Fairey

[superstator]

My OD seems to work just fine, but it is fantastically loud when engaged at speed. I checked the little dipstick-on-a-bolt, and there seems to be oil well past the notch, but I pulled the inspection plate off and took a peek anyway:





Keeping in mind I know next to nothing about transmissions, let alone these overdrives, the first thing I noticed was that it smelled foul - very burnt. The gears themselves look OK to me, though you can see the faces have some pits and flakes out of them.

At the least I'll drain and refill it, but how much oil can I safely add back in? If it weren't for the dipstick I'd assume I could just top it right up to the fill hole, but is there some possibility of damage from overfilling? And what weight should I use - I know 90 would be the standard, could I put something like 75w140 in in hopes of quieting it down a little, or is that asking for trouble?

[KevinNY]

I ran Red Line Heavy Shock in my Fairey and it quieted it nicely as well as being synthetic to resist the heat. Fill to the notch, check it often and change it regularly.

[adkrover]

My understanding is that they are always noisy. The older they are the louder they get. I purchased a truck with a supposed rebuilt OD and it was too loud to use. I tried to get a Roverdrive but they were out of production so I sent mine back to Rovers Down South to have it rebuilt for sure. George went through it and said it had been poorly rebuilt and the case was bad. He found a new case for it and rebuilt the rest. Now I have a guaranteed rebuild that is still too loud to use. It's not as bas as before but it is still pretty loud. Maybe I should try some different lube before I give up on it also?

[KevinNY]

Try a seat box mat too.

[ybt502r]

Try some of our host's synthetic 90w - I've put it in all the usual places, and it makes cold weather driving much better. The OD is still loud but one does get used to it - the mat suggestion (I've got the heavy weight rubber mat across all the front floor and bulkhead) is a solid idea.

My son and I drove the SIII from Colorado to Canada. We had a CD player to listen to books-on-CD while making the s-l-o-w drive across the plains. Made the mistake of turning it on once (at the highway sound level) when in town before we were up to highway speeds with the OD engaged - the CD darn near blew the windows off. Only made that mistake once. I can still hear mostly well too, save for some ringing now and then. Having the OD is worth it for when you need it.

[I Leak Oil]

Bought mine brand new in 1994 and was noisy right out of the box. I've had good luck with keeping extra oil in it by making a new inspection plate with a breather pipe instead of the thin cover with the hole that they come with. This is where most of the oil leaks from on the Fairey. I hardly notice the noise anymore as I've become numb to it...
Jason T.

[greenmeanie]

That's fatigue in the face of the gear teeth and that will be making her pretty loud. It suggests to me that either the unit is old with a lot of miles on it or someone has been using it poorly in lower gears instead of cruising and spliting 3/4.

Unfortunately the only real fix is to replace both gears. Replacing only one results in accelerated wear of both gears. Time to call George.

[superstator]

That's fatigue in the face of the gear teeth and that will be making her pretty loud. It suggests to me that either the unit is old with a lot of miles on it or someone has been using it poorly in lower gears instead of cruising and spliting 3/4.

Unfortunately the only real fix is to replace both gears. Replacing only one results in accelerated wear of both gears. Time to call George.

Probably both. Who's George? Is replacing those gears something a mere mortal could contemplate doing themselves, or would that be stepping off the deep end?

[jp-]

Funny, my Fairey in the 109" has always been relatively quiet. Must not have been built on a Monday or Friday...

George is George Laird, of RDS (Rovers Down South). He bought all the Fairey tooling.

[adkrover]

No dissrespect to George but I sent mine to him because of the noise and he rebuilt it, guaranteed it wouldn't be noisy, bench tested it, said it was all set, as quiet as a new unit and it is still noisy. Not as bad as before but much louder than anything else on the truck. If you want it to be quiet, leave it laying on the garage floor.

[superstator]

If it doesn't physically hurt anymore to have it engaged past 50mph, it'll be money well spent. Now I just have to figure out how to keep the truck running for a while without it... Am I right thinking it's just an intermediate gear & a backing plate that needs to be swapped in when it's removed? Anybody got some lying around?

[superstator]

Nevermind, found it in my box o' mystery parts. Now, any sneaky ways to deal with the mainshaft nut, or do I have to suck it up and buy the tool?

[mcb]

The blunt chisel and hammer method has worked a couple times for me over the years in removing the main shaft nut but it results in a chewed up nut.