I would like to put this issue of BW65 vs. 66 to rest, and shed some light
on
the question of longevity of these units.
Not likely…these units are all over the page.
First of all, the impressive list
of “improvements” for the model 66 I have personally found to be of no
consequence to the real issues with these boxes.
I disagree with that. The 66 is improved.
For example, what good is a
larger input shaft size? Has anyone out there seen a broken model 65 input
shaft??
Yep! Broke mine in my '76.
Bushing styles, larger oil holes, etc. have no real improvement,
but in my opinion are just a futile attempt by the manufacturer to bring
these up to snuff with other units.
Oh please! Each one of these “non-improvements” IS the way to make the box
better.
I’ve had plenty of experience with both
units (65-66) and they basically give the same service, that is, they
originally last about the same length of time, (well over 100K if not
tampered with from the factory)
This is true under ideal circumstances. The problem is that first, they
don’t see the maintenance that they should and second, when they do fail,
they seem to fail catastrophically instead of just wearing out.
One that is properly rebuilt and adjusted
should too if the car is driven normally, and on the other hand, you will
risk crunching a planetary by snatching either of them into gear while the
wheels are in motion. After rebuilding over 20 of both types, the main
problem I’ve seen, is that the rebuilder, after spending hours packing
clutches, locating obsolete hard parts, carefully assembling the
geartrain,
cleaning the valve body, then doesn’t pay attention to the most critical
part of the equation: The control cable (kickdown).
How can you make such a blanket statement about rebuilders like that? First
you say there’s no relevant improvements, then you say that the people going
through the grief of rebuilding a trans that’s hard to get parts for it
aren’t going to adjust the cable properly? That’s kind of ridiculous as most
of the people that will even tangle with one of these boxes are generally
experienced and have the skills to do this adjustment properly. BTW, it’s
main function is NOT as a “kickdown” cable.
Because it modulates
the line pressure instead of a vacuum unit, it’s adjustment and smoothness
of operation is essential to the avoidance of premature clutch failure.
The
adjustment cannot be made with the gap at the crimp, but must be made
with
a diagnostic gauge, period.
Hey, these posts go into the archives so you have to be very careful about
making conclusive statements like this. There are a few people out there who
have never used a pressure gauge to set the cable adjustment. With proper
experience, you acquire the “feel” for the cable adjustment.
Another issue is the published specs. for the front band adjustment. It is
just too loose. It may have been fine when the unit was brand new, but
if this adjustment is done by the manual, you will quickly wear out a
front
band.
Really? How stupid of Jaguar to put the wrong info in the ROM. Here again is
another case of feel. Band adjustment is critical and should be done by
someone familiar with the technique.
The linings of which are paper thin, so if not caught in time,there
goes your rear drum also. I have found that the hard parts in an original
unit are usually intact.
Oh please! I just wish that the majority of failures that I have seen left
the drums unscored.
The hard parts in somebody’s rebuilt one are
usually destroyed. What does this tell you?
What do you mean by this? That the drums are scored and reassembled that
way? Or that they suffer premature failure due to incorrect band adjustment?
You must have really inept tranny shops in your area or you consider places
like Aamco or Cottman as rebuilders. They are NOT!
People, both units share the selfsame weaknesses, The BW66 did not solve
any
of the inherent problems of the 65.
Did too, did too!
So don’t fool yourselves into
“upgrading” your series II and begin in search of a good used model 66
(there is no such thing, as I stated in a previous post).
There is no future in replacing any of these boxes with used. If you buy a
good used box, have it gone across by someone who is familiar with these
transmissions.
Instead, find
somebody who can rebuild your 65, install a new cable, make the correct
adjustments, ignore these posts about the 65 and drive stress free!
The 65 is NOT a great box. They DID make improvements whether you see it
that way or not. There are also less of those transmissions around and they
are getting extremely difficult to get parts to repair them. Why you don’t
see this is beyond me. There is no reason not to update to a 66 if you have
one available. It will probably be cheaper in the long run to get a used 66
that is not broken and go across the clutches, bands and seals that it would
be to repair a broken 65.
And I have never had to replace a cable yet.
Remember that there are people that do not have your technical expertise
when you make these posts and that they will make decisions based on that.
It’s a good idea to be very sure of what you speak before you say something
like “I’m going to clear this up.”.
For one thing, there will always be some knucklehead like me who will argue
with you…and I do have some experience with all five of the “modern” BW
boxes that were used since the DG 250.
Cheers,
JebFrom: “immjag”
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