drivetrain rebuild

[Blizz92tsi]

hey guys,
My 1990 Talon AWD started making some funny driveline noises. The car has about 123,000 miles on it and I thought it was a rear axle or rear differential was going bad. Its an annoying ticking noise while you're driving around town. At speeds about 50-60 (damn speedo's broke too ) it starts to vibrate really bad. I've had several people listen to it, ride in it, and gotten their oppinions on it. They seem to think it's problems with the driveshaft. Mainly the u-joints and etc. that hold it all together. If you guys seem to think they're right the plan is to replace everything minus driveshaft itself from the transfer case to the rear differential. Starting with the yoke that goes into the transfer case, u-joints, nuts, bolts, carrier bearings, to the rear pinion seal. My question is has anyone had to do this before? Do you have part numbers, and an idea on how much it'll cost for the parts? Did I leave any parts out? Please guys I need your help! My car doesn't have very much done to it so its not from an extreme amount of horse power. It has a K&N, MBC, Boost gauge, 2g ex. mani, small 16g, 550cc, pump upgrade, ACT 2600, balance shafts removed with last timing belt, and lots of little misc. stuff. Boost is about 14 psi and always ran on 93. I try to keep as good of care of it as I can, and I need to find out what's wrong with my baby.



I know, I know I need to mod my exhaust. I've almost got everything I need for a custom 2.5-3.0" exhaust. I hope to do it at the same time.

 

[DSM Jeff]

i should be able to get you some part numbers by the weekend. to rebuild the whole shaft you're looking at around $350-400 getting parts through the dealer. I dunno if any companies sell things through parts stores, I rather have mitsu parts. anyway, you need yolk, 2 or 3 universal joints (my yolk from mitsu didn't come with one, dsmotorsport sells a yolk w/ uv joint. if you want i'll sell you my yolk with out uv joint cheap, brand new) anyway, 2 carrier bearings and i went and changed the 2 large nuts and washers to be safe. I didn't replace my yarbo (sp?) joint, it looked fine, just regreased it. there is a how to in the vfaq.com on the steps. i'd just recommend renting a uv joint puller/installer.

 

[Blizz92tsi]

DSM Jeff,
You're talon looks just like mine! Mach V has a "Driveshaft Repair Yoke" in their OEM/Maintenance section for $43. They also have carrier bearings for $84 each. I don't know if those are good prices or not. Part numbers and prices would be very helpful. Did your car have similar problems like I tried to explain? How difficult was the maintenance to do? I read the VFAQ about the maintenance but was a little intimidated. Thank you so much for your help.

 

[DSM Jeff]

ok, here comes the list;
1- MR111611 Yoke, prop $54.15
2- MA143517 Nut $3.58 each (2)
2- MT203641 Washer $3.10 each (2)
2- MB154554 Spider Kit $77.18 each (2)
2- MB505495 CentBearing $72.40 each (2)
4- MB505658 Spacer $3.60 each (4)
4- MB505284 Insulator $2.83 each (4)
4- MB505283 Insulator $2.83 each (4)

# on the left is quantity, part #, description, cost of each, Quantity (again)

used the vfaq for the process. didn't have this problem on my car, just did it to do it. on my dad's 91gsx he was having a vibration at random speeds, did this whole rebuild process as well and it went away. i'd suggest going with mach's yoke if it comes with the universal joint. their bearings are a few bux more. as said i got the 2 nuts and washers, which you don't need, i just was bored ordering stuff. and the spacer and insulators are if you want to replace the ones on the carrier bearings, from mistu they didn't come with new ones so those need to be ordered if you feel yours are worn. anything else, hit me up. hopefully this helps.

 

[Blizz92tsi]

Thank you DSM Jeff! What about U-joints? What's the Spider kit? Is that what hooks up to the "yarbo" joint? Also do you have information on the rear pinion seal? I need to replace that while I'm at it. I was also wondering if I would be able to use a viscous coupler eliminator, remove the entire drive shaft assembly, and drive it in FWD till I get my parts. I don't know if that would be bad on the rear differential or not. Thanks again for all of your help.

