T9S1i
15+ Year Contributor
- 1,869
- 9
- Dec 16, 2004
-
San Francisco,
California
Ok so im kind of in a bind here. First i'll tell you guys a little history and what has been replaced.
So in june i blew my motor... let the rebuild begin. Motor gets built, time to tow my car to the shop (~30 miles away) So the tow truck guy comes and i told him that its awd and how we have to tow it. The tow truck is not a flatbed and i wanted him to put my rear wheels up on the little 4-wheeled things that keep your wheels from rolling on the ground (sorry cant think of what to call them). But, one of his tires on the 4-wheeled things has a BAD bulge in it so he doesnt trust it to tow my car.
He then tells me that if we unbolt the driveshaft that it will be all good. A quick search on dsmtuners shows that people have towed this way before with success and a phone call to my dsm mechanic confirms that its ok to do with a slight chance that the rear end could get fried. So we go ahead and tow with the driveshaft unbolted and get the car up to the shop.
ABout a month goes by with the motor getting assembled and more misc parts coming in to add to the motor build. I then notice that TRE is having a sale on transmissions for their exchange service, so i decide to purchase one. The car sits for another month and then the trans comes in. The trans and motor go in and what happens.... ? 22 spline output shaft on the trans and my car is a 91. So i go on craigslist.org and find a local selling a 22-spline t-case. Bolt it up and the car fires up with a fresh motor and all is good... or is it?
So we go to drive the car around and when my mechanic is pulling my car back into the shop (tight 90 degree turn) i notice that the rear inner tire skips. My mechanic seems to be sure that the rear end got fubared on the tow over. But i just installed a new trans and different t-case, so im not sure what is causing the problem.
I then drove the car home, no problems with the rear on the drive back. I got home and jacked up the rear end to check if it felt nasty at all when i rotated the tires. They felt smooth and fine, they rotated fully with a slight molasses feeling of resistance but that is supposed to be normal (i guess) and the other wheel would spin the opposite direction of the one i was spinning. (LSD 3-bolt rear).
Ok so i was under the impression that the rear end was fried, but now it seems to check out. SO last night i had a friend come over that knows dsm's very well ( i would consider him a wiseman) to check on things for me. He thinks that the trans tre sent me has a welded center diff. We jacked up one front wheel and it would spin about 1/8th of a turn, preloading the drivetrain and then stop. My friend said that shows that the car has a welded center diff, because if it wasnt welded it would continue to spin slowly with some resistance like the rear did when it was fully in the air.
My mechanic said the opposite. That if it stops its the stock center diff.
Im not sure who to believe now. All i want to do is diagnose the problem and fix it. If the rear end isnt fried then i dont mind having a welded center diff.
Can anyone help me out with different things to check in the rear end or with the front wheels to help me diagnose what the deal with the car is? Im just a little confused and overwhelmed as there is a new rebuild trans, a different t-case, and the iffy rear that got towed 30 miles. Im not sure which to check first, how to check them, and what results produce what answer.
I did a search here on the forums, checked my repair manual, and looked at vfaq and couldnt find anything on how to diagnose problems with the rear end. I guess that would be the first and easiest thing to check.
Please let me know things to check. My car has been down for 4 months and i only have put 45 miles on the new motor in the 1 week since i fired her up for the first time.
Any help is appreciated, sorry for the long post, but i figured that it would be easier for people to know the exact situation that im in .
So in june i blew my motor... let the rebuild begin. Motor gets built, time to tow my car to the shop (~30 miles away) So the tow truck guy comes and i told him that its awd and how we have to tow it. The tow truck is not a flatbed and i wanted him to put my rear wheels up on the little 4-wheeled things that keep your wheels from rolling on the ground (sorry cant think of what to call them). But, one of his tires on the 4-wheeled things has a BAD bulge in it so he doesnt trust it to tow my car.
He then tells me that if we unbolt the driveshaft that it will be all good. A quick search on dsmtuners shows that people have towed this way before with success and a phone call to my dsm mechanic confirms that its ok to do with a slight chance that the rear end could get fried. So we go ahead and tow with the driveshaft unbolted and get the car up to the shop.
ABout a month goes by with the motor getting assembled and more misc parts coming in to add to the motor build. I then notice that TRE is having a sale on transmissions for their exchange service, so i decide to purchase one. The car sits for another month and then the trans comes in. The trans and motor go in and what happens.... ? 22 spline output shaft on the trans and my car is a 91. So i go on craigslist.org and find a local selling a 22-spline t-case. Bolt it up and the car fires up with a fresh motor and all is good... or is it?
So we go to drive the car around and when my mechanic is pulling my car back into the shop (tight 90 degree turn) i notice that the rear inner tire skips. My mechanic seems to be sure that the rear end got fubared on the tow over. But i just installed a new trans and different t-case, so im not sure what is causing the problem.
I then drove the car home, no problems with the rear on the drive back. I got home and jacked up the rear end to check if it felt nasty at all when i rotated the tires. They felt smooth and fine, they rotated fully with a slight molasses feeling of resistance but that is supposed to be normal (i guess) and the other wheel would spin the opposite direction of the one i was spinning. (LSD 3-bolt rear).
Ok so i was under the impression that the rear end was fried, but now it seems to check out. SO last night i had a friend come over that knows dsm's very well ( i would consider him a wiseman) to check on things for me. He thinks that the trans tre sent me has a welded center diff. We jacked up one front wheel and it would spin about 1/8th of a turn, preloading the drivetrain and then stop. My friend said that shows that the car has a welded center diff, because if it wasnt welded it would continue to spin slowly with some resistance like the rear did when it was fully in the air.
My mechanic said the opposite. That if it stops its the stock center diff.
Im not sure who to believe now. All i want to do is diagnose the problem and fix it. If the rear end isnt fried then i dont mind having a welded center diff.
Can anyone help me out with different things to check in the rear end or with the front wheels to help me diagnose what the deal with the car is? Im just a little confused and overwhelmed as there is a new rebuild trans, a different t-case, and the iffy rear that got towed 30 miles. Im not sure which to check first, how to check them, and what results produce what answer.
I did a search here on the forums, checked my repair manual, and looked at vfaq and couldnt find anything on how to diagnose problems with the rear end. I guess that would be the first and easiest thing to check.
Please let me know things to check. My car has been down for 4 months and i only have put 45 miles on the new motor in the 1 week since i fired her up for the first time.
Any help is appreciated, sorry for the long post, but i figured that it would be easier for people to know the exact situation that im in .
