized gears. The gears for the tranny and the gears for the 4x4 are clearly visible though. I drove the truck down my drive way with the cover off and could see the gears turning below the shifting lever even when in 4x2. It was then I thought that at least some of the gears to shift it must be in the transfer case or perhaps all of them. I made sure the oil I just put in from above over those gears was in the transfer case by removing the drain plug again and oil began to come out again confirming what I suspected.

What I want to know is can I replace those gears without removing the entire transmission? It appears they are part of the transfer case and not the main transmission itself?

Could I just buy a new gearbox (transfer case) and bolt it in and if I did would all those gears below the 2 shift levers be included in that new transfer case?

It is frustrating because I cannot find the needed data or an exploded view of the manual trans and transfer case and how they go together and how the gears work. I have never owned a 4x4 so I am inept at the knowledge part of a 4X4 manual trans. The transfer case appears to contain all the 4x4 gears and all the gears for the manual trans right below the shifter levers. Is this the case on a Mighty max?

This may all sound odd or stupid but it sure looks like those gears to shift it are in the transfer case. It appears some kind of rod that the gears turn on runs thru the front of the transfer case into the tranny where the clutch etc is located. Am I dreaming about what I am seeing or are the shifting gears and scyncros all inside that transfer case and can I just unbolt the transfer case and all those gears would come out with it?

Thanks for the help. Sorry if this all sounds dumb and sorry for such a wordy posting but I need help and wanted to explain it the best I could.

Matt.