Tranny questions while I break from pulling driveshaft

[ForcedTorque]

I am working on several issues with my car today, and have come in to ask a few tranny questions.

First and most important:

1. I am having trouble pulling the driveshaft all the way out of the tranny. It seems to be almost off of the spindle, but won't move any further. I know that it is a precisionally balance unit, so beating it with a hammer seems to be out of the question. Has anyone else had this problem? I have issues in my neck, that make working under the car more difficult than it should be. I'm just pulling it out so I can replace the little tail piece on the tranny. It was bent up pretty good, and I straightened it before use. I can hear the u-joint hitting it where I must not have starightened it enough. I will just replace it.

2. Once it is off, can I look forward to similar fun putting it back?

3. How much play, if any should the carrier bearing have? Mine has some side to side play, but no bearing grind as it does.

4. My tranny has a leak in the center, where the orange thick seam is. Not a bad leak at all, but I don't like it. Does this signify a major problem? Is there a fix?

Thank you for any help you can be. I am going back out to work on a different issue, I'll check back in a bit on these.

 

[Facime]

Tranny questions? Pulling your driveshaft? If that title isnt full of sexual inuendo I dont know what is!


I have nothing useful to add.


edit: ok Im done LMAO.
The DS should pull right out. There is no clips or anything that hold it in. Maybe it has some build up on the yoke just inward of the seal. Just yank on it or use the weight of the shaft to act as a slide hammer. be prepared to replace the rear seal too. After its off you should be able to emery cloth the yoke and it should slide right in.
Quantify the side to side play? 1/4"? 1"? Ive seen some pretty bad bearings still work and not cause vibration. Not a cheap item either and I know your budget is limited. Probably gonna have to deal with what you have am I right?
The leak isnt indicative of any problem other than the seal at that point is is failing. To fix it you would probably have to drop the trans and pull it apart to re-seal it. If it isnt gushing I wouldnt sweat it, but definately keep an eye on the lvl.

 

[suprahero]

Scott, the drive shaft should slide out of the tranny very easily. It should also slide in just as easily............:dunno:

I don't know which seam you're talking about, but I assume it's not the bellhousing seam. If it is, you know you can tighten them bolts up. If it isn't, I don't really know. I'd have to go out into the dungeon to look at my old transmission. Good luck either way. I wish I was more help. I'm not a smart man, but I do know what love is.


Pete, never underestimate the power of laughter............:biglaugh:

 

[Sil]

You probably already did this, but is the tranny out of gear?

 

[Facime]

You probably already did this, but is the tranny out of gear?

What difference would that make?

 

[Sil]

What difference would that make?

To be honest I don't know, but the couple times I've pulled driveshafts from manny tranny's on more than one occasion pulling it out of gear fixed the hiccup issue we were having.

 

[cuel]

You're probably cocking it a tiny bit as you get to the end. Give it a wiggle while still pulling, and it'll come out. Could also be the seal is doing its job correctly, and you're getting a bit of vacuum or suction working against you.

As far as the leak, Weezl covered it well. I'll repeat to keep an eye on the fluid level, though.

 

[tbcmorris]

Mark the tail end of the driveshaft as yopu take it out. That way it will go on the same way it came out. I loosned my carrier bearing but didn't remove it. That should take some of the angle and resistance off the tail of the tranny. It should slide out with out much force.

 

[CyFi6]

About the leak, you may want to make sure it is trans fluid and that it is coming from where you think it is. Often times engine oil or something else will leak and thinly sheet over the tranny and start a drip somewhere on the bottom of the trans making it seem like the trans is leaking.

 

[ForcedTorque]

OK, checking back in before I go back to pulling on my shaft. This has been a great response with a lot of helpful hints to follow. Never before have I seen so many helpful hints and so much humor all in such a short time period. Thank you all for the help. I will get back with an update soon.

 

[frontierguy25]

I just did this 2 days ago. Did you unbolt the DS from the rear end? There should be 4 14mm nuts and bolts that you have to take out. At first I did not do this and the carrier bearing would drop a little but not enough for the DS to come fully out because there is a brace right before the carrier bearing.

The drive shaft should be really easy once unbolted from the rear end and will be just as easy to install. Just make sure you hold the driveshaft good when putting it back in because they heavy DS hurts if it hits you.

The leak in the middle you will just need to take it apart to fix it. It shouldn't be all that hard to do.

 

[ForcedTorque]

OK, I now have answers to almost all questions I asked plus those asked of me.

Thanks to all that have helped. Cuel had the tip that helped. I was pulling the drive shaft, and dropping the tranny mount to do a couple of small projects. My tail shaft on the tranny was not completely round, and I could hear the U-joint as it shaved down the inside of it. And, I don't believe I had my speedo cable properly installed. I dropped the mount to get a better angle at that. I now have all of that taken care of, and just need to re-install the driveshaft and bolt the tranny mount back up.

Once the mount was dropped, I had an easier time getting the shaft back up where I could pull it straight out. Then it pulled right out. I got the other two issues taken care of as well. I'm now allowing the pressure in my neck to ease before trying to lift the shaft up and re-install it.

The fluid that is leaking is definitely tranny fluid, as the rest of the car is dry underneath. The puddle it has left is about as big as you could make if you used your thumb and forefinger on both hands and put them together. The car has been sitting there since Thursday. I believe it could possibly be from being over filled. There was a small amount of fluid up near the seal at the shifter that may have been the source.

The rear seal in the tranny appears to be fairly new, and is not leaking a bit.

I did mark the tail piece of the driveshaft for re-installation prior to removing it. It was removed as the first step of the process. As Cuel stated, it has to be straight or level so that it won't bind as you slide it out.

The play in my carrier bearing is maybe 1/4 of an inch either way. It did not do any vibrating before I removed the shaft. Pete is correct that I won't be buying a new one anytime soon. If ever I do replace it, it will be with a 1 piece shaft, probably steel.

 

[suprahero]

OK, checking back in before I go back to pulling on my shaft.

I hope you cleaned the oil off of your hands before you started back again. The oil will cause a rash later............ask me how I know.........:naughty: