Gearbox / Centre Diff Problem

[oxford1327]

cheers cruiseliner.

i jus wanted to make sure is all cos would be expensive otherwise, that may go some way to explaining why it is a bit stiff to shift since i got the car serviced at the local nissan dealership and they filled the transfer with gear oil according to their service sheet i dug out last nite.

will definitely be doin a fluid purge now asap....

and will also put a dose of slick 50 auto treatment in there once i have flushed the box out with parts scleaner to get all the gear oil out!!!!!!

GODDAMN STUPID F#$%ING C*&K SMOKIN WA@!ERS !!!!!!

they will be copping a serve later today when i go in there

[Stinky Rooster]

Update - for anyone interested, we seem to have narrowed the field down to the front driveshaft and /or transfer case. I can't get the bloody thing on a hoist until Thursday, but those in the know are all pointing stright to the uni joints or bearing carrier in the transfer.

Maybe yay , maybe boo hoo .

More as it comes to hand, but either way I am so glad I wnt with the warranty right now.

Still can't think of a worse time of year for the wife to be without wheels.

[CruiseLiner]

Update - for anyone interested, we seem to have narrowed the field down to the front driveshaft and /or transfer case. I can't get the bloody thing on a hoist until Thursday, but those in the know are all pointing stright to the uni joints or bearing carrier in the transfer.

Maybe yay , maybe boo hoo .

More as it comes to hand, but either way I am so glad I wnt with the warranty right now.

Still can't think of a worse time of year for the wife to be without wheels.

pull the front driveshaft out and drive it and u can rule the driveshaft out. 4 bolts and it slides right out and u dont need to plug up the tf case hole that the shaft comes out of because its a sealed hole anyway.

its about a 10 min job with a carjack, and a couple of 12mm spanners (preferably ring spanners as they will be bloody tight if they aint been off before)

if u want i can lend u a front driveshaft to swap over and try as im in perth i will need it in about 2 weeks but until then its just sitting in my garage, and i know its in perfect working order.

Edited December 12, 2006 by CruiseLiner

[Stinky Rooster]

pull the front driveshaft out and drive it and u can rule the driveshaft out. 4 bolts and it slides right out and u dont need to plug up the tf case hole that the shaft comes out of because its a sealed hole anyway.

its about a 10 min job with a carjack, and a couple of 12mm spanners (preferably ring spanners as they will be bloody tight if they aint been off before)

if u want i can lend u a front driveshaft to swap over and try as im in perth i will need it in about 2 weeks but until then its just sitting in my garage, and i know its in perfect working order.

PM sent (twice actually - sorry about that )

[CruiseLiner]

PM replied (once)

[Stinky Rooster]

Firstly, Thank you to everyone who replyed to this thread. Your combined experience really helped me out with sorting this problem, Especially Brad (Cruiseliner) who trusted me with some bits n' pieces from his own car and really made life a lot easier for me when it came to figuring out the cause of the failure.

Now, everyone who mentioned they share the "shuddering" at constant speeds, PLEASE rush out and inspect your uni joints in your front drive shafts ASAP. There should be almost NO movement in the shaft at all when fitted to the vehicle. Mine had failed fairly recently, but for some reason the failure had been pretty catastrophic and the result was a very bent and abused front drive shaft. This is something that you DO NOT want to break because a loose driveshaft flailing around under your car is not going to be pretty. Mine hadn't even broken all the way through, but it still managed to put a nasty dent in the floor quite close to the drivers feet, and this is something to make me sweat - it would be like being a drag racer who has had a clutch explode without a scatter sheild fitted. The possible leg injuries are damn frightening so do not put this off!

Other than that, got mah baby back !

[mr manfringinsen]

Which one let go?

[Stinky Rooster]

Which one let go?

Mine was the transfer case end - it would be even worse if it was the diff end!

I know a guy who lost the front uni in an old falcon at 100 kph and he ended up on his roof so don't underestimate the dangers of a flogged out unijoint

[FLYSLY]

So does this mean we will probably have to replace the drive shaft as well??? How hard was it for you to find the replacement parts?? and what did it end up costing you to fix??

Cheers Simon

[munchstagea]

So does this mean we will probably have to replace the drive shaft as well??? How hard was it for you to find the replacement parts?? and what did it end up costing you to fix??

