FM145 head shaft slop

[Mellvis]

Finally got the trans out of the 4x4. I think it has a good bit of slop in the head shaft. It also has about 1/4 inch of travel in and out. does that seem normal?

 

[adsm08]

What is a "head shaft"?

 

[jimbone]

What is a "head shaft"?

Guessing he means the input shaft.

It is normal for the input bearing to wear, and could be a sign that your pilot bearing is shot.

Best course: replace both, pilot bearing is easy once you have the trans out and the input bearing on the fm145/146 is easy too.

Half-ass course: replace just pilot bearing

Oh-shit-what-are-you-doing course: dont replace either.

 

[Mellvis]

Sorry, in my area we call it the head shaft when we talk about the input shaft.

Here's the entire situation:

Bought the truck for $500. Was an automatic, previous owner converted to a 5 speed. I couldn't tell that it wasn't factory equipment because everything seemed so well done. Over time, the clutch got to where it wouldn't completely disengage. Found that it only had ONE bolt holding he bell housing to the block. Replaced all of the bolts and everything worked like new. Over time, it happened again, only now the bolts where still there. I did get them to snug up slightly, but the clutch would still not disengage at all. My clutch master had always leaked into the cab floor a little. I assumed that it just had air in it. I tried to bleed it by pulling the ram out of the master cylinder, but the rubber parts fell apart when I removed it. Now I have pulled the trans thinking that since I have a master and slave from a used truck and they are Ford parts, not Chinese replacements, I could just fix it right, once and for all.

Any thoughts and/or advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks