New tranny, whats wrong? or is it Tcase?

[projekt1]

The sooob story: My talon had been down because the synchros were shot in the previous tranny. Of which, I never got a chance to launch or even enjoy.

So..... I got a TRE stage 2 tranny a few months back that I just recently had time to drop it in along with some other mod's and maintenance keep ups.
I'm coming up on the 500 mile break in period that TRE states on their BREAK-IN PROCEDURE and have done everything it says to do and not to...

The problem: Since the first drive I would hear a slight spinning/ clunking coming from the tranny/tcase area but I figured it was just tranny fluid needing to get into the tranny or that the sound was the 4-spider diff getting broken in or something related to the break-in period. However, now that its almost been 500 miles, its obvious that the sound is not going away, in fact it seems to be getting slightly worse.
This noise is mostly in first and second gears and only when I'm getting into gear. Today I was stopped at a redlight on an incline on an overpass when the sound (clunking/ spinning/whining) got louder than usual since I was trying to slip the clutch more than usual due to the incline. The sound only comes around after driving for a while never when cold (that I've noticed). However, the sluggish response is there regardless of the sound. Its as if my timing was super low and low rpm's. BTW, I have babied this tranny since install..

I don't want to point at the tranny being that is is new (rebuilt) but I guess I cant rule it out either. I don't know much about tcase issues but I can say that before the tranny swap it was fine (other than that tranny's messed up synchros). I have ruled out the clutch because I have checked everything for it.

Things I've done:
1. Bleed the clutch x3
2. Adjust the clutch x2
3. Drag test
4. Fluid check

Dont know what else to do. Pleassse help.

Any drivetrain gurus out there please give me some input and quit holding out, jk..

 

[projekt1]

Still in need of some input and experience people

 

[SpawnedX]

Call TRE.

 

[projekt1]

I'm going to but I'd still like to know if there's anything that can be done or wrong before I point fingers at his their tranny. I want to say its the tcase but I haven't found anything similar to what I'm experiencing yet.

 

[projekt1]

UPDATE (and for future reference):
I gave TRE a call and they said that it sounded like a busted axle somewhere. Checked all my axles using the method they said to, all axles are good
A fellow DSMer also said to check the driveshaft and the joints so i did and again they all checked out good.

At this point I was dead set that it might the the front diff (even though it was a new rebuilt tranny) and for the slipping it was a glazed disk even thought everything had been inspected before installation.

I finally had some time to swap out a tcase with my buddies car and inspected both (mainly mine since his was solid) while they were out. I'm not exactly sure what I would inspect but what I did was spun the gears and listen/feel for anything abnormal. So both the tcases felt good. One had redline shockproof so it spun with more effort than the other but still good.

Well I put his tcase in my car just to completely eliminate the possibility of the tcase being the culprit. And to mu surprise yea now (with his tcase) there is no more clunking noises, no more slipping no more drivetrain problems!!! I can finally get into the street with traffic without having to wait for all the cars to go by. I can finally speed up without slipping (rpms climbing but going nowhere).
I don't know why my tcase was bad since it was perfectly fine before the tranny swap. Also don't know why or how it would cause the slipping that felt exactly the same as a clutch slipping or the clunking as if there was something seriously broken. The good thing is that the tcase was my problem and not the tranny or clutch and she now drives like she should.

I do have 5th poping out now on the new rebuilt tranny but I'll talk to TRE again about that.


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[GRNDSM]

Did you ever check the ratios on your transfer case? 97/99 t-cases were just a bit off, so it is easy to make this mistake.

 

[projekt1]

Did you ever check the ratios on your transfer case? 97/99 t-cases were just a bit off, so it is easy to make this mistake.

The tranny is a 91-94 on a 90 Tsi, everything has been converted to a 91-94 as far as the shifter etc. And the tcases are both 90's.
I didn't check the ratios but I did count the splines on both the tcases an the tranny. They were all 22 spline. When I put my original tcase it was a little hard bolting on like it didn't want to but it did. When I put my buddies tcase on it went on like butter. Again, they are all the same spline count so idk what that was about either.


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[diambo4life]

Is R also popping out or only 5th gear?

 

[projekt1]

Is R also popping out or only 5th gear?

Nope just 5th. It happens almost every time in the morning on my way to work. its about a 15 mile mostly highway drive so at around 6 miles it usually pops out, sometimes it will pop out again like a minute later after the first time. No acceleration, no additional load, no nothing it just pops out.

UPDATE on TCASE situation:
Yep, it was definitely a bad tcase because i can get on her pretty good with confidence now.

 

[diambo4life]

Replace the poppet ball and spring that holds the 5th/R shift rail in place. It may make a difference.

 

[TSi Kid]

UPDATE on TCASE situation:
Yep, it was definitely a bad tcase because i can get on her pretty good with confidence now.

Glad to hear it wasn't the transmission .