GEARBOX PROBLEMS

Last month's column provided pointers for identifying the source of bearing and
gear noises in manual transaxles. This time, Dan tackles the same set of problems on
rear-drive manual gearboxes.

Some troubleshooting procedures are the same for both front-drive and rear-drive manual
transmissions. While there are similarities, there are enough differences between the two
to justify devoting this column to rear drive diagnosis.

I thought it would be prudent to recap several points about manual transmission noises.
For one thing, low fluid, incorrect fluid, contaminated fluid and/or inadequate fluid
circulation tends to damage bearings first. Insufficient circulation includes cases where
someone tows a vehicle with the drive wheels on the ground. In these situations, the
proper splash lubrication inside the gearbox cannot and will not occur! Anyway, bearing
noise may be a whining, howling or moaning sound.

Second, bearing wear typically and eventually leads to gear wear and gear damage.
However, the most common cause of gear noise is chipped, broken or worn gear teeth.
These conditions usually cause a ticking or clicking sound that's loudest when the trans is
in that particular gear and under load.

Now let's get into bearing and gear noises on rear-drive manual gearboxes.

Noise occurs in one gear range. The root causes of these fall into three categories. The
first group is gear noise that occurs only in 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 5th gear. If you hear gear
noise in only one of these gear ranges during the road test, then there's a worn or
damaged gear on the input shaft, output shaft and/or countershaft ofthat particular gear
range. (For the sake of brevity here, I'll refer to the input/output shaft combination as the
mainshaft.)

For example, suppose the gear noise occurs only in 2nd gear. This tells you that the
2ndgear gear teeth on either the mainshaft and/or countershaft are worn - or possibly
damaged. The problem causing the noise could be on just one or on both gears here.
Meanwhile, if the noise occurs only in 3rd gear, then look at the gear teeth on mainshaft
3rd gear as well as on the countershaft 3rd gear.

The second group of gear noise symptoms includes those that occur only in 4th gear.
Specifically, I mean noises that occur only while you're shifting into 4th or direct drive.
This condition points to a worn or damaged 4th-gear synchronizer assembly or clutching
teeth on the input shaft gear.
The third group is abnormal or excessive gear noise occurring only in Reverse. Gear
noise in Reverse could be due to a worn or damaged Reverse gear on the mainshaft
and/or countershaft. But it also could be a worn Reverse idler gear or idler gear shaft.

Be careful because the Reverse-gear system in some transmissions normally is noisier

than the rest of the trans, Therefore, you can't do anything about this additional noise.
The customer who has recently purchased a used vehicle may not realize it, either. A
legitimate concern is Reverse-gear noise that becomes substantially louder only in
Reverse and under load.

Noise disappears in a gear range. You may hear the classic whine or howl of a failing
transmission bearing during a road test. Pay extra attention and see if this bearing noise
disappears when you shift into a particular gear. If it does, then you've pinpointed the bad
bearing - the one that goes between that particular gear and the shaft. You see, shifting
into diat gear effectively locks the gear to the shaft, so the bearing stops acting like a
bearing - no more noise.

For example, suppose you shift into 2nd and the bearing noise stops. Then the suspect is
the 2nd gear-to-shaft bearing. If you shift into 3rd and the bearing noise disappears, the
culprit is the 3rd gear-to-shaft bearing.

Constant or persistent bearing noise. Suppose you hear bearing noise in the transmission
that occurs all the time. During the road test, you notice that the noise is vehicle speed-
sensitive. However, the noise is not affected by changes in engine torque. Typically, this
set of conditions points to one of two problems: worn transmission case bearings or a
driveshaft center support bearing on vehicles that have one.

Speaking of driveshaft -related issues, remember that failing universal joints may cause a
noticeable - sometimes severe - vibration on acceleration that smoothes out considerably
during deceleration.

Thumping against the vehicle floor usually means that a rubber driveshaft coupler or a
driveshaft center support has failed.

Pinion bearing noises. If you suspect that the bearing noise is inside the differential on a
rear-drive vehicle, listen carefully during acceleration as well as deceleration. Usually, a
failing rear pinion bearing is loudest during acceleration. Meanwhile, a failing front
pinion bearing usually is loudest during deceleration. What's more, the noisy pinion
bearing will quiet down when you shift the load back to the good pinion bearing.

Last month, I referred to a noisedetection device with clamp-on sensors - Steelman's

ChassisEAR (www.steeltnan-js.cojn). This type of tool is invaluable for pinpointing
pinion bearing noises.

Trans jumps out of gear. I'll wrap up here with tips that apply to manual transmissions in
both frontdrive and rear-drive vehicles. First, your road test may confirm that the trans
tends to jump out of gear, especially during acceleration in the forward gears. Find out if
the trans was recently removed from the vehicle for some reason. If it was, see if
someone reversed the shifter boot during reinstallation. A fairly stiff rubber or plastic
shifter boot installed backward may preload the shifter enough to force the shifter toward
Neutral during heavy acceleration. Then, pow! it pops out of gear when you nail the
throttle.

Furthermore, problems such as worn shift forks, collars, synchronizers and gears may
allow a trans to pop out of a forward or Reverse gear. One cause of premature shift fork
wear may be a customer who drives around with one hand resting on the shifter. This
habit may preload the shifter enough to, in turn, preload the shift fork. Doing this tends to
squeeze the normal amount of lubricant out of the shift fork and collar. Ultimately, this
can cause premature wear and allow the trans to pop out of gear.

