Alright so I split my transmission case today because I could lift the driver axle and trans fluid would run out after a min. I got the case aprt and I really didnt see any spalling on the driver side bearing race. I felt a knick but that was about it. But I started moving the differential (the large gear) and I could move it all around. I dont know if that is suppose to happen or what. Anyone know? I havent fully disasembled yet as I was wondering if it was normal or not.

 

The diff will move around quite a bit like that, it's just sitting in the bearing cup on the passenger side.

I have seen cases where the driver side bearing doesn't have much more than nominal wear, but the passenger side bearing is a mess. Play in either one = play in both.

If you pull on the input and mainshaft together, wiggle them, you can get them to lift about 1/2". The shifter stuff will hold them from coming out, but by lifting them (esp the mainshaft) you will be able to rotate the differential and slip it out of the housing. Then you'll see the passenger side bearing very clearly.

Dave

 

Ok cool I am looking at the FSm and I am stumped by step 5 it says to remove the retaining pin. I cant figure it out.


Edit: got it now

 

Well now stuck again on step 7 where you rotate the screw the screw will not turn. Any ideas?

 

Anyone know the answer to my above question? I cant get the screw to budge either way.

 

hey, maybe you can help me. I can't pry my axle out of the tranny. Is there some kind of technique I need to use? I am using a prybar.

 

Are we talking the driver side or passenger?

 

driverside

 

OK well if your trying to get it out of the trans there a snap ring. It in there pretty good. Just grab the end of the axle and yank real hard. Might have to do it a few times but it will come out. I tried using the prybar technique to but I could not get it to work. So I went to yanking and it came out after a few yanks. Hope that helps.

Now if anyone can help me get this stupid screw out it the only thing that holding me up. It pissing me off.

 

Well yanking it did something other than removing it from the trans. Now whatever is linked in both boots on the axle has separated.

This is an absolute nightmare. My experiences rarely go as the FSM and write ups predict. It's as if my car was made differently.

I desperately need help. Please.

Tell me an alternate method of removing the axle and how to reattach the CV inside the boot to the axle. I guess that is what it is...all i know is that whatever is linked in both of those rubber boots is no longer linked.

 

ok, you should have poped it out with the prybar, eitherway, your axle is toast(correct me if i'm wrong) It's not supposed to separete in my opinion. Stick the pry bar in between the tranny and axle and push the axle out. it'll come out for sure.

And for MXrider52: http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/805
that'll help

 

I'm back to post about all methods which have failed.

Picture this...pry bar foot ( I can squat 450lbs), wedged between wall and pushing with foot on prybar. After the garage wall develops a hole into the neighbors garage. I have abandon the foot idea. Back to the no leverage arm strength. Only thing I got there was a nice bloody hole in my arm after the prybar slipped.

I'd pay someone to get this off. i am going on 12 hours. This is ridiculous.

 

I had this happen to my passenger side as the bracket was rusted together and I didnt realize what was keeping it from coming out. But I ripped the joints out also They were inside the boot. What I had to do was carefully pry the ring off that holds the boot on. There a spot you can bend some edges out and get the ring off. There is a ring in the boot that holds the 5 bearings together. Put the 5 bearings back in and pop that ring that inside back on then you can seal the boot back up. Worked for me. But I guess you gotta get the axle out first.

 

As far as me repairing the trans myself I am just gonna go drop it off at the trans shop on Monday. I just need to get it fixed and get my car running again.

 

It's not a screw or bolt in the classic sense even though it has a slot for a flat head slot screw driver and the FSM shows that it needs to be turned. It's just a smooth cylindrical pin, there are no threads on it. To get it out, you will need to find something that you can poke in from the back side to press it out. A coat hangar bent into shape would work well. This, in conjunction with turning the "screw" back and forth should get it out (don't worry about turning it only one direction because like I said, it doesn't have threads).

This step is probably the most difficult step for a first timer taking apart this transmission, at least it caused me the most problems the first time. After you do it the first time though it won't take you more than a few seconds once you've figured out a good way to do it (if you ever have to do it again).

 

Are you removing this stuff just to inspect the diff, or doing a full rebuild? There is no need if you're trying to get the diff out.

