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'88 DL Growling(?) front end noise


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That’s odd that it’s “between” or most noticeable in 2nd and 3rd gears as they’re in the middle of the gear sets and furtherest away from either bearing sets.

I’ve not messed with those bearings before as I didn’t have a press back then. Here’s a pic of the dual range gearbox (EA82 AWD but it’s basically the same) opened up: 

mRR9Jl.jpg

Only other thing I can think it being is not the bearings but 2nd and 3rd gear wearing out/whining. But that doesn’t fit the bill of what you’re explaining either with the noise being there on start up.

It’s a good head scratcher! 

The “ting” noise is an odd one as everything in the 4wd system is rotating when you drive so I’d think you’d still hear it then too, unless it’s a chipped tooth in the 4wd system in which case you wouldn’t hear it until the gears are loaded and this will be speed dependent - usually sounds like a distinct clicking sound but this one could be reverberating to the tailshaft to make the ting sound. If you tap your tailshaft with a metal tool you’ll probably be able to recreate the sound in the garage. 

Do you have any issues selecting reverse or getting out of reverse? Asking as I’m wondering if the reverse slider gear is *just* disengaging enough to get another gear but still engaged enough that it’s grinding on the other gears. This would be a horrid noise at cruise! 

Other thinking is you have a gear selector that’s resting on a synchro creating the grinding sound. But I reckon you’d have a very crunchy gear when selecting it and trying to deselect it could be difficult. 

Gearboxes are fun and not as scary as ppl think they are to work on. I enjoy it when I mess around with them! 

Cheers 

Bennie

Edited by el_freddo
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Looks like you've got an OBX Torsen front diff in there Bennie. Nice!

Bringing this back up:

https://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/121582-transmission-reseal-new-bearing-with-pics/

And this for an '89 DL/GL:

https://www.scribd.com/document/49628667/Subaru-EA-82-Service-Manual-Part-1

And this for someday in the future:

https://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/142019-dual-range-swap-into-loyale/

 

Edited by czny
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18 hours ago, czny said:

Looks like you've got an OBX Torsen front diff in there Bennie. Nice!

Yeah I do! I forgot about that (been too long since driving Ruby Scoo 😢 ). I found out about the kit to refine the diff further after I had the whole gearbox together - I’m not even sure the kit is still available now. Good diff though and I want another one for my brumby build but they’re either hard to find or expensive to land in Oz. I’ll probably try a factory Torsten diff this time around, just need to save some coin. 

Cheers 

Bennie

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7 hours ago, el_freddo said:

Yeah I do! I forgot about that (been too long since driving Ruby Scoo 😢 ). I found out about the kit to refine the diff further after I had the whole gearbox together - I’m not even sure the kit is still available now. Good diff though and I want another one for my brumby build but they’re either hard to find or expensive to land in Oz. I’ll probably try a factory Torsten diff this time around, just need to save some coin. 

Cheers 

Bennie

Those OBX fixit "kits" were parts sourced from McMaster-Carr IIRC. I may still have the PNs for those on another computer but I'll have to search.

Nothing but metric allen bolts and Belleville washers!

And I'll leave this here for reading:

https://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/46877-front-diff-interchangeability-the-true-answer/

 

Edited by czny
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On 1/16/2024 at 6:58 PM, idosubaru said:

That would be an input shaft bearing right?  Some of those trans bearings can be $100 or more each bearing so price it out.

People have replaced trans bearings.  I think Gloyale (he has a new user name Fer....shoot I forget), but he has a good trans disassembly thread from years ago.

I've pulled the entire engine/trans bolted together out of the engine bay.  It's tight on H6 with automatics just make sure you got enough ceiling room, but I've done it multiple times.  Makes it much easier, no need to separate in the car and you're already used to the engine pull now.  In case you're dreading dropping the thing underneath. 

Tbh my trans knowledge is pretty limited. I am wondering after some googling if there's a potential it's just my front U-joint. My trouble there is that everything I've seen is that A) swapping a U-joint on these is a bit of a bugger, and B ) every article/post says to "check for play" but I have no idea how much play is too much. I can wiggle it a little bit by hand and make it clickity clack, but not loud, and we're talking like the amount of motion you'd get if you wiggled a drill chuck. Not enough to measure but you can definitely find SOME play in it. Any advice there?

