btchscott Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 OK I have read a lot about the side differential retainers and how they set the differential pre-load. My problem is they keep shattering on my transmission. First lets give some history. I removed the engine and transmission to rebuild the motor, and found that the throw out bearing was shot. I also found that there was a lot of play in the input shaft. So my son and I decided we were going to attempt to rebuild this transmission. We watched several videos and did a lot of research into disassembly and reassembly of the transmission. Once we took the transmission apart we found that one of the bearings on the input shaft was toast. Since we had the transmissions apart we decided to replace all the seals, o-rings and gaskets. This meant removing the Side Differential Retainers, knowing that not getting them back into the same precise location would change the differential bearing pre-load and pinion gear backlash we marked a tooth and the housing of the transmission with paint so we could realign it to the same place as before the tear-down. We counted the rotations it took to remove them and reversed the process and reassembled the transmission. Everything was going fine on the test drive until I got back and saw that the car was leaking gear oil out of the side of the transmission. Upon closer inspection we found that the Side Differential Retainer was broken and the seal was destroyed. Thinking that we put the wrong seal on the wrong side, we replaced the retainer and the seals making sure that the right seal went in the correct side. But after the second test drive the same thing is happening. Can anybody give me any idea what I am doing wrong or some place that I can look to find out why this keeps happening. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 weird did you install different axles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btchscott Posted January 16, 2017 Author Share Posted January 16, 2017 weird did you install different axles? Yes we did both L, R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Sounds like you did everything you could to get it back together correctly. I think you will have to measure the backlash on the gears to set the clearance. Or Throw a used trans in it and call it good and a learning experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Yes we did both L, R OK - wild idea here - is it even possible that the axles are too long? And if they were, can they stress those retainers maybe when the suspension compresses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 When you go to drive does it make any noise at all? Describe. How many miles driven before it did this? Both side retainers are shattering? That's crazy. Id guess they have to be too tight? Maybe just installing them how they were still doesn't load the bearings Evenly. Maybe they need each turned one turn at a time back and forth while trying to coax the bearings so things seat smoothly and evenly? This: Sounds like you did everything you could to get it back together correctly. I think you will have to measure the backlash on the gears to set the clearance. Or Throw a used trans in it and call it good and a learning experience. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btchscott Posted January 16, 2017 Author Share Posted January 16, 2017 When you go to drive does it make any noise at all? Describe. How many miles driven before it did this? Both side retainers are shattering? That's crazy. Id guess they have to be too tight? Maybe just installing them how they were still doesn't load the bearings Evenly. Maybe they need each turned one turn at a time back and forth while trying to coax the bearings so things seat smoothly and evenly? This: No Noise and we did not even get 300 feet A better way Describe it is that they break and tear the seals It is possible that the axles are too long: Yes I got them from Rockauto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 (edited) if you still have the old axles measure the compressed length and compare to compressed leght of new axle ? OBS is Impreza chassis - NOT the same as Legacy Outback - maybe some ordering or inventory stocking confusion. here's one thread I found with a few numbers, maybe not Impreza though? ;http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/84277-cv-axle-lengths/ Edited January 17, 2017 by 1 Lucky Texan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Can you post a picture of the broken ring? Is there any evidence outside or inside the ring of something hitting it? Where did you get the seals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 I would think no noise suggests they were not interfering, wouldn't rotational interference compromising enough to break something that fast be audible? impreza and legacy axles and transmissions are interchangeable so if it's an axle issue I would think it's due to it being aftermarket, in addition to the length, check your part number too. newer 2001 legacy/outback axles will bolt right into your 1997 and are probably "too long". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btchscott Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 Thank you one and all I will be getting out in the next dry day to get the axles out to measure the to the old ones I still have them in the boxes. I will get photos at that time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btchscott Posted March 10, 2017 Author Share Posted March 10, 2017 Sorry it took so long to post these pics. Family Medical situation came up and I was just able to get things apart to take these pics as you can see in the photos the ring has cracked on one side and broken a chunk out of the other. We checked the length of the old axles and they appear to be the same length as the new ones. There is also a lot of movement on this axle stub, almost an inch. Thanks to all that have posted and given us a direction to look any further advice is greatly appreciated as we have no idea why this is happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 It would appear, based on how much play you indicated, that the differential carrier bearing cups are not installed into the screw retainers. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 Like GD said, the outer bearing cone is gone. Diff is probably toast at this point. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btchscott Posted March 10, 2017 Author Share Posted March 10, 2017 Thanks I will be removing it . opening it up jut to see what We did wrong Hope to do better on the next one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 Look for a piece that looks like this laying around in any spare parts you might have had from the first time. https://intechbearing.com/products/lm104912-tapered-roller-bearing?variant=1098886697&dfw_tracker=21472-LM104912&gclid=CPHN8KuMzdICFYaNswodFQAIyA Not real sure how it could fall out and not be noticed, but maybe it stuck to the retainer and fell off somewhere while you were installing the new seal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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