Tranny Clanks in gear! Help!

[SHHEP33555]

First Post! Turbo'd K20a3 stock tranny. Replaced drive shaft and took her for a test drive to have a worse problem happen. I was driving and heard a clank and then rattle noises coming from the tranny, I nursed it home to post this video. let me know what you guys think. The car has 60000 miles and factory clutch. Thanks in advance for the input.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t7MfCAqGk8

[usedep3]

this happens only in 1st? or all gears?

[SHHEP33555]

It happens in all gears only while in gear once you take out of gear it stops if you drive the car and take it out of gear And it coasts you still hear the noise. It's much louder and more stomach churning while driving.

[Ba82Ep3]

Sounds like a mainshaft support bearing to me. I have seen in one extreme case where the throwout bearing fell apart and created a lot of noise and issues... but it didnt sound like THAT.

Pull the trans. If it aint the TO bearing then you know its in the trans. The more you use it the more damage you cause...

[SHHEP33555]

Luckily for me I have another vehicle and this car is my baby it's parked until it's 100%. How much labor is involved in the mainshaft bearing removal once trans is out?

[RotaryGreg]

wait...you replaced a part and now its making a noise and you dont suspect something wrong with the part you replaced? and even more obvious is the fact that this noise only occurs when said part is in motion....I would suspect the axle you replaced first, try another one. I'd be suprised if that wasnt the cause...cars and coincidence are rare....

also, if this is a tranny problem, it would have to be countershaft bearings. think about it...in neutral with the clutch out (like, not on the clutch pedal) the input shaft still turns so the noise should still be present while idling in neutral if its anything but the countershaft bearings, diff bearings, or axles. The throw out bearing would only make noise when you depress the clutch pedal unless its completely fallen apart, in which case you would have other symptoms as well. But clearing, the noise is happing only when the wheels are turning...only when the axles are turning....

[SHHEP33555]

It's not the new part you can feel clanking in the trans case underneath the car. Open to all feedback thank you.

[RotaryGreg]

ya....put your car up on jack stands and have someone tap the end of the axle with a hammer and you'll feel that in the trans case too. Noise and vibration has a way of traveling through all these components.

anyways, good luck with this fix mate, i'll be incredibly suprised if its anything but that axle. Unless you are keeping something from us, like you took out fro the test drive and flat shifted everygear until it started making the noise....


question, can you make it make the noise if you put the car on jacks and turn the wheels by hand?

if you are able to make the noise by turning the wheels by hand in gear (one wheel will spin one way and the other will spin backwards) then its gotta be axles or diff because in that situation, no transmission internals are turning anyways.

[Ba82Ep3]

If the car is on jackstands, the engine is on (idling) but the car is in neutral... your driveline WILL spin like its in gear. The first 8 miles on my EJ build (k20 swap) were of it in the air while i was doing idle tuning...

I say its a mainshaft bearing (likely upper) because the engine is still trying to spin the mainshaft even though it is out of gear. The lower mainshaft bearing has help (support) from the pilot bearing (bushing in the crank) so its not likey to allow that kind of movement on that end. It sounds its like its building pressure and then releasing it. Odds are the tires on the ground are keeping the axles/diff/countershaft from turning, and if the upper mainshaft bearing is blown then that would give you the play necessary to allow that kinda noise... in OR out of gear.

Or you have clutch or throwout bearing failure like mentioned before. Pull off the inspection plate under the trans and see if there is anything wrong.

I would also check to see if the bearing in your halfshaft is OK. It doesnt explain the current issue... but if there was some kind of trauma to the trans that did this... i say its likely you blew out the halfshaft's support bearing too. Been there done that. lol

Regardless... let us know. Im curious...

[SHHEP33555]

I will def let you guys know I appreciate all the feedback. Il be starting on it tonight after work. My wheels don't spin during idle while up on Jack stands while in neutral? Is that bad?

[SHHEP33555]

Update I went to push the car in the garage (it's in neutral cars not running) And it moved 2 foot and all the sudden came to a complete stop almost as if it were in gear? (pushing by myself so not much momentum). I had to get a good momentum and it rolled through it after some force. I know it's not normal I've pushed my car plenty of times in neutral, any one know what would cause this? Thanks for the feedback.

[RotaryGreg]

why did you change the axle in the first place? and no, not everyones wheels will spin while idling in neutral when they are off the ground. it only takes a small amount of drag to prevent them from spinning in that situation. you can typically reach out and stop them gently by hand when they are spinning on their own in neutral.

also, ba82ep3, it looks to me like this is only happening while in gear. at least thats what i gather from the video. your comments suggest this is happening all the time.

also, the frequency of the sound seems to be about wheel speed in gear at idle. IE, very slowly (150 rpm, like 1/4 of engine speed or less....like this is happenging AFTER the differential...). not engine speed (700ish RPM).

Im telling you, this problem is the axle!!!! Is this an EP3 replacement axle, or an RSX base replacement axle? Ive heard people have had to get RSX ones because the local parts guys catalogues cant figure out the EP3 ones, but that the RSXs ones are longer by a bit.....

[Ba82Ep3]

Hm.. i dunno. Its hard to diagnose trans issues over the interwebs with 240 res video and sound. lol

And you mean base RSX axles, right? The RSX-S axles wont interchange. I agree though, in a tight spot i have interchanged base RSX axles for people that needed an axle and we didnt have the EP stuff in stock. They are a smidge longer, but a lot of that is manufacturer tolerance and making sure both sides are compressed when measured. My swap was a pain in the ass to find axles that worked. I cant wait to go 5 lug so i can get OE axles for drop in ease.

Either way, we wont know anything until he gets under it, loosens three 10mm bolts and removes the inspection plate to see if anything that side of the trans grenaded... and check on his halfshaft/axles. Im definitely in for the results though...

[SHHEP33555]

5633

Update cracked open the tranny to find couple teeth missing off final drive gear. Explains all the racket, oh well gives me an excuse to convert LSD. Thanks guys.

[RotaryGreg]

Damn, well i was close-ish. lol. yes, you absolutely need to get an LSD. i put one in a few months back and I'll never go back to a car without one. Be it FWD, RWD or AWD (at least one axle needs an LSD in my opinion if its AWD) LSDs are a must have for anyone who enjoys driving their car.

Was there any damage in the rest of the tranny from the pieces? or did the magnet manage to pick up the teeth before they ran through anything else?

Now, just for my curiosity, why did you replace the axle in the first place? Did you break it doing something you shouldnt have been doing? Is that when the diff ring gear broke?

[Ba82Ep3]

Holy shit... ive never seen a ring gear stripped like that without something else grenading in the trans...

I have a ring gear and countershaft FS if you need them... $150 shipped for both. LMK.

[SHHEP33555]

I replaced the axle thinking it had something to do with the noise. No other damage in trans though. once it happened the car was a stone throw away from home so no major damage was done from nursing it home. A lot of good things came from this breaking ordered my exedy stage 2 ceramitallic clutch, flywheel, type r 5.01 gear to replace broken and of course the LSD from teammfactory.com shipped for 715$ w/ warranty.