General Question and only looking for a general answer

[masato]

Hey all,
I'm looking at the potential purchase of of 1980 Argo 6x6. I haven't yet seen the machine up close (just a few pictures) but it looks OK physically for its age. One thing the current owner notes is that reverse tends to 'pop out'. I take this to mean that it for whatever reason disengages when it shouldn't. Now, being new, I don't know a lot about these machines but I'm mechanically inclined enough that I'm not afraid to tear into them either.
Any general ideas on what would cause this and what a repair might involve assuming I buy parts and do the labor myself. Worst case, I'm thinking new transmission and while this is likely the costliest route, it probably solves the problem and in some respects is probably the easiest route (not considering the impact on the wallet). But the most likely reality is that I'd do the work myself. Any idea on what I'd be getting myself into on a repair/rebuild of a tranny for this machine?
The asking price is $2000 CDN. I'm thinking this is fairly high given this tranmission issue. Your comments are welcome.
The other machine I'm considering is a 1988 8x8 but I might buy both if this 6x6 transmission issue turns out to be a minor problem.

[North Country Tough]

Hey all,
I'm looking at the potential purchase of of 1980 Argo 6x6. I haven't yet seen the machine up close (just a few pictures) but it looks OK physically for its age. One thing the current owner notes is that reverse tends to 'pop out'. I take this to mean that it for whatever reason disengages when it shouldn't. Now, being new, I don't know a lot about these machines but I'm mechanically inclined enough that I'm not afraid to tear into them either.
Any general ideas on what would cause this and what a repair might involve assuming I buy parts and do the labor myself. Worst case, I'm thinking new transmission and while this is likely the costliest route, it probably solves the problem and in some respects is probably the easiest route (not considering the impact on the wallet). But the most likely reality is that I'd do the work myself. Any idea on what I'd be getting myself into on a repair/rebuild of a tranny for this machine?
The asking price is $2000 CDN. I'm thinking this is fairly high given this tranmission issue. Your comments are welcome.
The other machine I'm considering is a 1988 8x8 but I might buy both if this 6x6 transmission issue turns out to be a minor problem.

Likely the trans will have to come apart,the reverse cluster could be worn from switching from forward to rev and grinding it alot,2 k for a 80 is very high unless it was spotless JMO the trannys are pretty straight forward and not hard to fix,the internal components are expensive,the other possibility is that the detent ball spring is broken which more or less situates the gear on the cluster but unlikely, 31 years old,take the worse case scenario and expect to spend 200 or more on that repair alone,if it needs more work then another 4 or 5 could easily be spent,brgs,chains,etc, you get the drift.N.C.T

[masato]

NCT, you're clearly a wealth of knowlege on this forum. Thanks again for the quick reply. I too was thinking $2000 was almost ridiculously high for a machine from 1980 but I can use this as leverage to see if the seller is actually inclined to sell. $1000-$1200 seems more appropriate to me given the trans issue plus the other normal maintenance items - bearings, chains etc. He said something about needing a half link for one chain but I take that to mean the chains are actually worn past the point that the tensioners can do anything. I really get the impression this owner isnt too mechanically inclined which brings overall maintenance into question. But, I don't mind getting my hands dirty so we'll see how this goes. Regards.

[North Country Tough]

Thanks masato,1k sounds about right,also in the early eighty's there were a run of single speed trans(no high low just forward)they are probably getting hard to find parts to replace anything they didnt turn out to be popular and were discontinued shortly after intro so make sure its a two speed,and its a safe bet you will be replacing chains.N.C.T