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5MT DR transmission noise

duncanm

Forum Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2014
Messages
695
Location
Sydney
Car Year
1998
Car Model
BH5 Outback. JDM Twin Turbo Conversion
Transmission
5MT DR
So.. .

a concerning ticking that I've had from the drivetrain for the last 2-300km has developed (as I suspected it would) into a more alarming loud whirring during our recent 1000km round trip to the snowys.

Symptoms:
- started as a ticking noise.
- road speed (not engine speed)
- seems like its driveshaft speed (ie: significantly faster than wheel rotation, 4x is about right)
- does not vary with load, on/off gas, clutch in/out, selected gear or H/L range.
- has developed into a louder whirring noise with a background tick. Quieter when first driving (cold gearbox oil?)
- I pulled the drain plug when it was a ticking noise - nothing significant on the sump plug.

So I suspected something in the final drive - diff (front or rear), tail shaft carrier bearing, etc.

I've just had the car up on stands in gear, and think I've isolated the noise (with a tent pole pressed against various parts of the gearbox) to the transfer case, possibly the bottom rather than the top.

The fact that the noise is now a whirring, doesn't change with load, and the lack of chunks in the oil, suggests to me its a (non-thrust) bearing rather than a chipped gear - something like 24, 26, 28, 32 in the attached.

Anyone have any experience/knowledge of common failures in this area, or do I just need to pull the transfer case off and poke around ?

Gearbox has done about 250k

transfer.jpg

I'm thinking I just need to order all the bearings, pull the transfer case and replace them. It'll be no loss if this isn't the problem.
 
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bit the bullet -- $100 delivered from partsouq for all the bearings.

Won't hurt to replace them anyway.
 
When I installed the DCCD in my car, I replaced all the bearings in that section of the gearbox. They were a bit noisy, not all of them. All were replaced. Easier to do it with the part out of the car than have to pull the box out later.
 
Hehehe... I just read this thread and thought "hmmm, this sounds familiar!"

On top of my other post from another forum the trick will be getting the selector arm clear of the selector forms so the rear housing can come away easily. I don't know the specifics of your box but in the later models without the too inspection plate it's doable with the gearbox in the vehicle. The L's and early gen EJ gear seems impossible with the required removal of a little 10mm headed bolt on the selector shaft...

Once you've got this bit out it should be much easier to complete the required work on a bench. Make sure you've got a set of inner and outer circlip pliers - a good set are worth their weight in gold with this stuff ;)

All the best with it!

Cheers

Bennie
 
Ha!

yars... thought it would be good to canvas all available forums.. maybe there was some common problem with DR boxes - but it seems to be a generic 5MT problem.

bearings arrive tomorrow - should be able to start on Sunday.
 
I crawled under the car tonight and pulled the transfer extension case.

First sign of trouble was a couple of chunks of what looks like bearing assembly.

Once the extension was off and everything out, it was clear what the problem was.

8jEWM1zuSk7XGcrUG26U9Xjm6QKx49AR6vBNLSorX44LhxSSxFgE1K1hwcOsBXJx70irsGCRiZqXQcHqw3k6PMgi3ccy23-Qe8bRVpZ9cA7IQtOBsiSxvtaOaD5ZgX80jv05QOjJvTBO_QdzCEJxLd9opVEEVinnJmltQWSZ8h6Qk0_ndAAB12J8pOirbv2zU1wLBUep7oYB7Ld5yF8mk7elmWYnGeunwSJw4HpHGVI3CFPRCCxHyJ5aPsZ2UwX5IU9YCi_KdAZr_anmMmCExgtPOF82IvvuJJdK85PNKuyy8f-VWSCWwLmm5tmJJ-46j00q8y9ftfbu4u0ULAFkvLoH7IrWn6XP5qKWQvB5qEJYj9LLw00yEjzuERMw5a_ggvApWgmIoHbO76Iln0ZsavLvbHf0mIj2SAM9uQlq5iM_Jt3dB7wZRpVxtSvdG8hebrqvHpuO43TFuIezgIUUfhldKXtXml1W88dCUw6RSJXxIGMrS5hwO2aoeDglON3jrm5XGRonUKJMzapln8Q2aWKeMDevhtgUoPiKd0VxBH0ohJpR-XvSUYEhdTOo9f0nDqmmDiGHatBuzhwH_78zQ-ACDw


Chipped tooth on the transfer drive gear (the clicking noise), lots of play on the centre diff bearing (could be why the tooth failed, I guess), and some crunchiness on one of the other two (driven gear shaft) bearings. The chip has been kicking around the case a bit and scratched the diff casing. It didn't make it to the main part of the gearbox.


One other slightly odd thing -- all the drawings I've seen of the extension show the drive gear rear bearing with a retainer on the extension housing held by 4 allen bolts. Mine just sits in a recess in the housing with no retention.

It looks a bit like a gen2 outback transmission, as shown here:
566494912104.jpg


Anyone got a cheap trashed 5MT (with working transfer gears) they want to part with cheap?
 
ok - double checked my sources. Post Apr'00 has the bearing retainer and tapered bearing, pre-Apr'00 has no retainer and roller bearing.

Pre-Apr'00 also has a gasket on the extension housing.
 
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Should I be concerned about this?

The end of the VC spiral retaining ring is out of the groove, and slightly proud of center diff housing. It is clear of the driven gear when assembled.

There seems to be a big issue with USDM VC's failing with the ring popping out -- though it doesn't seem to be a problem with AUDM models.. so just wondering if this is normal or I should try to re-insert it.

DSC_0775.jpg
 
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mmm...

clamped down on the VC and tapped the spiral retaining ring around back into its groove.

Still concerns me -- thinking maybe I should get it tack-welded in place.
 
Sorry can't help with the guts of a gearbox but, yes, no wonder it was making a noise. (I look forward to one day having the time to tear a box down - probably won't get it back together again though! :lol: )
 
Can't see the pic but if you're talking about center VC, a friend has opened both 4 and 8 bolt gearboxes and the center VC is much stronger on the 4 bolt. The cir clip is the weak part of it.

I gave him my center with the housing (same housing but different internals) since I fitted the DCCD and he has no more problems.
 
just fixed the image - should be visible now.

Yes, I'm talking about the center diff and dodgy spiral retaining clip.
 
ok - new drive gear arrived at work today.

Pushed on the bearing, measured the relevant distances -- same as old drive gear.

Slapped it in. Bolted everything back together, put a nolathane front shift stay bush in while I was there, noise gone.
 
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