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Torque bind? 98 Legacy L manual transmission.


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I just installed a used manual transmission in my 98 legacy L (exact same part number) and now I think I have  torque bind happening, it seems okay going straight but binds while turning.

Tires are new, evenly worn and properly inflated. I've searched the forum for info on this issue and the number of posts is almost overwhelming and I'd like to get some information that is specific to my application, 1998 Legacy L AWD manual transmission. I'm looking for testing procedures, or ideas on what may be causing the issue.

My son and I spent the better part of a day installing this transmission last weekend so I'm a little bummed that it's not working well, I did get a 90 day warranty with it but I shudder at the thought of having to do the job all over again.

Please help!  

Edited by AEROCOOK
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No, the old tranny didn't bind but unfortunately I scrapped it already.

Just to be clear, on the M/T models, there is no possible electrical cause, correct?

I just want to eliminate any possible simple causes before ripping into it. 

Edited by AEROCOOK
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When you say drop out the last section of the driveshaft do you mean as a test or as a solution, as in make it a front drive only?

If the front and rear diffs were different ratios, wouldn't the binding be constant, not just in turns?  

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Classic VC binding.

 

Sometimes it actually the spider gears locking against the carrier.....not the VC itself.

 

But eitehr way just swap another center diff in.  It's real easy jsut remove the sifter U-joint, and the rear most cover on the trans and pull it out.

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I'll be calling the place I bought it from to see what they'll do for me. I paid top dollar for a 16 year old used tranny that was apparently tested prior to removal but my guess is they just ran it through the gears once or twice and called it good. When you think about it. many cars that are taken to scrap yards are on the end of a tow hook with the back wheels rolling and on one of these, that's likely to damage the coupler, maybe that's why this one is screwed?

Is there any way to inspect or bench test one before install?

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The old transmission was scrapped, I even called the guy who picked it up to see if he still had it but he didn't. I did get a 90 day parts warranty on the replacement one so I'll see what the seller will do for me. This particular transmission isn't all that common, the JDM place I bought it from had to do a search to locate one then had it shipped in, that being said, it may be easier and cheaper for them to just find me a good coupler.

Are the M/T couplers in 3.9 ratio trannys the same as the ones in 4.11 trannys of the same vintage? If so, it should be an easy find.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well I got another center diff and went to do the swap but ran into more trouble than you could imagine...

The outer roll pin was seized in the shift shaft, so I had to cut the shift joint off, I had a new one to put on anyway so no loss there except for the time it took, which was substantial.

Four of the six bolts broke when I went to remove the rear cover, I even heated them before attempting to remove but they still wouldn't come out.

After the bolts were out, (2 completely and 4 broken) I tried to separate the rear cover but It wouldn't budge, the remaining portions of the 4 broken bolts were seized in the rear cover preventing it from coming off. 

After several hours under the car I finally threw in the towel and just pulled the whole tranny out so I could work on it on the bench, even with the tranny on the bench, it still took another hour before I was able to get the cover off! 

Had enough for one day so I'll go back at it tomorrow.

Just goes to show that sometimes, relatively simple repairs can bite you in the a** hard.

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If the ends of the bolts are exposed they can corrode badly. Sorry to hear it was such a pain. I've had good luck with aluminum by smacking the head of the bolt with a hammer a few times (hard enough to shock it but not so hard to deform it) and tapping around the case where the bolts are. Now that you have it out, PB the broken ones for a few days and try the hammer tap method and you may be able to get them out with vice grips rather than havin to drill.

 

Those roll pins are always a B. You need exactly the right sized punch, and you really have to get some swing with a BFhammer to knock it loose.

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Once I had the tranny on the bench I was able to extract the roll pin by tapping it from the top side down, I wasn't able to do this while it was in the car.

As for the broken bolts, I was able to get them out without much difficulty, fortunately there was around 3/4 of an inch of bolt still sticking out so I was able to heat them up and get vise grips on them.

The hardest part was separating the rear cover fron the case, it took quite a while to accomplish that feat. 

I hope the new (used) center diff is good or I'll be doing it all over again in a few days, but at least there there wont be any broken seized parts to deal with if I do. 

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