Cheers Simon

You should be able to get the Uni joints rebuilt by a tail-shaft workshop, shouldn't be a drama. I don't think you would go to Nissan spare parts, could possibly be horrendously expensive, then again some parts are cheaper than expected...

Cheers

Luke

[FLYSLY]

I wouldnt have a clue where my nearest tail shaft specialist is though,

and i go away on boxing day so i havent got much time to get it fixed lol

[GoldZilla]

Try a few wreckers yards first, Simon - you never know.

[FLYSLY]

Yeah, ive tried one of the guys in melbourne, from that thread that someone started a few times but has never come through, i called him just recently and got his secretary or something, she said he would call me back but never heard from him.

Should i try and get both shafts?? Will the shafts have the uni joint on the end of the shaft??

[CruiseLiner]

the gtr front driveshaft is the same as the stagea one, and they would be pretty easy to find around the place second hand i couldnt see them being anymore than $100 for a second hand one. im unsure if the unis are replacable or not.

glad i could help Dale

cheers

Brad

[FLYSLY]

Thanks brad that helps heaps

[stasis]

the gtr front driveshaft is the same as the stagea one, and they would be pretty easy to find around the place second hand i couldnt see them being anymore than $100 for a second hand one. im unsure if the unis are replacable or not.

glad i could help Dale

cheers

Brad

hi Brad im pretty sure the unis are replaceable from what ive seen before in workshops but it depends on the original deigners though of the car and parts. I wouldnt surprised if its not replaceable. Thats how we got suckered into getting ripped of by the giants i think

[Stinky Rooster]

Unfortunately, the unis are NOT replaceable. You can, however get a driveshaft company (such as VEEM here in WA) to machine the yokes out and have them adapted to accept the circlip (replaceable) type, but it is not a quick job, still, the next time I have this problem it is exactly what I will do. This time araound I didn't have that option because the carrier bearing had actaully collapsed and another 500m or so and the whole uni would have failed

As a side note, the GTR shafts are actually different. I can't say for sure wether they can be used or not (didn't try) but the GTR shaft has a large step before the diff end and gets a fair bit bigger in diameter.

On a happy note, this has helped me to find out that there is already a half cut series 1 Stagea here in Perth.

[Stinky Rooster]

hi Brad im pretty sure the unis are replaceable from what ive seen before in workshops but it depends on the original deigners though of the car and parts. I wouldnt surprised if its not replaceable. Thats how we got suckered into getting ripped of by the giants i think

Yudy, you are right about that, but there is always a way around it, you just have to be creative. The ball joints on the old falcons are a prime example. Ford riveted the originals to the control arm and only listed part numbers for replacement of the entire assembly including mounting bushes etc, but the aftermarket industry ended up selling replacement ball joints that , after you used a cold chisel to knock out the original rivets, bolted straight in to the holes left by knocking out said original rivets.

I used to have a BMW 75/7 bike with carbies that used a diaphram that cost $75 each (in 1990) but you could pop down to Marlows at the time and grab a pair for a Torana for about $4 each and they worked fine.

Off topic a bit, and I know I mentioned this before, but anyone else considering importing a Stagea that wants to use an agent rather than do it themselves, give www.dcimports.com.au a go. Reagan Whitby is a really nice guy to deal with, his is the most upfront car salesman I have ever come across The whole episode with my car has been the best warranty experience I have ever had with any product. I really can't speak highly enough of this comapny and when you compare the alternatives here in Perth....well, as far as I am concerned there isn't any.

[CruiseLiner]

interesting, i know the length is exactly the same because the gearbox and sump are both gtr so they have same distance apart. i didnt expect them to stinge in the front shaft as well, i cant see why nissan would bother looks like ill be lookin for a gtr one then in the near future as im sure the stagea one will snap alot easier than the gtr one, just like the damn rear axles did.

whats the measurement differences in diameter Dale for the stagea vs gtr ones?

either way the gtr one will fit a stagea and stagea one will fit a gtr, i been running the stagea one on the gtr engine and box since i did the conversion

[Stinky Rooster]

Brad,

I didn't measure it so I can't tell you exactly, but I would say at a gues it steps up maybe 1.5 times the original diameter.

They looked pretty similar in length, again I didn't measure the one I saw but the splines etc at the gearbox looked exactly the same. I would really recommend getting the swap to replaceable unis done before you put it in tho, it will save a lot of time and hassle later on

Edited December 15, 2006 by newbie101