Pulling your DD diamond drive and changing it's oil, including pics Options

[GuyFromTheNorth]

Hey everyone. I've procrastinated long enough and decided it's time to pull my DD. It's not the hardest job in the world, but not necessarily the easiest either. It's one of those things that gets easier with time I think. I've listed out the steps needed and pictures, hopefully all is clear. Thanks to Steph who provided me with his walkthrough, I just wrote my own here so it's online and added a bit more detail so even the noobiest of noobs can understand. Here goes...

Step 1: Belt removal

-Get a nice belt wrench and use it to turn the secondary clockwise, this is easiest with either the parking brake on or the track on the ground. The secondary will then open up.
-I find it easiest to begin removing the belt from the front of the bottom of the secondary sheaves. Work some of it out and then with the track lifted off the ground turn the secondary counter-clockwise with your hands until the belt has undone itself from the under-side of the secondary. It will then come off the top without any issue. If this doesn't work for you you can follow the manuals instructions. There's no need to remove the belt from the primary unless you are changing it for this job.

Step 2: Removing the long bolt

-Get a breaker bar (yep) and a 5\8" socket. Open the shroud covering the right side of the sled and look in the middle of the brake disc. There is a bolt there.
-Place the break bar onto the bolt and LOCK the parking brake. Turn the bolt counterclockwise (like a regular bolt) until it comes out. This will be a PAIN. They are locktited in (with good cause) and since the bolt is LONG it will torsion the whole bolt while undoing it. It comes off in a series of bangs. At first I thought I broke the bolt. It twisted almost a full quarter turn of the breaker bar then BANG, re-position the socket, turns some more... BANG. This is just the torsion undoing the locktite on the other end. Here's a pic of what the bolt looks like and where it is, don't mix up it's parts\washers\shims\etc:



And with is removed:


Step 3: Removing the secondary

-I took some major precautions on doing this as the adjuster on the end of the seconday is PLASTIC. Plastic becomes very brittle at cold temps and when I was doing this job it was -25deg out. I decided since there is no AC dealer for 200miles from me I would play it safe. I took a hairdryer from my wife and used it to warm the peice up for about 20mins before I tried un-doing it.



*THIS IS VITALLY IMPORTANT MAKE SURE YOU DON'T FORGET THIS STEP!!!*

-After the peice was warm to the touch I used the tool provided with the toolkit and a spark plug socket and ratchet to remove the plastic adjuster. THE ADJUSTER TURNS OFF CLOCKWISE. NOT counter-clockwise like most bolts do. IT IS REVERSE THREADED. Turning it off like a regular bolt will strip it and you'll be up the creek. Once the adjuster is out make sure to not lose the shims\washer and o-ring that are attached. They maintain the deflection adjustment. Pic:



-Now that the adjuster is out of the way take a look into the secondary. You'll see another bolt head with a hole in it. That is the retaining bolt that keeps the secondary splined onto the DD. It has a hole in it to vent pressure from the DD. It's 9\16ths in size and you'll need an extension to reach it. Pics:





-Make sure you clean this vent hole out with brake cleaner so nothing is plugging it up before re-assembly.
-The secondary should now pull straight off the splines of the DD. Pull it outwards and watch out for any shims that are inside or otherwise hidden.



Step 4: Removing the DD itself

-This took the longest for me. It was tough because the DD has never been pulled so it was factory tight in it's spot.
-There will be 6 nuts, all 1\2" in size, holding it in. One of them is hidden by the rubber bumper. I used a small socket with a small ratchet and an extension to get the nuts off. I circled the nuts in this pic:



-To get the rubber bumper off simply push up on the bottom of it with a screwdriver:



-Then pry part of the top right corner away from the nut, keep working it around until you get the whole edge against the DD out then just pull it out altogether exposing the hidden nut:



-Here's the HARDEST part of the job. Getting the DD out now. Mine was stuck in there good, I didn't know if it was iced up inside the tunnel so I used a hair dryer again to heat the driver just incase the output shaft was frozen in. Then I took about 4 flatheaded screwdrivers and carefully pounded them inbetween the DD and the bulkhead around the bolts and slowly began working the DD out. Once it was out JUST enough I got one of those "wonder-bar" crowbars with a 90deg prying end on it and began carefully prying the DD out of it's hiding spot. It was slow but it did come out. Make sure you DON'T pry against the speedometer cable on the right side of the DD.

Step 4: Removing the speedo sensor

-Again I used heat. The speedo cable is on the right side of the DD connected with a black wire. It's held in by one of those barbed plastic plugs used on car doors. They are VERY brittle in the cold. Again I heated it with a hair dryer, this is what it looks like:



-I carefully put a screwdriver into each side of the head of the pin and pried upwards, I got it up just enough so that I could get some needle nosed pliers under it and used them to pull upwards. Once it was out I carefully pulled the sensor out via the wires connected to it (DON'T BREAK the wires). Here's what it looks like:



-Now the DD is officially seperate from the sled. BE CAREFUL as there are loose shims found on the DD splines themselves. You don't want to drop\mix these up with other shims:




Step 5: Changing the ACT fluid

-I brought my DD inside and let it warm up on the counter for a few hours first. The oil will be MUCH easier to remove if it's not the thickness of molasses. I circled the fill plug here (technically):



-and the drain plug (note the blue locktite from the original long bolt install):



-These are the technical fill\drain spots. Use the drain plug to drain and catch as much of the DD as is possible. Now it's time to split the case and clean out the leftover fluid that did not drain.

