Tranny problems? Woman, help appreciated

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 16:07:25 UTC Stacey ) wrote:

> > kindly wrote:
>
> > in rec.autos.4x4,
> > Stacey ) wrote:
> > >Thank you Ron. From what I understand newer cars (and even some 91's I
> > >guess) have an access panel on the diff so you don't have to pull it
> > >to check the conditiion. Now why couldn't my truck be designed like
> > >that? [...]
> >
> > IMHO, the toyota diff design is one of the best for easy changes. No, it
> > does not have a cover for easy inspectio, but the whole third member comes
> > out, this allows for fast swaps of gears if you have more then one third
> > member. All you have to do is slide the axels out a bit, take the drive
> > shaft off, and take the bolts out. A really easy process if you have done
> > it before. One guy I know has one that is welded for off-roading, and one
> > that is open like normal, he has the change down to about 20 min including
> > drain and re-fill of oil.
>
> Wow. Yes, the mechanic did say it was one of the easiest designs
> for removing the rear... but that you also had to do that to check it
> (like you say).
>
> IAC my Dad said there were not "tiny chunks" of metal after all --
> just silver dust that had made little clumps that looked like tiny
> chunks until you felt them.
>
> But if it comes to working on the rear end, (and even if it doesn't) I
> really like knowing what I've learned here. It's helped me
> tremendously. Thanks again to everyone.

Glad to hear it's the easy one to work on since I was sure what the
Toy used - I always liked Fords for that feature.

Just to make you feel a little easier, when wheel bearings (and I'm
pretty sure you have roller bearings, not the caged ball type) go,
they tend to spawl the surface of the rollers peeling off really thin
flakes while gears tend to chew off slivers big enough to jab a finger
nicely - poke the wrong place and the digit comes out looking like a
prickly pear and it takes some real doing to get all the stickers out.
If the dust was fine enough to feel more like a really fine grit or
powder, then it's probably spawl from the bearing you already found.

--
Will Honea >

Hello Stacey,

I had the exact thing happen with my Dodge Neon, but it got worse within a
few weeks. It was the transmission and it cost me $2,000 to replace it.With
the mileage you have on yours, you may want to cut your loses and scrap it
or sell it as is.
Al

> Hello,
>
> I have a '91 SR5 4x4 with 152k miles on it. I got it 2 years ago. It's
> been impeccably kept it's entire life. (Great shape and receipt
> history etc.)
>
> A few weeks ago I was driving along at ~40mph and a loud whine kicked
> in in the rear end. Sounded like it was coming from under the center
> of the bed. I immediately thought "the rear end is going". The sound
> increased in intensity and pitch if speed increased, and decreased in
> both as speed decreased. At a stop there was no sound. It continued
> until I got home, just over a mile. When I put it in reverse to park
> at the house, it made a lower-pitched whine. The next morning (and
> ever since) it has made no noise at all.
>
> Then, last night I was coming to a stop at a signal, and just as I
> stopped I heard a "clunk" as if from the tranny. (This is an
> automatic.) I let my foot off the break to make sure everything was
> working, but the truck did not roll forward. I gave it a little gas,
> but it was like it had dropped into neutral. I shifted to neutral,
> then back to drive. Nothing. To 2nd gear. Nothing. Finally, back in
> drive I gave it more gas and it finally caught and took off. It drove
> fine all the way home. And this morning it drove fine to the
> mechanics. (It seems to shift smoothly with no problems.)
>
> The mechanic said the rear fluid was leaking into the back rear brake
> (boot?) and so that brake was not working, and that to replace the
> seal the bearings needed to be replaced b/c the way it's designed you
> can't remove the seal w/o damaging the bearings. So he was going to do
> both rear wheels -- bearings and seals. He said only about 4 oz of oil
> had leaked from the "differential" <did I remember that right?> so it
> isn't *likely* that was the cause of the whine, but it could have
> been. Opinions on this?
>
> This is going to run $700 and that's not even addressing the tranny
> problem. He said he couldn't diagnose that b/c it was working fine and
> I have to drive it until it screws up again, then drive it to a tranny
> place without turning the key off so they can read any idiot lights on
> the panel... but I didn't notice that any turned on.
>
> Anyone know what rebuilt tranny costs for these? It has 33" tires and
> was re-geared by a previous owner. They did a good job. (He never got
> less than quality work.) Don't know if that's important to know or
> not. Should I flush the tranny fluid to check for particles? I'm at a
> loss.
>
> Thanks so much.
> Stacey

Hello Stacey,

I had the exact thing happen with my Dodge Neon, but it got worse within a
few weeks. It was the transmission and it cost me $2,000 to replace it.With
the mileage you have on yours, you may want to cut your loses and scrap it
or sell it as is.
Al

> Hello,
>
> I have a '91 SR5 4x4 with 152k miles on it. I got it 2 years ago. It's
> been impeccably kept it's entire life. (Great shape and receipt
> history etc.)
>
> A few weeks ago I was driving along at ~40mph and a loud whine kicked
> in in the rear end. Sounded like it was coming from under the center
> of the bed. I immediately thought "the rear end is going". The sound
> increased in intensity and pitch if speed increased, and decreased in
> both as speed decreased. At a stop there was no sound. It continued
> until I got home, just over a mile. When I put it in reverse to park
> at the house, it made a lower-pitched whine. The next morning (and
> ever since) it has made no noise at all.
>
> Then, last night I was coming to a stop at a signal, and just as I
> stopped I heard a "clunk" as if from the tranny. (This is an
> automatic.) I let my foot off the break to make sure everything was
> working, but the truck did not roll forward. I gave it a little gas,
> but it was like it had dropped into neutral. I shifted to neutral,
> then back to drive. Nothing. To 2nd gear. Nothing. Finally, back in
> drive I gave it more gas and it finally caught and took off. It drove
> fine all the way home. And this morning it drove fine to the
> mechanics. (It seems to shift smoothly with no problems.)
>
> The mechanic said the rear fluid was leaking into the back rear brake
> (boot?) and so that brake was not working, and that to replace the
> seal the bearings needed to be replaced b/c the way it's designed you
> can't remove the seal w/o damaging the bearings. So he was going to do
> both rear wheels -- bearings and seals. He said only about 4 oz of oil
> had leaked from the "differential" <did I remember that right?> so it
> isn't *likely* that was the cause of the whine, but it could have
> been. Opinions on this?
>
> This is going to run $700 and that's not even addressing the tranny
> problem. He said he couldn't diagnose that b/c it was working fine and
> I have to drive it until it screws up again, then drive it to a tranny
> place without turning the key off so they can read any idiot lights on
> the panel... but I didn't notice that any turned on.
>
> Anyone know what rebuilt tranny costs for these? It has 33" tires and
> was re-geared by a previous owner. They did a good job. (He never got
> less than quality work.) Don't know if that's important to know or
> not. Should I flush the tranny fluid to check for particles? I'm at a
> loss.
>
> Thanks so much.
> Stacey