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Another tranny takes a dump

CSVT#49

CSVT#49

Addicted CEG'er
Joined
May 28, 2004
Messages
6,768
Location
Andover, MN
Well... driving home from work this afternoon.. throw the shifter in neutral and cost up to the stop light... light turns green... I put it in 1st gear and nothing... put it in 2nd gear nothing... I put it in every :censored: gear nothing.. .

So I get out of the car and look at the shift cables... perfectly fine. I have tools in the trunk so I push the car to the side of the road and start taking off the intake and removing the MAF, accordion tube and air filter & housing. Pull the plastic cover off of my shift tower and jump back in the car. I put the shifter in 1st and go out and look at the shift tower... it had moved into the 1st gear position. Basically I checked all the gears and the shift tower moved accordingly. BTW no gear oil was on the road.

So my guess at this point is that the pin dropped on the shift tower and I hope to god it dropped with the gates in neutral and not in 5th gear (as the was the gear I was in coming up to the light).

Could it be anything else? My clutch has been working perfectly with no slipping or anything so I don't think it has anything to do with that.

I was able to use my dad's AAA account and get the car towed home for free (was only 3 miles away anyway). It was to late and dark to see anything tonight, but I plan on pulling the shift tower when I get home from work tomorrow. I'll put up pictures of what I find, but if anybody has any ideas before I dig into this tomorrow I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
 
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Ugh that sucks. One of my mazdas did something weird like that and then drove fine the next day and then for another few years.
 
does your speedo move when you try to engage the clutch? With a torsen a broken drive axel will do something similar to the situation you describe.
 
haha... I got my first warning ever for putting in :censored: vocabulary... looks like they fixed it for me already.

Anyway back on topic... nope, no speedo movement. Plus I doubt both my axles would have took a crap at the same time.
 
Well I took the shift tower out and it looked completely fine. I also took the wheels off and inspected the CV shafts and joints and they looked fine. I left the wheels off and hooked up the shift tower... started the car and put it in 1st gear... and both hubs started turning...

Any ideas here people?? I'm dumbfounded.
 
stage 2 axles utiliza the same size hubs and diameter axles, they simply change the metal used...worthless. lifetime warrenty axles is where its at...till you break them in half :(
 
i tear apart u-joints more than anything. did you hold the base and rotate the other side of the axle? cuz i've broken a few axles and they've looked perfectly fine until you checked the boot.
 
andreslobo said:
Only one axel needs to go to stop you dead
Click to expand...

CSVT#49 said:
I don't see how that is... I have a Torsen diff. One time I had an axle that wasn't seated in the CV joint and I still had one wheel turning :shrug:
Click to expand...

ContourGuy9817 said:
iv had no movement from loss of an axle. a couple times, the torsen stops sending power completely.
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same with the quaife. loose one axle and you will not move.


remember these are not locking diffs. they have to still be able to let the front wheels turn at different speeds so that a smooth turn can be made.
 
You may have spun an axle - you recently did a ton of suspension work... did one of the CV's not get pushed in all the way? I don't know how valid that is - my passenger side has been out 4 or 5 times and it isn't retained by a clip.

If it isn't an axle - it is internal. May car did somewhat of the same thing when I smoked the spider gears - hope it isn't your Torsen.

Sucks to hear man - I recently yanked the shift tower out at work and replaced the bolt... :nonono:

I somewhat doubt the axle thing, if you spun one it wouldn't seal the fluid into the trans very well and it would probably leak.
 
ContourGuy9817 said:
i tear apart u-joints more than anything. did you hold the base and rotate the other side of the axle? cuz i've broken a few axles and they've looked perfectly fine until you checked the boot.
Click to expand...

I think it's the joint as well. I guess I may tear them apart and take a look at them. Not much work not that the hubs, knuckles and bearings out off the car. However I'm not to kean on draining the case and buying all new Torco MTF. However if I replace the axles I'm going to have to do it anyway :shrug:

elraido said:
I can speak from experience of only a couple weeks ago. A broken axle, even with a torsen, the car will not move.

So, do you think it is axles?
Click to expand...

So you have a Torsen to eh... yea I think it's the axles.

KyleQ said:
You may have spun an axle - you recently did a ton of suspension work... did one of the CV's not get pushed in all the way? I don't know how valid that is - my passenger side has been out 4 or 5 times and it isn't retained by a clip.

If it isn't an axle - it is internal. May car did somewhat of the same thing when I smoked the spider gears - hope it isn't your Torsen.

Sucks to hear man - I recently yanked the shift tower out at work and replaced the bolt... :nonono:

I somewhat doubt the axle thing, if you spun one it wouldn't seal the fluid into the trans very well and it would probably leak.
Click to expand...

When I took my shift tower off I fished around in the case with a magnet and didn't find any fragments. Everything looked really clean in there with no visual problems. The trans is not leaking any fluids at all at this point.
 
When I installed my Torsen a few years back and went out for a drive, wheel hopped and broken an axle, I thought it was something else major. I figured since I had an LSD it should still move, but that was not the case.
 
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