Continued in second post...

This post has been edited by GuyFromTheNorth: Mar 6 2007, 03:22 PM

[GuyFromTheNorth]

I will finish this how-to later today, my DD is still warming up in the sun to get the fluid moving freely. You'll need brake cleaner, paper towels, blue locktite, ACT fluid (3oz for regular DD models, 12oz for reverse models if I remember right), and gasket maker.

[Snowcrazy]

Why pull it just to change the oil?

[GuyFromTheNorth]

Why pull it just to change the oil?

Good question. The reason is it's not THAT much work to pull it really. The DD needs exactly 3oz of oil, no more, no less. With it still in the sled, in the -20 of the yard you can't get all that oil out reliably. If you leave some in, or miss some in your catch cup and you don't know how much to put back in you could be in serious trouble. Not to mention with it out you can actually get ALL the old oil\water\metal debris OUT with brake cleaner, inspect the vent, inspect the gears\bearings, and re-do the gasket. For the extra bit of work it sure makes parts last longer and avoids what could be major incidences.

[opcruzer]

Can we pin this to the top once the rest of the pics are added, I have been looking for this for a while now?

[GuyFromTheNorth]

Ok here's the rest of the story...

Step 5 continued...

-Undo the drain plug, 7\16ths socket will do. Drain the DD as best you can into a cup of some kind. Take note on the fluid colour. Mine was -black-. This means it's due for a change, if it's milky or foamy it means water has got into the DD case and that can be real bad. Once all the oil is out, as best you can get, it's time to split the case.

-The DD case is held shut by torx screws on the input shaft side. They are on pretty tight if this is the first change you are doing. Get a torx driver that is the RIGHT size. My torx drivers are un-marked so I don't know the exact size, but pick the largest size that will fit tightly without play. I used a ratchet to break them loose then a screw driver to undo them.

-Once these are out you can start prying the case apart. There's strategically places pry-slots on both sides of the case. Use these to start working the case open. You want to try an avoid prying on the mating surfaces because this can cause improper sealing later on. Pry each side a little bit at a time and work it off. It needs to come up evenly because the case rides on two knobs that keep the cover centered.

Pry slot:


Here's the case split open, notice how black it is inside:


And here's the knobs the case rides on to ensure proper fit:


-Use brake cleaner to THOROUGHLY blast the crud out of the case. Use paper towel to help get the stuck on junk out but be carefuly not to leave any paper towel inside the case or the gears. It should turn out much cleaner than the above pictures. Here's a shot I took after only doing the first pass with brake cleaner, notice how it actually looks silver now:



-Now start carefully removing all the RTV that is on there. You want it all off so it won't interfere with the new RTV you will put on. If you have a bad seal the ACT oil -will- puke out on you causing catastrophic failure.
-Once all the junk is cleaned out apply a bead of RTV (gasket maker) along the edges, make sure to encumber the bolt holes. Follow the directions on the RTV bottle, make sure to smooth it out with your finger (having water on your finger stops it from sticking to you). Let is skin up and then carefully mesh the two halves together again being careful to follow the knobs.

Step 6: Re-installation

-Reinstallation is pretty much reverse of removal:

-replace the speedo connector
-begin working the DD back onto it's bolts and into the driver, turn the input shaft by hand if needed to line up the splines with the driver. Once it's in as much as it wants to go DON'T tighten the 6 nuts around it. Go and get the longbolt, apply blue locktite, and bolt it back into using it to pull the DD the rest of the way in. 60ft lbs of torque on it and you're good to go.
-replace the 6 nuts, applying blue locktite to each (I do this to EVERYTHING so I don't have parts falling out on the trail) and putting them on tight, don't over do it, but there is not torque spec I know of for these. Don't forget that rubber bumper.
-put your secondary back on, don't forget any shims you had out.
-blue locktite the secondary retaining bolt
-blue locktite the plastic adjuster (if you want) and apply 15ft\lbs of torque to it, remember to turn it counter-clockwise to screw it in.
-put the belt back on ensure the deflection is right.

Good to go. Take it for a test spin and keep an eye out for leaks just in case you didn't do the RTV right.


hth

[TVBrian]

Just a note on the speedo sensor removal.

You can pull the DD without removing the sensor from the case, if you look behind the brace above the footwell, you will find a disconnect up there for this cable.

