My rebuilt 5-speed has had some play in the axle shafts for at least a couple of months now. Then, in just the past 3 days, it started giving me some horrible rattling/grinding/clicking sounds while driving. It happens mostly when accelerating in a lower gear; sometimes it happens in the higher gears but it's not consistent. The weird part is that I don't seem to be losing gear oil besides maybe a tiny drip here and there. Whatever the case, it's definitely getting worse by the mile.

Think it's diff bearings?

EDIT: I should also mention that I went out on a limb and changed my tranny fluid two days ago, and after not even 2k miles in the tranny it was pretty dark...

 

rattling/grinding/clicking?

Is it while shifting, or under normal cruising? While shifting suggests maybe synchros, and while cruising, I'd look at a bad bearing or your gears.

 

Cruising. It is also shifting a little hard, although I find that a lot easier to live with...

 

I'll put my bet on scored gears. Loose diff bearings result in the final output gear not being held in a perfect mesh, and that quickly causes the tips of one gear to cut into the faces of the other. The result in gear whine - mostly when they are lightly loaded. That's my guess.

Sorry, but this rebuild is going to be more expensive since I suspect you'll need some hard parts in addition to bearings. I suggest you should consider what to do soon, since loose bearings make the gears much more vulnerable to sudden breakage.

The dirty gear oil is probably from the wear of the bearings you have now.

Dave

 

Thanks for ringin' in, dgeesaman. You're definitely one of the people I was hoping to hear from. I'm thinking you're probably right.... I don't get nearly as much noise if I'm relatively hard on the gas.

Rebuild cost shouldn't be a factor. This transmission came with a 12-month unlimited mileage warranty, which is why I bought it from these people. I'll be... talking to them about this tomorrow. I was mostly posting to get an idea of whether I'm right to think that this thing might grenade if I keep driving it. Sounds like that might be the case, yes?

BTW, in case anyone reading this is wondering, I will post the name of the shop after this thing plays out (and not before).

 

Update:

I was told I'd get a call back at 9am today (they open at 8am) and nada so far. I just called them for the third time today and no one is answering. Call me impatient, but I would think a company would get back to someone who's left three urgent messages in 2 business days.

Open to suggestions on how long I should wait before getting angry...

 

if i were you id be very angry already. i had a similar ordeal with a local (coughcough-tires plus in delray beach, FL-coughcough) and they were giving me a hard time about it. i kept at it and was thinking about calling the Better Business Bureau when they finally got on their toes. worst comes to worse call the BBB ( www.bbb.com ) and ask around for some lawyers and take 'em to claims court.

just my 2 cents

good luck man

god bless

 

Finally got a call back from the technical support guy who somehow hadn't gotten any of my 3 voicemail messages (go figure). He put me through a lot of junk about axles (I replaced mine recently due to a ripped outer boot, which apparently wasn't entirely satisfactory for him). The official line is that I can buy a new tranny and send the busted one back, and they'll credit me if it's their bad... "but if the axles damaged it, there's nothing we can do." What BS. I understand that they need to give themselves an out, but it's not exactly encouraging to hear that stuff... All they have to do is lie once the busted tranny is in their hands, and I'm out $960 with no evidence to fight them with.

I did call the BBB to check them out. Two complaints in the two years that the file has been open, one for credit/billing and one for warranty issues, both resolved to the customer's satisfaction. They also have an eBay business, which has had two instances of negative feedback vs. 191 positive. Plus, under their terms, the exchange will involve absolutely zero expenditure on my part, except if they try to screw me over.

Here's the shop, in case anyone cares:

ManTrans (Tallahassee, Fl.)
1-877-626-8726
www.manual-transmission.com


What do you guys think? Should I give them a second chance?

 

Okay, Man Trans is done.

Just got to talk to the manager again. He told me that since the problem got worse some days after I installed my new axles, the axles might have caused the problem and they'll have to check it out first. Maybe he didn't believe me when I told him I had had shaft play for months before.

If he's gonna play those games, I'm done. I can understand getting a little defensive, but he definitely seems much more concerned with covering his own **** than with having a happy customer. I'd much rather drop $600+ on a rebuild than risk my $960 on these guys. I'll be posting about them in the dealer/vendor forums.

 

That stinks. Even if they fix the problem, they might try to be hedging so they have an excuse to split the costs with you.

As for axles ruining the transmission bearings, well that's a new one for me. Technically since they fit together it's possible, but I don't see in practice how any such thing would happen.

Dave

 

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

Ummm... in the 4 years that I have been fixing cars, I have never had an axle cause bearings or anything in a tranny to go bad or break. I guess something could happen if you smashed the axle into the tranny with a mallot. My guess is that since you have had play in the shifter for months now and now your hearing a grinding/clunking sound. The gears were prolly not seated correctly when it was rebuilt, and the bearings got loose cause of that, and the grinding/clunking sound is prolly a peice of one of the gears or a bearing bouncing around. If its the bearing (which in our Max's doesn't even touch the axle) then it is definately their fault. They will most likely take care of it for you, if they don't then you know what to do

 

It is very possible that the rebuilder didn't sufficiently seat the bearing cups, and under the load of driving the diff bearing finally got pushed in all the way and lost its preload. Then you have loose bearings that would wear down and create gear damage similar to worn bearings, but on a much faster time scale.

 

I'd say take it back to them, tell them you're not paying a cent, you installing the axles had absolutely nothing to do with the tranny troubles. Have them crack it open and let them know that you're not taking any bullshit.

 

I really would. The only problem is that they're in Florida and I'm in PA, so it might take a while to resolve this if they try to stiff me.

As I've said, it's entirely possible that things would go very smoothly. But however much I can't afford to keep throwing money at my car, I'm a lot less able to afford the stress and the downtime associated with messing around with a shady company. This is a particularly bad time for me, so I can't even take chances on this. I'll replace the tranny now and worry about the warranty later.

 

Yeah, if they'll refund you your $ (not just store credit ) then that's the better route to go. You actually make over $300 in the end... assuming it all goes to plan.