Since the Mojave is in storage for the winter it’s a good time to address some maintenance issues. To be honest, since I bought the truck I haven’t done anything to it other than change the oil a few times and keep the gas tank full. Well I did replace the tires since they were 8 years old and cracking on the sides. Otherwise the truck has provided good service for the two years that I have owned it. It does however have a leak somewhere from the transmission. Nothing major – a drop or two a day.
So a free evening was dedicated to removing the transmission. This particular model truck has a W52 5 speed manual transmission instead of the expected L52. With the transmission out I could see some advantage to the new design. The bellhousing was removable with just a few bolts. The tailshaft housing was removed after taking off the shifter mount, the reverse backup switch, and the speedometer cable pickup. After removing the cover to the intermediate shaft front bearing it was a simple matter to remove two snap rings and the transmission case was separated from the center plate. Now the internal workings of the transmission are fully visible for inspection.


