rear wheels locked up.

[crave13k]

hello to everyone here. im new to dsm's and im excited to have an awd car. i have already researched the topic but i think my situation is a little different so please dont flame me.
well heres the story. i bought a 96 gsx from an auto auction and i had to go to work so my friend took care of the tow truck for me. so i bought two cars and one was put on the flat bed and the other(eclipse) was on the end of the flatbed with the front two tires strapped in and the rear wheels on the floor. well my friend says that while they were going after about 5 min the rear wheels locked, the tow truck driver had left the car in gear because he thought it was fwd(even though i told him it was awd). anyway my question is this.
if the t case locks up will it also be locked in neutral? my car moves back and forth in neutral but when i put the car on stands, the rear wheels wont move forward, only backwards. so is this normal or is something wrong. by the way i have not driven the car because i believe the engine is seized and wont start(flywheel wont turn when using a breaker bar.)

 

[erald01]

Yeah it will lock if its in neutral. The towing company owes you for this. A good tow truck driver should know their cars. You might need to get a new t-case.

 

[jrohner]

The center differential or viscous coupling may have gotten ruined. You should never tow an awd dsm, even in neutral. Why was the other car the one that was on the flatbed?

 

[crave13k]

i dont know. i specificly told the tow truck driver to put the eclipse on the flatbed and the other car in the rear. i guess he just did what was easiest for him. so im gonna need a new t case? what is the vicious coupling? where is it located. also is this a job i could do myself? (im definitly mechanicly inclined.) i told the tow truck driver that its his responsibility to pay for the damages done to the car but he claims since the dsm was at an auction and i didnt drive it prior to towing it he is not liable. he claims the car may have already been messed up. such an ass....

 

[erald01]

The t-case is not hard to change but i am not sure about the viscous coupling. The fatc that the wheels were moving prior to that 5 mile drive shows that the vehicle had a drivable t-case so it is the drivers fault.

 

[Archametes]

Just be glad you weren't driving the car when they locked up. I was doing 65 on the highway when mine locked!!! The transfer casse is actually pretty easy to do. The coupling in question...wouldn't that be the rear differential? Or more specific "IN" the rear differential carrier?

I spoke to a friend of mine who drives a tow truck and he says regardless of the fact the car came from the auction, as soon as the wheels are hooked up to the tow truck it's their responsability. The driver should have looked over the vehicle to see what he was dealing with if no one was there to answer any questions. And besides if you gave specific directions as to what car should be towed where, then that's just negligence.

 

[crave13k]

yeah i spoke to the tow truck company today but there being real a holes. im gonna keep bugging them so they could pay for it. can anyone tell me what happens physically when the t case seizes? does something break or what actually happens? also when the t cases lock up do they lock up in all gears including neutral or only on gears like 1,2,3,4,5,r?

 

[Archametes]

In my case of having an Automatic, it just plain locked. The front tires would rotate freely in Nuetral but the rears were locked in all gears.

 

[crave13k]

when the wheels are locked up what happens? does it just not turn or does it make a clicking noise when u try to turn it. my cars wheels would turn on neutral when they were on the ground but when i put it on all 4 stand, the rear wheel wont move forward. only backwards. is this right?

 

[robinho609]

i just had my gsx towed after i blew the head gasket, i hope it didnt cause any damage to my car....

 

[Archametes]

i just had my gsx towed after i blew the head gasket, i hope it didnt cause any damage to my car....

If it was towed ON A FLATBED your fine. If the front tires were tied down to the "claws" and the rears just spun then you should read this too.

As far as the rears spinning... Well mine just locked up like i ripped the emergency brake. I got the car under control ( Thanks to many years of driving Mustangs and other high powered RWD cars it wasn't really too bad but scary as hell ) and pulled/skidded up onto the grassy shoulder. When I tried to move the car the front's would pull forward and the rears went in reverse AT THE SAME TIME. At this point I realized I'm going nowhere so I called a tow truck and requested a flatbed. To get the car off the truck we had to jack the rear differential up and pull the jack to move the rear while pushing the front and steering it where we wanted it to go... NOT FUN!

 

[GrnZ]

If it was towed ON A FLATBED your fine. If the front tires were tied down to the "claws" and the rears just spun then you should read this too.

As far as the rears spinning... Well mine just locked up like i ripped the emergency brake. I got the car under control ( Thanks to many years of driving Mustangs and other high powered RWD cars it wasn't really too bad but scary as hell ) and pulled/skidded up onto the grassy shoulder. When I tried to move the car the front's would pull forward and the rears went in reverse AT THE SAME TIME. At this point I realized I'm going nowhere so I called a tow truck and requested a flatbed. To get the car off the truck we had to jack the rear differential up and pull the jack to move the rear while pushing the front and steering it where we wanted it to go... NOT FUN!

So was it the tcase that went bad? Exact same thing to me today, flatbedded it to the dealership to see if its gonna get covered under the 2g tcase recall. Getting balljoint recall done as well. Scary going 65mph on the hwy and shit just locks up deffinitely NOT FUN!