So, I somehow just managed to crack my F'n bellhousing. I got the transmission splines lined up on the first try and was nearly giddy with how easy that was. Usually it takes me like twenty tries to get it lined up. So, I knew I got happy too fast.

After I got the splines lined up, I got the jack under the back corner to hold it up, then put a bolt in up top, one on the bottom, etc. to space it around, just like always. When I do this I always check the spacing around the perimeter of the bellhousing to make sure it's tightening down evenly, and noticed that the area by the slave cylinder wasn't closing the gap properly. It looks like one of those alignment tabs on the block was slightly bent and instead of sliding into the alignment hole on the transmission it just got stuck on it. I backed off the other bolts, but it was too late, as I noticed that it made a nice crack halfway across the bellhousing.

The crack doesn't look too bad in the picture, but it's definitely cracked all the way through.

Ugh, and I was just about to finish this darn car too.

 

dude that sux! i bet the hammer playe a part. lol

know any good welders?

 

Lol, no I didn't use the hammer at all. I was just pissed off and set the transmission right inside the garage on/with a bunch of tools I had laying out working on it.

Anyway, no, I don't know any reputable welders in my area

 

ack! i was also going to say weld up the crack. You should drill a small hole at the ends of the crack to make sure it doesnt spread further, if youre going to weld it up anyway

getting the splines lined up and making sure the bellhousing approaches the block evenly are the 2 most tense moments of that job

was this on the blue VE?

 

Yeah, this is on the blue one. I've got the JDM in it looking all pretty, all new suspension bushings in it, etc. I'm off tomorrow and Friday so I was hoping to be driving it here pretty shortly.

I guess tomorrow I'll try to find a good aluminum welder. Just from some quick research online it looks like it's split about 50/50 on people recommending to weld it or replace. The problem with replacing is the guts are all attached on the bellhousing side, so that'd be alot of work

 

whered you pick up your JDM from? what kind of shape is it in?

im looking to buy one hopefully within a month, right now im still busy with the underbody work

good luck with the crack, if you find a good welding facility im sure theyll say if its recommended or not (or did i misread that and you are going to buy your own welder?)

 

i am not 100%, but I would think you would (at least want to ) remove the guts before getting it welded, especially if it went all the way thru.

That said, I am part of the 50% to say "weld." VE-5's are getting scarce, it will be a ***** to replace (if you know a place to get a good trans from, tell me, NOW!!!). but finding a good welder for a price you can afford may be almost as hard.

 

Well, I guess I don't feel comfortable removing all the guts. From looking at the FSM, if I were to remove all the guts I might as well just do a complete rebuild. Plus, if I were to go through all the trouble to remove the guts just to get it welded, I might as well just swap bellhousings (as I actually have another VE 5 transmission) and save the money. Although, that would basically be giving up a VE 5 transmission if I did that, and I don't really want to do that

 

i give you fidolla, and I come pick it up, this weekend?

 

there's no true way to "swap bellhousings" like you can on a nissan RE4F04x or a BorgWarner T5... see the bellhousing is cast into the half of the case that ALL the internals attach to. The only thing that goes in the outer half of the shell is the plastic oil gutters and the 1-2 and 3-4 checkballs and springs.

 

Well, yeah, that's what I meant by saying I'd have to remove/swap all the "guts"

 

why would you even swap them? why not just use your spare VE5 tranny as a whole unit unless it has internal problems?

 

I don't know the condition of it, to be honest. I got it 5 or 6 years ago and took the case off of it in anticipation of rebuilding it myself, and have since misplaced the bolts for the case as well as the check ***** and springs. Other than that it's all there, and the internals "look" good.

I guess what I could do is jack the bolts and springs and checkballs from the one I cracked and swap them over. I just hate to essentially give up a perfectly good VE 5 tranny, especially since I went through all that trouble to replace the strike rod seal, etc.

 

don't bother welding it. It's cast aluminum, and it will just crack again in short time.