 

[DSM Jeff]

Thank you DSM Jeff! What about U-joints? What's the Spider kit? Is that what hooks up to the "yarbo" joint? Also do you have information on the rear pinion seal? I need to replace that while I'm at it. I was also wondering if I would be able to use a viscous coupler eliminator, remove the entire drive shaft assembly, and drive it in FWD till I get my parts. I don't know if that would be bad on the rear differential or not. Thanks again for all of your help.

heh, you can just call me Jeff since its my name. anway, Spider Kit = U-joints. thats just the name mitsu puts on them. as i said, if you order everything through mitsu, you'll most likely need 3 u-joints since the yoke of thiers doesn't come with one. I have a yoke sitting at my house (went and bought another from dsmotorsport with the uv joint there for cheaper)
i don't have info on the rear seal, maybe check the vfaq if anyone's pulled one apart. i'm not totally familar with inside these rear ends. it maybe easy if once the shaft is off, there is another large nut that holds the rear carrier (not sure of the proper name) but the part that holds the shaft to the pinion, that maybe able to slide off and expose the seal.
i wouldn't drive the car as a fwd, if you search threads about towing i believe there are mixed opinions about this. i'm not sure how it would cause a problem, but it could. you could definatly rebuild the shaft with in a day (most likely a half) so if you have time on a weekend, pull the shaft and bring it inside to work.

 

[Blizz92tsi]

I'd think with the viscous coupling eliminator and removing the shaft would work all right. Its completely front wheel drive for dyno tuning. My only concern would be keeping it clean and a way to block off the opening of the rear diff if there's no shaft in it to keep fluid in and dirt and debris out. Don't know. Probably not worth the effort it would take. Jeff could you post a link to dsmotorsport page that has the yoke. How much was their yoke and u-joint combo? Thanks for your help.

 

[DSM Jeff]

i'm not a 100% but its a good question. i'd say just search the forum a bit just to be sure. the site link is, http://www.diamondstarmotorsport.com/maintparts.shtml and you'll have to scroll to the drivetrain section and look for "Transfer Case Recall Kit $35" its the yolk and uv-joint. i'd just say, do it in a day and don't waste the time. order the parts, pick a weekend and go to work. maybe replace the transfercase rear seal too, couple bucks and you're already there.

 

[Blizz92tsi]

After I get this all figured out I think I'm going to talk to some of these DSM companies and see if they'll sell a kit or at least offer all of the parts needed to do the maintenance. Some of the companies sell some of the stuff. Mach V has the yoke and carrier bearings. It wouldn't take much more to have a complete kit. Anyway I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[steve]

I replaced all the u-joints in the driveshaft this summer. I noticed when I pulled the transfer case to fix an axle seal that the front yoke u-joint was stiff and rough. I found that the rest were the same. I used this Driveshaft VFAQ as a reference even though I didn't change the carrier bearings.
Just changing the u-joints made a huge difference. The car coasts again unstead of slowing down as soon as you put it in neutral.

Steve

 

[Blizz92tsi]

hey steve,
Thanks for the link. I've read that and its very instructive, but didn't provide all the part numbers. I'll certainly be using it for reference when I start the maintenance. I might not need carrier bearings, but I might as well do it all at the same time along with a couple of seals. How hard was relacing the u-joints when you did it? How much did you spend on just the u-joints? Thanks again everyone for the help. It has been greatly appreciated.

 

[steve]

I bought these from Rockville Mitsubishi in June.

3 - MB154554 Spider Kit $56.75 each
4 - MB505284 Insulator $2.11 each
4 - MB505283 Insulator $2.11 each


I also picked up a 6 ton press from Harbor Freight to do my wheel bearings that came in handy when doing the u-joints.

The one mistake I made was trying to press the bearing caps all the way out at first. If you do that the side your pressing from is now too far in to pull the spider out. Just press the cap out far enough to grab it with vice grips or channel locks and wiggle it out from there. When installing the new spiders and caps only press as far as needed to get the new snap ring in.

The kits come with various thickness snap rings and your suspost to measure the clearance between the ring and groove, adjusting the clearance with the rings used to get a specific clearance but I could barely get them back together with the thinnest snap rings. I'll check them next summer and put thicker ones in if needed.

Steve

 

[DSM Jeff]

i used this when doing my uv joints, http://www.eppys.com/Shop/Product.c...9&Item=OTC7249&CategoryID=23&SubCategoryID=14 other way is a big clamp and a couple sockets but that can be a pain keeping them lined up.

 

[steve]

Jeff, why do you keep calling them uv joints?

Steve

 

[DSM Jeff]

Jeff, why do you keep calling them uv joints?

Steve

um... cause they are? mitsu calls them "spider" joints. everyone else calls them universal joints. maybe its just the domestic side of me?
sorry, its just a common way to abbrivate them. (at least in people i talk to) sorry if theres any confusion

 

[steve]

maybe its just the domestic side of me?
sorry, its just a common way to abbrivate them. (at least in people i talk to) sorry if theres any confusion

No problem, maybe it's a regional thing. I've never heard anybody call them anything other than Universal Joints or just u-joint.

Steve

 

[DSM Jeff]

could be... its probably just me, haha. but i do know of other's who say that... eh