Bye Bye tranny...

[coolchrisp]

Haha im just kidding with the title. I just thought i would post this casue i have never seen it happen before. I took out my GT for a spin around the block to warm it up for an oil change. When i put it in reverse to back up the drive way i let out the clutch and hear a big BANG! and then followed by a lot of grinding. I tried to pull it out of reverse but it was stuck. I was in the middle of my street and the drive train was froze up, i looked under the car and saw all the fluid pouring out, so i grabbed a jack lifted the back of it and pulled it into my driveway (easier said then done...). Last week i pulled it out and this is what i found... it cracked almost ALL the way around and the gears inside are all in pieces...

I dont understand i didnt drop the clutch or anything, just casually went to back up and this happened... the trans never leaked before this. and i know it was full of fluid cause ALOT poured out.

any explanations?

[coolchrisp]

here are the pictures...

[tomking]

take a good look at the cracked case when you dissassemble it to see if any of the crack has rusted. I suspect it has been cracked for some time and just now came apart. perhaps a defect in the casting.

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by coolchrisp I dont understand i didnt drop the clutch or anything, just casually went to back up and this happened... the trans never leaked before this. and i know it was full of fluid cause ALOT poured out. any explanations?

Yup, you may not have dropped the clutch in reverse today...but either you or someone else did this in the past! I've seen a bunch of exploded cases from this. The reverse gear is not strongly supported, and any shock to the gears causes them to 'climb' each other, splitting the case from the shaft centerline.

Happened to my friend at the racetrack once, literally dropped gears out onto the ground! But he was not very patient and was a little abusive on the tranny in reverse...

Bob

[dcm013]

Chris, if you need a trans. I've got some.
Don

[opelnut_1]

Now might me the time to upgrade to a 5speed if money will allow. Its is one of the best improvements I ever made to my gt.. Especially if you do any highway driving,


rick

[heimue]

Originally Posted by tomking take a good look at the cracked case when you dissassemble it to see if any of the crack has rusted. I suspect it has been cracked for some time and just now came apart. perhaps a defect in the casting.

This was not caused by a faulty case, but the case exploded because it got some immense force from the gears itself.

Dieter

[sawdust]

Are you UP and running with the new trans. Tell us all, how did you drop the trans.?????

[ephillippe]

This happened to my Manta's auto trans - I was driving along fine and came to a stop, but she wouldnt shift out of first after that. Noticed that the trans fluid was strangley low and refilled, then started driving and had transmission fluid shooting something like seven feet out from under the left side of the car. Once we finally got it up on jacks, we found that a hole 4" wide was cleanly made on the side of the housing - works fine with a new casing...still have no idea what could have caused that...

[coolchrisp]

It didnt seem like it was cracked before there is no rust on it. Like others have said i think the reverse gear just poped out and it went down hill from there.

As for taking it out,i put the front way up on jack stands,i could not get the top two bellhousing to motor bolts loose, so i just undid the 4 bolts that hold the trans onto the bell housing and pulled it out (sawdust helped me with that idea because he was here picking up some windows at the time.thanks!), and slipped my new (to me) back in place. Im waiting on a trans mount that is on its way right now , so i havent got a chance to put it all back together yet.

[namba209]

Chris, IIRC, I got the two top bolts out from the top, reaching behind the engine with a box end wrench. But then I'm kinda petite in stature and have been know to get in to places most folks can't. I believe when I was putting the bellhousing back in, I used a 24" extension with a universal.

[jeff denton]

I like how you break stuff. You don't mess around. All the explanations offered work for me, but my favorite is always "$#it Happens".

[automata3.0turbo]

wow, thats what i call catastrophic failure

[GTJIM]

Originally Posted by coolchrisp 1) As for taking it out,i put the front way up on jack stands,i could not get the top two bellhousing to motor bolts loose, .... 2) so I just undid the 4 bolts that hold the trans onto the bell housing

1) 2" hole saw .... make it easier for next time by cutting a couple of holes in the firewall and screwing on some cover-plates.

2) Don't forget a new gasket between the g/box and bellhousing ...

[opelnut10]

Originally Posted by GTJIM 1) 2" hole saw .... make it easier for next time by cutting a couple of holes in the firewall and screwing on some cover-plates. 2) Don't forget a new gasket between the g/box and bellhousing ...

I always used rubber body plugs (same as in the floor) and they worked well. I had them in the Transmission tunnel to get to the two top transmission bolts in my Drag car. I broke so many transmissions I would go to a three day event with one in the car and three spares (and hope I had enough to last all weekend) my son and I had the change down to a science, I think our best time on changing one was 12 minutes with hand tools.

[coolchrisp]

So i just went to go put the trans back in place and relized my 4 bolts to the bell housing have been knocked over... they all are diffrent lengths and i do not know where each one goes...

does anybody know where each of the bolts for the gear-box to bell housing go?? they are 4 diffrent lengths!!!

[Paul]

The long ones go to the top holes and the short ones go to the lower holes. The two lower tranny mounting holes are partial blocked, the bolts have to be short... So do a trial fit to see which bolts will go in the lower tranny holes first, this check the corresponding holes in the bell housing to make sure the threads match... Then you should be good to go

[coolchrisp]

Thanks! that helped and it all back to gether now, runs good and smooth no vibrations or leaks!

thanks to all!

now... anyone want anything off of that old trans? linkage, reverse light switch? anything...

[Dan-MI]

Glad to see you got it back on the road.

[DennisGardiner]

A bit late to this post, but......

Yup, been there, done that......

Almost can't count how many 4 speeds I've killed.

Killed two of them exactly like that!, back in the late 80's!

Would have paid anything for a 5 speed Getrag back then!!

[coolchrisp]

I would ahve loved to put in a 5 speed seeing as i drive it to school and back some times, 140 miles each way. But with my other project going i just dont have the money for it at this point. Because as of right now im trying my best not to have to sell the GT for my current project.