I have a VG-5 bellhousing outside that was broken on the top two bolts. it was ground down and welded back together on both sides, and there's still yet another crack straight through the middle of the weld. it got torqued once before the crack came back.

So.. sorry.. just replace it. take that "parts tranny" you have in the garage and start swapping parts. you have 1-2 hours of work to tear them both apart and swap everything out. the only hard part you'll have is shimming the mainshaft and the differential again. might have to pay a shop to do that for you. I wouldn't trust the shims on either case unless you swap all the old guts into the complete 'parts' case and then use the shims that were in that case. Even then, I'd still be wary of not at least checking the preload and end play on it.

the other option is to pick up another salvage unit...... mo money mo money!!

 

actually come to think of it i have access to a perfectly good ve5 case..... the one off Greeny's car, which I got in february to harvest the VLSD unit for a 4th gen. I'll double check to make sure the 4th gen owner still has the case in his garage.

 

If you find it, let me know, I'll take it off your hands. I think in the meantime I'll just put the case and springs/***** back on that one I bought 5-6 years ago and stick it in the car just so I can get it drivable. There's nothing visibly wrong internally and no ball bearings rolling around loose in there so I assume it should be okay

 

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. Alot of the threads I'd found from other forums where the guys welded it up the crack always came back.

I did a quick search on car-part, and the cheapest one was $375 and they even had a couple at $700 no thanks as I got both the transmissions in question in this thread for $75 each

 

That's too bad man, at least it didn't happen after you got the car on the road again.. Good luck, you'll get her done.

 

Damn dude that really sucks... what other bell housings are compatible to the VE-5? VG-5 should be same but is there anything else?

 

Don't forget there is always the option to be ignorant and naive and using JB Weld.

 

the i'm going to be stuck on the side of the road with more repair solution?

 

NONONO! VG5 is NOT compatible. the bearing sizes are different... not to mention the diff itself has an extra hunk of metal on it called a viscous coupling...

 

A little update:

Late last night I took the case bolts and the checkballs and springs from the one I broke and swapped them onto the other transmission and sealed it up. I put it on this morning and it won't go into gear (or it may be stuck in gear, I can't really tell).

So, I dropped it back down and just took it into a shop. Hopefully it's not gonna cost me too much

 

double check the checkball and spring that goes by the bottom of the shift fork rods.. there's actually 3 ***** and a little slide pin (goes in the middle of the 3/4 rod). That is the checkball system that prevents more than one gear from engaging at a time. Also be real careful when putting the case on that you don't accidentally engage a gear while pushing the case on. I achieved this by actually temporarily substituting a piece of metal stock for the long spring in aforementioned checkball hole. Then put the shifter so it's between the 1/2 and 3/4 gates. Then put the case on. Then take the metal stock back out and put the spring back in.

ALSO the guy with the trans case said you can have it for $20 + shipping. It would need about a 24x24x24 box (which i might be able to get from my brother's restaurant) and weighs maybe 20lb... so you can sort of estimate how much shipping that might be.

 

Well, I can't check that now as it's in the shop but I guess it was probably screwed up all along. I mean, even though I can't specifically remember, I probably realized years ago it was screwed up and that's why I just stored it away for parts/backup and designated the other transmission as the one to use (I've been tinkering on this off and on/collecting parts for years).

Plus, this way, I figure I'll have a 100% verified good tranny for years to come on this car, which I suppose goes well with my basically new engine, all new suspension, etc.

Anyway, I'll take the trans case. I'll PM you about it

 

benchwork is the cheapest for a good tranny shop... they you when they have to take it out of the car... but you should be good since most of the work has already been completed... I hope it works out for ya... I just had mine rebuilt and am awaiting the new engine to be complete before mine gets dropped in...

 

Yeah, hopefully it's not gonna be more than a few hundred. This guy is really fair on prices and really well respected. I haven't decided if I want him to go full rebuild or just literally fix what's broken. Hopefully I'll know more about it tomorrow