Dan Marinucci

dmarinucci@motor.com

Diagnosing Drivetrain Noise

by Randy Lyman

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Many things can go wrong inside a differential.

Although the hints are often subtle, most impending
failures give fair warning in the form of noise.
Why worry about that differential
Several situations can create ring-and-pinion noise. If noise? Sooner or later, the cause
will make itself obvious!
the gears have been quiet and begin to howl, they are
probably worn or wearing. If the gears howl during deceleration only, it’s possible that
the pinion-bearing preload has loosened. Howling under acceleration at all speeds
indicates that something in the differential -- gears, pinion or carrier bearings -- has worn
or no longer keeps the gear alignment correct. If the gears howl while accelerating over a
certain speed range, but not all speeds, it’s likely that the gears are worn due to
lubrication failure or overloading. When a newly installed gear set howls, suspect the
design or setup.

A common problem is worn carrier bearings, as indicated by a low-pitch rumble above

20 mph. On vehicles with C-clip axles the noise may vary while negotiating turns. Worn
pinion bearings can cause whirring noises at all speeds, under deceleration and/or
acceleration. Pinion bearings tend to whir, rather than rumble because the pinion is
turning several times faster (depending on gear ratio) that the carrier. Badly worn
bearings can also cause howl if they do not support the gears correctly.
Worn wheel bearings can be difficult to determine. A very bad wheel bearing typically
makes itself heard with great clarity; it’s the bearing that is going bad, but not destroyed
that is hard to find. Turning back and forth from hard right to hard left can identify the
culprit; however, I’ve been fooled by right-front wheel bearings that make noise when
turning right (which heavily loads the inside-left-front wheel bearing, but also loads the
outside-right-front bearing).

One common situation that may not make any noise: The pinion spins, but the tires don’t
rotate. Broken spider gears can render the differential immobile, and usually make a loud,
crunching sound as they make their final departure. A broken ring gear will allow the
differential to propel the vehicle for about eight feet at a time, then bang or grind as the
section with broken teeth tries to engage the pinion. Depending on ratio, a broken pinion
tooth (or teeth) will clunk about every two or three feet.

A broken axle is easily determined. After it breaks, a C-clip design axle can be pulled out
of the housing without unbolting anything -- or may even find it’s own way out. On many
bolt-in-design axles, the wheel will give the broken axle shaft away by cambering in at an
angle.

A high spot on a gear tooth may sound similar to a broken gear, but will only make noise
while accelerating or decelerating, since the spot appears on just one side of the offending
tooth. A high spot on the ring gear will make a heavy clicking sound about every eight
feet; a high spot on the pinion makes noise every two or three feet and is much more
pronounced due to its higher frequency.

Whether large or small, differential noise is telling you something. Listen carefully! If in
doubt, pull off the cover or remove the third member for a closer look. Catching a bad
part before is ruins others is definitely worth the effort.

If you’ve been left hanging with a "mystery" differential

noise that still refuses to make itself clearly understood,
then hopefully this info will lend some more insight.

Anyone who has been involved with four-wheel-drive

vehicles has probably heard of or experienced
Ring & Pinion Service can custom positraction (posi) "chatter". Posi chatter is noise that is
rebuild your posi to be smooth or
very recognizable and happens when there is too much
aggressive
friction in the clutches. Some hardcore offroaders set up
their posi this way intentionally. The noise sounds like someone is pounding on the
rearend with a huge sledgehammer. It is most prevalent when backing up in a parking lot
(when everyone around can stare), and gets worse as the differential heats up. It also
tends to show up on freeway off-ramps and when turning while taking off from a stop
sign.
Broken spider gears can sound similar to posi chatter, only more consistent, regardless of
oil temperature. Broken spider gears will make a grinding or banging sound any time the
vehicle is making a turn, and, if they are bad enough, even when going straight.

Driveline vibrations can be caused by several problems. Worn universal joints or a

driveline that is out of balance are often the problem, but driveline angle can cause a
balanced driveline with good U-joints to vibrate. If the U-joints are bad, they can cause
several different noises from squeaking, to clunking, to grinding, to vibrations. If the
driveline is out of balance, it will vibrate with a steady pitch that increases as the vehicle
speed increases. If the pinion shaft is out of alignment and not parallel to the transmission
yoke, the difference in the angles between the front and back U-joints can cause the
driveline to vibrate. If the vibration is due to improper angles, it will create a cyclic sound
that increases and decreases in intensity and is not steady. An out-of-alignment problem
can also be identified by the change in the noise when accelerating or decelerating. As the
pinion yoke torques up from acceleration or down from deceleration, the rear U-joint
angle changes and causes the vibration to change.

A worn side-gear bore in the carrier case will usually cause a clicking sound as the
vehicle is coasting down from speeds of about 20 miles per hour to a stop. If the bore that
supports the side gear becomes too worn to hold the side gear in place the side gear will
"roll over" the spider pinion gears and will make a clicking noise.

If your differential problem is still not clear and you don’t want to take the time to look
inside for more data, you can always drive it until it breaks and the problem will be much
clearer, although much more expensive.

Gear Talk is written by Randy Lyman, founder and President of Randy's Ring & Pinion.