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On my way home from work a few months ago I started to hear a funny noise (not Ha Ha funny). Sounded like a whining noise coming from the shift lever. Was not speed dependent but changed with RPM. The car is an 86, auto, with about 180K miles. When I got home I got it up on the jack stands and crawled under. The sound was clearly coming from the area of the torque converter.
After doing some research here I figured it was either the TC bearing or the TT bearings. Either way I was in for replacing both. It took a few months to get the time, courage, and approval to take over the entire garage. To my knowledge neither the TT or TC bearing had ever been replaced.
While I was at it I needed to replace all my CV boots. One of them had torn back in the spring and by the time the bearings started making noise two more were torn. I also planned on repairing the transmission cooler hoses with Greg Brown's kit and fix all the small leaks on my tranny. They are just annoying.
Oh, and since my shocks were probably the original I might as well replace those while I had the suspension out, right? The Boge shocks aren't that expensive so decided it was a "good" idea.
So I under took the job a couple weeks ago following Dwayne's procedure (I owe that guy MANY beers). I got hung up at a few points. Most notably on the forward upper bell housing bolts. The PO had pulled the engine and when he put those bolts back in he must not have used a torque wrench because they must have taken over a 100 ft-lb to break loose.
When I got the rear suspension out and went to pull the pins holding the shocks in I was prepared for the worst after reading all the horror stories on Rennlist about people having to cut theirs off. Mine came right out. I had soaked them in PB Blaster for a week, but still, there was VERY little rust on them. I cleaned them up and refinished them in a rust-inhibiting coating for re-install.
On to the torque tube. I got it out, pulled off the front bell housing, and this is what I saw:
The forward bearing had migrated all the way to the front of the torque tube. It must have been doing that for a while because when I pulled the drive shaft you could see the shiny spots on it where the bearing had touched for a while. Not only had the bearing migrated all the way to the front, but the inner rubber part was missing so this bearing wasn't even touching the drive shaft. You can see the space in the picture I could fit a straight screwdriver in.
So I pulled the drive shaft and it looked good. I disconnected the TT from the tranny and stood it up on end. When I did that there was loud "clunk." Come to find out the vibration dampener had detached from it's rubber ends and was sliding back and forth in the torque tube. Here is a picture of the bearings and the dampener:
Needless to say all this stuff is being replaced by Constantine's Super Bearings and I decided to go with his Super Clamp. I don't want to ever have to do this job again.
On to the TC bearings. When I finally got them out a la Dwayne they sounded like a pepper grinder. I'm actually surprised they hadn't seized up which would have been "bad."
So everything is mostly put back together. I completed the transmission cooler hose replacement last night and now I am just waiting on some "O" rings for the tranny leaks and then it can all go back together.
I just wanted to share my horror story so anyone out there who hasn't checked their TT bearings or has a "funny" noise coming from their TC may want to do so before things REALLY get out of hand.
This isnt a horror story, it`s TCB. Well done brother!
The car will drive perfectly when your done ,
and you will soon forget all of the time you spent to get it there.
I have two torque tube jobs waiting for me this winter. One on the Prussian Blue car which I already have the new torque tube ready with Constantine super bearings and one on the "Delete GT".
The "Delete GT" does not really need TT bearings yet, but I'm putting a Hans shifter in and while I'm in there going to Super Bearing, the TT and replace the clutch proactively. I've done my half shaft boots already and sealed the gearbox on the GT, so it is partially familiar territory.
Looking forward to reading your review of the job and thanks for sharing.
Curious Waldo, do you have records reliable enough to guess the mileage on the TT? I know rubber parts fail with time as well, but it might be a useful data point?
Well, that looks like it's routine maintenance and coming along well. Hardly anything surprising. POs without torque wrenches is also to a me a well-known problem.
Your post does not say where you are. But if I were in the USA, I would just send the whole TT and shaft to Constantine. He can measure the run-out on the shaft as well and can powder coat the whole TT.
Constantine's rebuild is hardly more than the price of his excellent TT bearings. A great deal in my opinion for some real beauty and quality!
Constantine's rebuild is hardly more than the price of his excellent TT bearings. A great deal in my opinion for some real beauty and quality!
I'd have given the same advice, but without knowing the OP's location, and knowing they'd already purchased Constantine's Super Bearings, shipping can easily overwhelm the cost of having the rebuild done professionally. That's been my situation since my shops are both on the west coast and Constantine's is, as I recall, somewhere in South Carolina?
Shipping a TT around isn't a cheap proposition.
PS: Just in case Dr. Constantine happens on this conversation; perhaps he might consider a distributor arrangement with regional installers? Hint, hint, nudge, nudge? Just a suggestion. I've been very satisfied with the performance of his bearings on my 944 S2 these past few years, but I can honestly say that, had I been closer to him, I may very well have had him install them for me as our brother the Red Flash suggests?
Respectfully,
Last edited by Otto Mechanic; 11-03-2018 at 06:27 AM.
I'm in Northern VA, just south of D.C. Guess I should update my profile.
I have the Carfax for the car so I am pretty confident it has about 180K on it. I rebuilt the odometer when I first got it and it has been keeping good mileage since then.
Also, a big hats off to Constantine. When I called him to order the super bearings he spent plenty of time telling me what other things to look at, namely the transmission seals. Mine was slowly weeping from a few spots. Not enough for me to pull the tranny for it, but since it is such a pain to add fluid to these cars (or even check it for that matter) I decided to replace what seals I could while it was out.
Mr Merlin,
No, not really a horror story. I was embellishing for effect. I love fixing stuff myself and an I have been over most of the car now myself. It drove pretty well with all this stuff wrong with it so, yes, it should be really nice now.
A couple things I didn't mention in the original write up. The ride height adjusting collars were particularly hard to get off. I pressed them out with my 20 ton shop press and even then they screamed every bit of the way. I cleaned up the inside of the collars on my lathe, treated it with Corrosion-X, and then primed them with self etching primer before re-installing them.
Also, I pulled out the rear speed sensors. Knowing they are NLA I took my time with those. They were frozen in place as well. Took about an hour each side to pry them out. The "O" rings were hard as rock.
I know it doesn't help my wallet, but when I have a machine apart I usually start rooting around in there to find out what else might possibly need to be replaced. The tranny cooler lines were a prime example. It looks like they were replaced at some point since they were still pretty flexible compared to many of the other hoses on the car. The rigid part also still had all the paint on it. I went ahead and replaced all rubber hose parts anyway.
I'm in Northern VA, just south of D.C. Guess I should update my profile.
Sure, not critical but it does keep the rest of us from making asses of ourselves on occasion. Not me of course, but the more seasoned and educated folks like Stan and Sean appreciate it I think
Originally Posted by Waldo928
II have the Carfax for the car so I am pretty confident it has about 180K on it. I rebuilt the odometer when I first got it and it has been keeping good mileage since then.
Great, and thank you for the info. Mine has about 78K on it but it's 35 so I still worry. Believe it or not, Constantine has already made a successful attempt to calm me down about the TT on my '85.
Originally Posted by Waldo928
Also, a big hats off to Constantine.
Well, you aren't alone on that. My guess is we all owe the man a debt of gratitude for the work he's done.
Stan's also an invaluable source of wisdom and technique. I'm sure you'll develop your own opinion if you haven't already.
I've been a long time lurker so I already have a good opinion of the sages here. I just don't post often unless I have something new to offer to the body of knowledge. This forum is awesome for finding out how to keep these cars on the road.
I'll be posting my transmission seal replacement since I didn't find a lot of threads on that when I searched.
11-02-2018, 07:41 PM
Torque tube rebuild
