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zf5 rear/tail housing 4x4

14K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  Michael93 
#1 ·
Have a 2" +/- crack at top of rear tail housing, near the seam with the front case, on 1997 ZF S5-47. I have a few questions as I try to find a solution:

1. what tail housings are interchangeable? ZF s5-42 4x4? What about small blocks, or the big 460 gasser? I know the bell housing and gear ratios are different on the 460 transmissions, but not sure about the rear housing.

2. What are some ideas on short term fix in place? It is at the top of the housing, so only leaks when driving. Permatex, epoxy, solder (assuming I can get to it to solder)?

3. Any one have one to sell that will fit?

Thanks in advance for any input!
 
#2 ·
I had the same problem, I lived with it for a number of years until I decided to have it fixed. I took my transmission to a shop in Denver where they sourced a new tail shaft and replaced it for me.

Until then I just addded fluid once a month.
 
#4 ·
If you do try the above fix or if you find a tail housing check the mounts. That was my problem when I cracked mine

Sent from my SM-J737V using Tapatalk
 
#5 ·
I use these brazing rods around my garage known as HTS-2000. They have the ability to seal cracks up and holds stronger then ever before. Take a peak at this video, hell it may even be a permanent fix for your situation. The video is ridiculously funny but very informative.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for all the responses. I did not have time to get into a proper fix because of the crack location it would require removing the transfer case at a minimum and probably the transmission itself, plus don't have a replacement part. Still looking for a replacement housing. For now I just covered the crack with black permatex sealant, just to stop some of the leaking (hopefully)!

Still looking for a housing if anyone has one.

I think the cause of the crack was the driveshaft bolts at the output shaft backed out after my son and his friend changed u-joints and probably did not put any loctite on the threads. Started vibrating on deceleration one morning and in the span of a short 10 miles the tranny was leaking.

Even if I find a replacement housing I plan to see about getting the existing one welded in case I need one in the future. Between my son, his friends, and me working on this thing itt is not a reach to think something like this could happen again!
 
#8 ·
Just a note: You might need to reset the shaft endplay to spec (correct sized shims???) if replacing the housing. Cheers!
 
#9 ·
Thanks for that note/thought. I have no idea what the shaft endplay/shims is, but I plan to have a tranny shop do the housing replacement if/when I ever find one that is reasonably priced. Right now all I can find on ebay are in the $700-750 range. Of course "reasonable" becomes a different number depending on how well we are limping along (or not)!!

Thanks
 
#11 ·
I replaced my cracked tailhousing and cracked transmission bellhousing with a 460 gasser ZF5

The tail housing is the same from the 460 trucks


It SHOULD be similar from the 302 and 351 trucks??
But I cannot confirm this
I do know the t cases all use the same 6 bolt pattern and 30 spline input shaft so I would think the tailhousings would be similar???
Someone here should know
 
#12 ·
Thanks for all the input so far.

I have found a replacement tail housing from an S5-42. I've been told outside of this forum that the 42 rear housing will fit the 47 transmission, but will be required to swap out the main shift rail with the 42 shift rail. That part of the housings must be shorter on the 42.

Does this sound right?

Thanks again.
 
#13 ·
An Update:

I finally found an s-42 tail housing that was in good shape and reasonably priced. Good thing too because after removing my cracked tail housing it was cracked about 1/3 all the way around it.

Note - if you install the older style S5-42 tail housing with the newer S5-47 front case/bell housing, you lose 5/8" distance between the main shift rail insert holes. Apparently the rear housing on the s5-42 main shift rail insert hole (where the shift rail bearing is located) is shallower than the s5-47 rear housing. This required, at least for me, cutting the main shift rail down by 5/8 inch. It was a pain, but at least I had a spare main shift rail in case I goofed it up.

U would have preferred to find an s5-47 rear tail housing to keep from mixing parts, but the 42 it seems to work.

Thanks for all the replies and tips.
 
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