thal

thanks for the suggestion Mrmerlin. I will do that tomorrow.

i opened the case top to see what if any carnage lie within.

to my uneducated eye, things looked relatively good except for what i believe is second gear.

input shaft/ fifth gear looked ok, except for scoring near mid-tooth running 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock.



next gear looks ok.



next looks ok.



as well as the next.



and finally second gear i believe. which looks to have a bit of damage to the leading edge and mid-way along the tooth tip running vertical on the picture.



magnet on the drain plug tells the tale.



so what do you all think of the condition?

I appreciate the feedback.

thal

well got the diff cover off and things looked pretty good inside.

ring gear flank wear appeared fairly uniform to my eye. although i'm no expert to be sure.





odd place for a number. anyone know it's significance?



lots of shavings on the front trans drain magnet.



took Mrmerlins advice and cleaned the input shaft ID spline with a toothbrush and vacuum. ran my finger on the spline and could not feel a shoulder, or burr, indicating unusual wear. perhaps i really did dodge a bullet there.

Landseer

Wow.
So what happened?

Imo000

The "vertical marks" on that gear are machined from the factory, but there is a chip missing from on of the teeh on that same gear.

The ring gear in the dif looks, mabye it's an optical illusion or shadows, as there might be a longitudional hairline crack in the face of one fo the lower tooth. Can you have a closer look at this and confirm it? See if you can catch it with your fingernail. The area should be smooth and polished by the pinnion gear.

The shavings on the drain plugs look normal.

thal

Not sure what you meant...

Imre -

good eyes man!

i rang my fingernail over the flank of each tooth on the ring gear, no catches. i think it must have been an illusion from the oil film left after the pinion contacts the ring gear. i also looked at each one with my jewelers magnifying glasses and could not see any pitting or other surface distress.

thanks for the close inspection.

Landseer

How did the drive shaft get decimated and the input shaft spline stay, well, splined?

Earlier damage?

Imo000

It probalby sounds obvious but the driveshaft has to be a lot softer.

thal

it's quite amazing. i'm grateful to be sure. i guess the engineers put a little, shall i say, fuseable link in the 'ol driveline. i suppose it makes sense if you think on it, lots cheaper to replace a central shaft of the TT than major repair to the trans. or maybe i'm just living right. all i know is, i'll take it.

my lesson, is to check the torque on those clamps every season. just a part of normal inspection.

i didn't hear too much about second gear so you guys think it's not worth diving in to?

Landseer

Not if you were satisfied driving it.

thal

no it did not pose a serious drivability issue, so i was gonna let sleeping dogs lie. but if the consensus was it was bad, then i'd give serious thought to repair. i don't really want to repeat this process again anytime soon if i can possibly avoid it. :-)

thanks!