[Mk2] [Turbo] Gearbox/driveshaft issues maybe? Expert advice required

[ej2_sir]

Ive just finished putting in my new clutch and flywheel and took the car out for a drive. After a bit of pedal adjustment everything was fine and drove really nice. I went to drive her yesterday and its making a horrible dragging clunking noise from the rear passenger wheel area. It only appears to do it under load eg uphill or with front wheels turned. In a straight line its fine. I have driven the rear wheels jacked up and everything is smooth? I have re torqued everything Suspension wise and checked box fluid is topped up and that drive shaft is in correctly but really dont know what to do now? really would appreciate some help with this one guys.

[ej2_sir]

update: I have had a quick look in the light and I am not sure the driveshaft is in 100%. It looks ok but there is about a 1 cm gap that can be pushed in and out at the box. I remember when pulling the shaft it was tight and had to be levered out. Does this sound like the culprit? I originally had to remove hub attached to shaft as I broke my breaker bar trying to shift the hub nut....

[djpkins]

which side are you talking about? the offside has a sort of springy circlip going around the spline that locates it...tbh if there was that much driveshaft poking out I would expect the handling to be strange...does the noise go up and down with engine rpm or just with wheel motion? does pressing the clutch in make a difference? it can't be the drivers side shaft as the middle bearing wouldn't locate if it was poking out by 10mm...I have a crunchy, grindy noise that all of a sudden started when my car came back from the tyre place, it only goes up and down with wheel motion not rpm...I suspect that they are to blame but won't know the exact cause of the noise untill I get my gearbox off next week. Are you using a different box?

[ej2_sir]

Hi, its the passenger rear and its the same box so all should be good there. Engine revs and clutch dont seem to affect at all, both seem fine, its just when driving under load. The driveshaft is pretty well in but you can pull it in and out a small amount by hand so its leading me to believe the sur clip perhaps hasnt located properly?

[foxy-stoat]

Not sure if this is much help to you, but just took my drive shafts off this weekend to drop the engine, and after undoing all the bolts, got the shaft out but managed to mess up the ball races at the gearbox end.

Did this before on my last MR2 and its a "ball ache" to get them all back in properly. I am not sure if you will be able to see if the 6 ball bearings are seated correctly with the gator on, but you might be able to feel if 1 or 2 of the bearings have dropped out from the cage.

As I said, not sure if would cause the same problem or make the same noise, just what happened to me, and I did try and not move the joint end too much when I took the shaft out but it looks like its quite hard to to mess the cage end up.

[ej2_sir]

Took driveshaft out today, all bearings feel to be correct and intact. Bolted all back together and same problem! So now looks like Im gonna have to get the car trailored to a specialist unless anyone can offer anymore suggestions???

[djpkins]

you sure it's not the dust sheilds dragging on the discs or abs sensors not in propperly..y'know something silly but not easily noticed...do you have grooved back discs?

[ej2_sir]

Im running stock brakes and dust shields fine mate. My old man watched as I moved it and the wheel physically skips and you can feel it shudder. Its so annoying, first few nice days where could be going for a drive!

[djpkins]

sounds terminal as far as the diff goes mate...but anything is fixable isn't it...have you pointed this thread out to any of the affiliated service people?
Call S-Bits, 3S and Rogue tmrw and see what there word is...worst case is parting with £250 for a second hand box and fitting it yourself, you have already done that when you changed the clutch ... still a bummer though mate.

[Ren0W]

Not sure if this is much help to you, but just took my drive shafts off this weekend to drop the engine, and after undoing all the bolts, got the shaft out but managed to mess up the ball races at the gearbox end.

Did this before on my last MR2 and its a "ball ache" to get them all back in properly. I am not sure if you will be able to see if the 6 ball bearings are seated correctly with the gator on, but you might be able to feel if 1 or 2 of the bearings have dropped out from the cage.

Okey, somebody help me with this plz !

Had to change a gaitor, balls fel out, inner 2 pieces etc.

HOW do they get back in.
We have managed to get them back in, but now it doesn't have any play.
Meaning, the axle can't move up/down en left/right. And I assume they have to 'rotate' freely ?

Do they have to get pushed in from the side where they came off from the gearbox end? Or does that black iron thing (wheel/axle side) has to come off, and do the balls need to get in from that side?
(note: the one you see in the picture is a new one. The old one is still attached.)











What am I doing wrong ??? aaaaaaahh

... and yes, the parts do show some wear

[Lewis Jay]

Short side of the inner race with long side of the outer race mate.

Think you have it long to long side.

See below for instructions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfcFBz0rndE

Its a pig dog even when you know how to do it but keep at it.

[Ren0W]

Yes yes sir !

I've done it


Fabolous feeling this. As I was quite pi$$ed I had to find another way to get my car fixed and back on the road again.
Saved me lots of troubles

[Century Motorsport]

the inner stub needs to locate right into the gearbox - if you can see a gap, its not in right.

The circlip can sometimes be a pain to get right in so sometimes you need to give the shaft a knock to get it right in.

[ej2_sir]

Cheers for the replies and hope everyone else got there drive shaft issues sorted! Mine turned out to be wrong choice of box oil of all things! I have a TRD LSD and put some 75w 90 Valvoline oil in it. Peter from SBits diagnosed and provided some different oil and it worked a treat no knocks or skipping. I was amazed oil could have such an impact but perhaps this will help others with similar probs that arent driveshaft.

[Century Motorsport]

Sounds like the oil supplied has friction modifier in it .... this takes away the harsness of the diff, but also takes away its effectivness

[ej2_sir]

Well When I bought the car it used to knock on slow junctions so I swapped the box oil with 80w 90 cheap stuff as a test and it cleared it up. Recently I changed the oil for 75W90 Valvoline dura blend and seemed ok but only drove about 30miles. Did the clutch change and took out for a test drive and was fine. Next day it was locking and hopping all the time. So swapped it for 80w90 with friction modifyer and it works fine now. Am I doing something wrong here Nathan? Cheers for the suggestions

[asdrewq]

I thought the grearbox oil was completely separate from the differential?

[ej2_sir]

It is on the stock LSD diff but I have a TRD one which is a clutch type differential and uses the box oil to lubricate

[Century Motorsport]

No your not doing anything wrong

The clunking and banging you hear at slow speeds is the inside wheel hopping.

The friction modifier allows the plates to slip a certain amount ... this in turn has to reduce the efficiency of the diff.

For road use this is probably the better thing to do because living with the clunking day in day out can grow tiresome!

As for the diff & gearbox oil... they are both in the same housing so you need to choose an oil that is designed for both.