Ongoing vibration/transmission issues. Updated w/ pic cracked housing :mad:

Myco

Myco

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I was previously having a problem with the transmission leaking so I had the seals replaced. I am also having a vibration above 60mph issue so I've had the tires re-balanced and the axle and u-joints looked at.

The mechanic said the u-joints looked good and didn't need replacing. He also took another look at the tires and said that NTW had put on a heck of a lot of weights ( 3 grams on one of the tires ) and that the issue is most likely that.

I thought when I had the oil changed that they had messed up the filter gasket so I brought it back to the same shop. ( these guys did the seals on the transmission also ). I got under the car and saw that the transmission is leaking badly where the driveshaft goes into the transmission. There is also a slight leak where the transmission meats the bell housing it appears.
edit: I also reached up and tried to wiggle the driveshaft and it didnt' wiggle. I tried rotating it and it would rotate about 1/4 of an inch. Don't know if that's significant but I thought I'd tell you guys.

The mechanic said if I brought him the u-joints tomorrow he would do the work for free. YAY But, I don't think the u-joints specifically are the problem. I think it is the part where the driveshaft attaches to the transmission. Is this a part I can buy? If so where and what is it called.

Thanks again guys.


btw: I have a 97 and these came with 2 piece driveshafts. How are these things designed. 2 piece as in one piece inside another or 2 pieces as in two different segments? I didn't see 2 segments but I didn't get a good look under the gas tank.
 
Did the vibes start after the seal was replaced?
How many miles are on the car?

IMHO if you took your car to a shop to fix the trans leak and
you pick it up and it still leaks.....it might be time to look for a new shop.
 
ford nut said:
Did the vibes start after the seal was replaced?

IMHO if you took your car to a shop to fix the trans leak and
you pick it up and it still leaks.....it might be time to look for a new shop.
Click to expand...

No, the vibration has been there for as long as I can remember. The car has had ups and downs. In 2 years I've put 7k miles on it.

Best I can remember it has always been there. I've replaced the ENTIRE front suspension excluding inner tie rod ends. The tires are new, rims are original.

Why it would be leaking so bad from the tail end of the transmission I don't know. Either a bad yoke or a bad seal back there? Wonder if I can grab a new yoke somewhere?
 
Also, the drive shaft is called a 2 piece but it doesn't actually drop down in 2 pieces. It comes down as one and it's possible that your DS isn't straight and true. If they replaced the rear and front seals, you should not be seeing leaks. That's the whole reason for having new seals put in, if they even done it. I would take the free U-joint swap but the leaks that are coming from what they replaced need to be addressed.
 
NoLimit95 said:
Also, the drive shaft is called a 2 piece but it doesn't actually drop down in 2 pieces. It comes down as one and it's possible that your DS isn't straight and true. If they replaced the rear and front seals, you should not be seeing leaks. That's the whole reason for having new seals put in, if they even done it. I would take the free U-joint swap but the leaks that are coming from what they replaced need to be addressed.
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Yea, I grabbed the 16$ u-joints from oreilly and will have them put on. The tail shaft bushing should have been replaced when they replaced all the seals on the transmission.

I'm also getting a vibration from right under the center counsel. I think they didn't tighten the nuts for the transmission up tight enough.
 
NoLimit95 said:
When they get it back up for the U-joint swap, it can be checked then but I think something else is going on, or never was fixed.
Click to expand...

You and I both. I'm bringing it to gman's mechanic asap. After balancing the tires 3 times this week and having the driveshaft looked at I'm looking at something I can't diagnose myself.
 
Do you have any front wheel wobble at around 40 mph when you let go of the wheel? I did and it turned out to the the outer hammer on weights. I took it to WalMart and had the inner static weights put on and now it's slick as ice. Nothing wobbles and no vibrations anymore at 60+mph.

I'm not saying that's your problem but static weights IMO are the way to go. I'll never have another hammer on weight on any car I own. I have already taken the Sanoma I have and had static weights put on it too. Much smoother.

Now, most likely the shop that claims they swapped out the rear trans seal probably never did because the drive shaft has to come out to get the trans out (if they done the front seal too). It can remain but they wouldn't know how to do it. To get the drive shaft out, you have to remove the fuel tank. To remove the fuel tank, the exhaust has to come down. Have you seen any signs of this being done?
 
NoLimit95 said:
Do you have any front wheel wobble at around 40 mph when you let go of the wheel? I did and it turned out to the the outer hammer on weights. I took it to WalMart and had the inner static weights put on and now it's slick as ice. Nothing wobbles and no vibrations anymore at 60+mph.

I'm not saying that's your problem but static weights IMO are the way to go. I'll never have another hammer on weight on any car I own. I have already taken the Sanoma I have and had static weights put on it too. Much smoother.