Nice write up!!!! .... pretty well exactly the same way i did mine, I figured it isn't that hard to pull, might as well be sure everything is ok inside, instead of just changing the oil

[nickels]

Can we pin this to the top once the rest of the pics are added, I have been looking for this for a while now?

pinned

[GuyFromTheNorth]

I want to note to those who just drain the case without removing it. I caught every drop I could possibly get out of the DD itself before cracking it, I warmed it up, turned it on all sort of weird angles, spun the gears, etc until it pretty much stopped dripping. I measured what I caught and it was only 2fl oz. Which means there was an entire ounce left inside the case just clinging to the gears\walls\passages\etc. So by cracking the case you get a chance to remove that gunky oz left over and put 3 fresh ones in.

[SnoPro69]

good work . . thanks for the info!!!

[catmandu]

Good write up. Just a note on that looong bolt that holds the driveshaft on the DD gearcase. Black Diamond makes a lightweight drive shaft and comes with a much shorter bolt to repalce the long one. Well worth the money-- IMO it is a much better design / concept and seems to fit much better. I don't understnd why AC does not incorporate this concept into their production.

[Team Pigeon]

Why pull it just to change the oil?

I pull the gearbox out to properly inspect gears and bearings and totally clean it. Getting all the used oil out just makes sense. And you get to know your sled better.



Thanks for the props Jer, glad to have helped out! And despite your cold weather, it looked as if your job was a lot cleaner than mine!!!

Tp

[GuyFromTheNorth]

I pull the gearbox out to properly inspect gears and bearings and totally clean it. Getting all the used oil out just makes sense. And you get to know your sled better.
Thanks for the props Jer, glad to have helped out! And despite your cold weather, it looked as if your job was a lot cleaner than mine!!!

Tp

Np TP, thanks again for the original tips. I forgot to mention in my writeup, as some people had told me, IT IS MUCH EASIER to remove the DD (and to re-install it) if you back off the tension on the track. The DD is what supports the left side of the driver so when you pull the DD nothing is supporting it and it will fall backwards a bit making re-install almost impossible, unless you don't run much track tension, I keep mine tight so I had to loosen it no matter what.

[SaskQUATCH]

Thanks for the post alot of people appreciate it, including me.

SaskQUATCH

[Stangfire]

I booked marked this one.

Thanks.

[killerrf]

having seen the oil that black in there i would recommend using some different oil. i know when i first took my DD apart(i just took the side cover off) at 500 miles it was black in there also. since 500 miles i put in hytran hydraulic/transmission oil. from Case tractors. thats the newest oil they use. very high quality shit. i now have 3000 miles on this DD and gears and bearings are MINT. ive changed oil twice since 500 miles and every time i take the DD case cover off its just oily in there. no black... gears and case are clean just like you washed if off. i dont think you have to worry about being over the 3oz "max amount" of fluid but at least you should put minimum 3 oz in. i put 5 oz in. been running 5 oz over 2500+ miles. yeah...cat probably knows 3 oz is all you need but to me it just dont seem like its enough.

This post has been edited by killerrf: Mar 19 2007, 01:24 PM

[GuyFromTheNorth]

having seen the oil that black in there i would recommend using some different oil. i know when i first took my DD apart(i just took the side cover off) at 500 miles it was black in there also. since 500 miles i put in hytran hydraulic/transmission oil. from Case tractors. thats the newest oil they use. very high quality shit. i now have 3000 miles on this DD and gears and bearings are MINT. ive changed oil twice since 500 miles and every time i take the DD case cover off its just oily in there. no black... gears and case are clean just like you washed if off. i dont think you have to worry about being over the 3oz "max amount" of fluid but at least you should put minimum 3 oz in. i put 5 oz in. been running 5 oz over 2500+ miles. yeah...cat probably knows 3 oz is all you need but to me it just dont seem like its enough.

I think I'll stick with the regular DD oil since it's been working fine for me. I also would not go over the 3oz mark, cat knows they would be replacing DD's left and right if they didn't use enough oil so I doubt they'd advise using less than you need. The problem with a closed gearbox with planetaries is they create a swirling\torrent effect in there and more fluid creates more static resistance, like pattling a boat up river. Which can cause problems and more heat. Also some of the DD's are not vented and using more than 3oz means there's more fluid to expand and since there's only enough room for 3oz to expand the only thing left for 5oz to do is blow the gasket and dump all the fluid out, which won't happen until it's warm and you're going fast, which would make pretty much an instant kaboom of the DD. It's good it's working fine for you, but I wouldn't recommend anyone else run more fluid, especially if they want AC to warrant against any explosions.

[killerrf]

i think there is better oil though.

[GuyFromTheNorth]

i think there is better oil though.

I'm sure there is somewhere, prolly a full syn atf fluid. However I know for myself since the DD is a new peice of equipment, and it's a very tightly packed planetary set I figure if it ain't broke... hehe. Glad to hear it's working out for you though

[CORMORANT]

Any advice on what to do to prevent water from getting in the DD gear box? The last 2 times I changed the oil on my 05M I found water in the drive. My 06 Crossfire has never had water in it. The last time I changed oil in the M7 I also changed the seal. Now I am thinking that I should tear it down this spring for a little inspection.