Tech Tip #51: Souping up the Series 72 Borg Warner

Dr. Diesel
Written by Dr. Diesel

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Helping you get the most out of your Borg Warner

Many of our Perkins engine customers are running Bog Warner transmissions. Often, some of our customers want to eke out a few more seasons with their old Borg Warner 72 Series before they bite the bullet and repower with a new engine/transmission package. The new package would in all likelihood include a new transmission or Twin Disc® gear. Everybody knows that the 72 series transmission was never designed for some of the use and abuse it gets and that it is no longer available. So here are a couple of tips to prolong its life before you do the right thing and buy a Twin Disc transmission.

  1. Use a longer, larger oil cooler filled with synthetic fluid. Heat kills transmissions. Install the biggest cooler that you can find and fill the transmission with Red Line or other synthetic fluid.
  2. Install a better damper plate. Lots of people still use the old spring-loaded damper plate that looks like the clutch disc from a flathead Ford. And these spring-loaded dampers are about as obsolete. Switching to one of the new polymer/steel R&D Damper plates is the way to go.
  3. Use a deeper oil pan. Again, heat kills transmissions and oil starvation can hurt them too. So, if you operate in warm weather or rough water, consider modifying your pan to have a deeper, larger sump.
  4. Improve the clutch. This series gear can be modified to accept one more steel and one more bronze plate in the forward clutch pack.

While none of these modifications will keep the salespeople awake, they will prolong the life of your 72 series until the inevitable day when you have to give it up. Of course, we have Borg Warner manuals ready for same-day shipping or e-mail if you need a comprehensive reference book.

Manufacturer’s names, symbols, and numbers are for reference purposes only and do not imply manufacturing origin.

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Dr. Diesel
Written by Dr. Diesel
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