To the question: It's not a screw, it's a sahft with an o-ring. Look at the picture - you need a stiff wire and use that to push on the shaft while turning the shaft with a screwdriver. In many cases it's tightly seated, so hit it with some pb blaster from where the screwdriver goes and maybe give it a gentle tap with a mallet and the screwdriver before trying to twist and push it back out.

edit: I didn't notice the other (nealoc187) pretty much explained it.

 

I just need to do get the diff out to replace the diff bearings.

 

Then just leave the shifter mechanism in place and work out the diff by lifting the mainshaft and input shaft. I stand on the corners of the tranny case, and pull and wiggle on both shafts.

It helps to have a helper lift the diff by the cage of the bearing on top with one hand and steer the diff out with the other hand. This helper has to be careful to not get their fingers pinched if they reach around the diff gear.

Dave

 

So it is possible to just remove the differential without removing anything else? All I need to do is lift the main and input shaft a bit and wiggle the differential around? And I will still be able to shim the bearing races and everything with the stuff still inside the case?

I was playing with it and it did seem as if it was possible to get it out but I didnt want to try. But now that I know I can possibly save that extra 300 in labor.

 

Yep, that's even how Motorvate did it. You will have to pull and wiggle until there is enough room to get the diff out, and it will take some patience, but it's not that hard.

As for reshimming, IMO don't reshim if the original assembly lasted at least 100k.

Dave

 

Motorvate shows removing everything like the FSM. So should I not worry about cleaning the case out? I guess I will try it tomorrow before I take it to a trans shop. Yea I am at 216K on the trans and it wasnt really even leaking from the seal just when I lifted the axle up.

 

I've removed a diff without pulling the shafts just like dgeesaman did. Took two people though.

 

It's nice to clean the case out in theory, but if there aren't any metal shards floating from broken gear teeth about it's actually not too important. Once you disassemble the shifters they never ride as smoothly as before, so IMO it's not worth it if you don't intend to replace the other bearings. You'll be cleaning the magnet and replacing the gear oil, so things will be 10x cleaner than they were before.

Dave

 

Well had my trans dropped off Tues at trans shop. I got it back today. Everything looks good. All that was replaced was the diff bearings, races and all the seals. I also got the flywheel resurfaced. In total it cost me $382 which is actually pretty cheap compared to what I thought it was gonna cost. Now I am waiting on my new clutch. Be here Tues then I will be putting it back together and hoping it runs like new.

Transmission lasted me a good 216K before needing new diff bearings. I am sure it had some more life because the axle seal wasnt even leaking unless I lifted the axle. Overall happy with it so far.

 

IMO, any transmission with play in the axle is primed and ready for a blowout. Once there is a little play, the gears don't mesh properly and stresses go WAY up. Lotta blown up trannys are due to worn, unsupportive bearings. The leaking axle seal is a fairly late symptom in terms of bearing wear.

Dave

 

What are the signs of a bad diff bearings? I've been getting a strange sound from the front tranny/cv/wheel area. It's has a small buzzing (almost ticking sound). It originally only made the sound while accelerating, it would go away as soon as I pushed in the clutch. The last couple of days it's got louder and now I can hear it anytime I'm rolling... clutch in or out. The tranny still shifts fine. The car has approx 200k miles and it's had no transmission work since I bought it with 25k miles in 98'.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....=diff+bearings

 

Thanks for the link. In the other post somebody mentioned it sounded like skateboard wheels - pegged my noise exactly, I've been struggling to describe it since it started.

If I try it myself can I just re-use the shim and assume the preload will be OK or do I need to measure preload and reshim if necessary?

 

If the old shims are in good shape, and the tranny lasted a long time (200k is a long time) then I re-use them.

Dave

 

I know it's late for the person that started this thread but for people who come accross this thread in the future this write-up on vqpower.com show the technique of pulling the shafts enough to get the diff in and out without totally disassembling everything. http://www.vqpower.com/v2/modules.ph...howpage&pid=42

 

That thread is very good - it's almost exactly how I would handle installing a new differential. However, unless the oil inside was fairly clean, I would not recommend changing only the diff bearings. It doesn't take a lot of dirt in the oil to ruin the input shaft ball bearings.

Dave