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On 1/16/2024 at 3:43 PM, czny said:

Contact Chris in Libby. Ask him when it could be convenient to get the whole car.

Go there with truck and trailer to bring it home. Push the rollovered donor into the garage and pull engine & trans.

Push the donor out to some safe, as in not in the way, place.

Tarp the donor until spring so people with nose problems don't complain.

This will get you some time to fix your trans or find a good 5mt d/r trans you wish you had instead AND spare axles, rear diff, etc.

I gave him a holler, he said that it's under about two feet of snow on a trailer about a quarter mile from any drivable road. So that's definitely an option, but not one that's likely to be happening in the particularly near future. He also wasn't even sure if it was a manual or not. Haha guess it was his pop's car

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On 1/17/2024 at 2:58 AM, el_freddo said:

That’s odd that it’s “between” or most noticeable in 2nd and 3rd gears as they’re in the middle of the gear sets and furtherest away from either bearing sets.

I’ve not messed with those bearings before as I didn’t have a press back then. Here’s a pic of the dual range gearbox (EA82 AWD but it’s basically the same) opened up: 

mRR9Jl.jpg

Only other thing I can think it being is not the bearings but 2nd and 3rd gear wearing out/whining. But that doesn’t fit the bill of what you’re explaining either with the noise being there on start up.

It’s a good head scratcher! 

The “ting” noise is an odd one as everything in the 4wd system is rotating when you drive so I’d think you’d still hear it then too, unless it’s a chipped tooth in the 4wd system in which case you wouldn’t hear it until the gears are loaded and this will be speed dependent - usually sounds like a distinct clicking sound but this one could be reverberating to the tailshaft to make the ting sound. If you tap your tailshaft with a metal tool you’ll probably be able to recreate the sound in the garage. 

Do you have any issues selecting reverse or getting out of reverse? Asking as I’m wondering if the reverse slider gear is *just* disengaging enough to get another gear but still engaged enough that it’s grinding on the other gears. This would be a horrid noise at cruise! 

Other thinking is you have a gear selector that’s resting on a synchro creating the grinding sound. But I reckon you’d have a very crunchy gear when selecting it and trying to deselect it could be difficult. 

Gearboxes are fun and not as scary as ppl think they are to work on. I enjoy it when I mess around with them! 

Cheers 

Bennie

Appreciate the thoughtful response. I realized yesterday that I can make that grinding noise happen by slapping the gas pedal whilst cruising (if I do that thing where you tap the gas and let all the way off, making your car lurch like it has square wheels), though it doesn't make for a constant grinding sound like when engine braking or at idle on start up, it just sorta "barks," gives me the noise for a brief instant. 

Gear selecting is all pretty smooth, there is a noticeable "clunk" when engaging second and third, particularly if I'm giving her the beans. You can hear and feel said clunk. At a regular cruise there's no real pronounced transmission noise, a bit of a whine but it's hard to tell if it's trans whine or various things vibrating (i.e. the push button itself vibrates at certain RPMs and makes a whine, you can mute it by putting a finger on it). 

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1 hour ago, silverbulletwa said:

I gave him a holler, he said that it's under about two feet of snow on a trailer about a quarter mile from any drivable road. So that's definitely an option, but not one that's likely to be happening in the particularly near future. He also wasn't even sure if it was a manual or not. Haha guess it was his pop's car

Yeah, everything I have here in Troy that doesn't run is buried in snow too. When I asked Chris about it he said that it was a single range pushbutton manual car.

He may have access to a tractor but then you'd have to sling it thru the door openings with a big tie down strap to the loader bucket. 

Shovel snow, sling bucket to roof, pick it, drive back the quarter mile and set it on your trailer.

I thought about getting it last winter this way but other things became priorities.

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On 1/23/2024 at 11:45 AM, czny said:

Yeah, everything I have here in Troy that doesn't run is buried in snow too. When I asked Chris about it he said that it was a single range pushbutton manual car.

He may have access to a tractor but then you'd have to sling it thru the door openings with a big tie down strap to the loader bucket. 

Shovel snow, sling bucket to roof, pick it, drive back the quarter mile and set it on your trailer.

I thought about getting it last winter this way but other things became priorities.

Now to get me a trailer...

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