Now, most likely the shop that claims they swapped out the rear trans seal probably never did because the drive shaft has to come out to get the trans out (if they done the front seal too). It can remain but they wouldn't know how to do it. To get the drive shaft out, you have to remove the fuel tank. To remove the fuel tank, the exhaust has to come down. Have you seen any signs of this being done?
Click to expand...

No, no front end wobble until 60mph.
 
Myco said:
You and I both. I'm bringing it to gman's mechanic asap. After balancing the tires 3 times this week and having the driveshaft looked at I'm looking at something I can't diagnose myself.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good idea.

It sure sounds like a drive shaft issue to me.
Do you have the receipts from the work done?
That would tell you if the tail shaft bushing was done or not.
 
ford nut said:
Sounds like a good idea.

It sure sounds like a drive shaft issue to me.
Do you have the receipts from the work done?
That would tell you if the tail shaft bushing was done or not.
Click to expand...

Just found it. The receipt says transmission seal 12.99$ and cap screws 8.64. I supplied them with the pan seal (OEM). So I guess they didnt replace that seal.

Apparently there is a brass bushing on the driveshaft there also along with the seal. If the bushing goes bad then I need to get another one. I'm going to look for one.
4390424867_364c24cd57.jpg
 
DLF said:
Sound like the tail shaft bushing is shot.....
Click to expand...

Myco said:
Just found it. The receipt says transmission seal 12.99$ and cap screws 8.64. I supplied them with the pan seal (OEM). So I guess they didnt replace that seal.

Apparently there is a brass bushing on the driveshaft there also along with the seal. If the bushing goes bad then I need to get another one. I'm going to look for one.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. ;)
 
Turns out the housing is cracked. Once the seals were replaced the pressure made it leak out the crack where it wasn't leaking before. *supposedly*

Don't know how this happened. Before I brought it in I hadn't noticed a leak here. Since I had the seals replaced the fluid leaks out onto the exhaust manifold and smokes pretty bad.

IMAG0013.jpg



anyone have an extra transmission they want to get rid of cheap? :mad:
 
SATURN5 said:
That could be Tig'd fairly easily...
Click to expand...

Yea but the transmission shop said that they would have to pull the guts out to weld the housing and so your still spending 1500 bucks on labor.

I'd be very interested in someone here in houston that would just weld it real quick IF that could be done.
 
that seal looks all fukked up, i bet they hammered the shyt outta it and cracked the housing and hoped it wouldnt leak. they are supposed to use a seal driver to evenly apply pressure to the seal while hammering it in. see how the lip is all wavy hey just wailed on it with a hammwe till it looked ok :shifty:
 
chicken said:
that seal looks all fukked up, i bet they hammered the shyt outta it and cracked the housing and hoped it wouldnt leak. they are supposed to use a seal driver to evenly apply pressure to the seal while hammering it in. see how the lip is all wavy hey just wailed on it with a hammwe till it looked ok :shifty:
Click to expand...

the story goes that I had the seals replaced and afterward it was leaking out the back. I took it back and they said they would replace the back seal. They said they didn't do it before and the reciept shows that they didn't charge me for a back seal so I have no choice but to believe them.

Anyway, here's a picture of the old seal that was taken out.

IMAG0448.jpg
 
and yes it still vibrates and vibrates worse. The vibration is definately more pronounced. both in the wheel and much more pronounced in the seat.
 
im sticking to they broke it, when they broke it i dunno but when they installed the new seal they should of seen that big ole crack staring them in the face :eek:

*edit with pics!!!* they could of cracked it when they hammered a screwdriver into the lower edge of the seal and pried it out, circled in red on the old seal, that would line up where its circled on the tail shaft and the green line shows the angle of the screwdriver.........

mycos nightmare 2.jpg


mycos nightmare 1.jpg
 
Myco said:
Yea but the transmission shop said that they would have to pull the guts out to weld the housing and so your still spending 1500 bucks on labor.

I'd be very interested in someone here in houston that would just weld it real quick IF that could be done.
Click to expand...

They're wrong.

Changing the tailshaft housing is fairly simple, just a gasket and a six bolts.

I've got the stock tailshaft housing from my '98 with 55K miles available, if you're interested. I installed one that had the forced lube mod from BOC.

Tailshaft.jpg
 
You know, there's a tool to remove seals like that and it isn't a screwdriver or a punch or a chisle, it's a flat wrench with two hooks on the end like a simplified claw hammer.
SP56.jpg
 
i have a bad 97 trans in my shop that will eventually be stripped to a bare housing for aluminum scrap, i'll give you the tail shaft off it if you pay the shipping i dont want nothing for it. its junk to me!
 
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