Thread: ...and that's the end of that Tranny

As an Engineer, I'm amazed so much stress would end up on that particular part of the case, I'm guessing the Differential is pushing outward on that one spot.

OR AXLE IS WOBBLING and needs a bracket to keep it aligned.

OK, the trans is out. Cracked it open.

So far, it's not too bad the gears all look fine. And I've also confirmed it's a Helical LSD. First thing I noticed is that there was a lot of metal shavings on the magnet. I also noticed the LSD is pretty free to move in there, I can't tell if that's normal.

I think the explanation for that is that when the side blew out, the LSD was able to shift left and right within the casing. I think it shifted towards the driver's side and in doing so, it scraped against something inside the transmission and as you will see in the pictures, it shaved down the bottom sides of the diff bolts. I don't think it will be a problem, however, once the new casing is put on, I think the tranny will be just fine. Maybe you guys could input on it. Pox will be up in a few minutes, they're still uploading.

Pix:

for the carnage you showed in the first pics i am supprised how little damage seems to be done there.

OK, I took the tranny inside and gave it a thorough checkout, here's my conclusion, and some pix.

The gear stack is in perfect shape, I don't see a scratch on any of the gears. No mis-alignment, no bad syncros, I was able to effortlessly maneuver my way through all the gears. Here's what seemed to have happened. Somehow, there was enough force on the trans that the differential wanted to make a quick exit. It jumped straight off the output shaft, towards the driver's side axle. You'll see the thrust bearing in pic 2, there's one of those on each side of the diff, keeping it centered in the casing. In pic 3, you see a metal ring poking out, (obviously, the thing that blew out the side), that is the bearing journal, which the diff was riding on. Tried to blow that clean out. Without the diff secure on both sides, it was able to rub on another metal object which ground down those 10 bolts and a little bit on the edge of the teeth. That's where all the metal shavings have come from.

In a nutshell, none of the guts are damaged enough for me to worry. A new gearbox shell and the car's good. I also need 2 new axles, 1 axle seal, and 1 ball joint, a ton of degreaser and I should be back on the road.

Here are the final pix:

Well,I guess thats good news...um sorta.
At least the gears survived.
But now what do you do to insure this wont happen again?
Thats the question...hehe.Or start stockpiling cases,lol

Not sure. I was talking about welding the case, but from the look of it, welding wouldn't have done a thing. The break didn't happen along the webbing.

Wow, so the 6 speed box isnt as indetructable as we maybe 1st thought. AT least the gears seem good, maybe a slight reinforcing of the case to stop the dif escaping for hardcore users.

Now i just need to find another one for my current project, sr20det p10.

As an engineer, I can't really see any way of reinforcing that section of the housing, aside from strengthening the material itself. There's not enough room between the housing and axle to add a brace or bracket. If you look at the angle the side blew out, you can see that there was no break along the webbing, or even near the webbing, so welding would've been a waste of money.

I just have to pray it doesn't happen again, considering I was only on street tires.