Change 833 side cover gasket with trans in car?

Can you change the 833 side cover gasket with the trans in the truck/car? I'm having trouble with the used 833 trans I put in my truck shifting into reverse...with the reverse rod disconnected the side lever shifts into reverse by hand no problem. I tried to loosen the side cover bolts and tap the side cover up, but it appears someone used rtv on the side cover, as it wont budge. I think I need to remove the side cover to remove the rtv and put a new side cover gasket on..so the side cover can be adjusted, but was hoping I wouldn't have to remove trans to do so. Never messed with an 833 before....but read that the side cover can be a bear to reinstall.

Any tips, tricks, etc? Or do I need to drop the trans?

Nah, piece of cake.

Rick

Keep track of the bolts and their position, as I recall two of the are shoulder bolts that must be returned to their respective holes.

Early model ball and detent cover is much easier than the later lever type cover IMHO.

Gus

Thanks for the reply Rick!

I read about the shoulder bolts...

Mine is a newer OD model...

I think removing it to work on it on a bench would be way better than fighting installing the forks, especially the 1st & 2nd gear fork, into the side cover
If you do the work in the car are you going to drain the lube out first? I would If you remove it and work on it on a bench you won't need to drain it as long as the have a spare tranny yoke installed in it so the gear lube doesn't drain out the tail shaft housing while removing the trans
Good luck either way

I might be misunderstanding what you said, but if you removed the rod from the trans lever and reverse moves easy on the trans, it is not the side cover or trans. You need to adjust the shifter rods following the procedure in the manual.

I understand the logic of what your saying...makes sense. I guess im not sure how easy the levers should be to move. I can shift the reverse lever by hand...but im not sure i would consider it easy to shift by hand....thus why i was thinking maybe the side plate might need adjustment. Figured i might as well change the sideplate rod seals while i have it off...ordered some from brewers last night.

Thinking about this...i know i put the 1/4" rod in the shifter and had my 18 year old son adjust the rods to fit on the levers...maybe i should adjust it again myself first to make sure its right.

Just an update...but i readjusted all the rods myself this time...and now i can shift into reverse...thanks for the help!