Passanger side axle doesnt fit!

[Rengar18]

Tranny had a rebuild in June, tried calling the shop but there really dodgy on giving me any info since the car had a different owner at that time. At first the mech thought it was a different transmission altogether but the model number confirmed it is a 97 awd gsx tranny (W5M33) but for some reason a 97 awd axle is "too short" and when it was installed it was barely attached to the car.

Really not sure where to go from here, mech told me to just find another longer axle that is abt a inch longer and it should fit but not too sure which axles are "a inch longer" Or if its some other underlying problem in the transmission.

Any help on this would be much apperciated, thanks.

 

[tjbiker031]

I think what could of happened was that the last owner broke or had to replace an axle but didnt get the right one, or the shop damaged the axle and put any old eclipse axle in there thinking it was going to work and nobody would ever know. If you think its a danger, which im sure it is, just order a new axle for that care and it should take care of that problem.

 

[Rengar18]

Yea that was the first thing we tried. We put in a NEW 97 gsx axle and it was too short. Pretty much at a loss here, cant even drive to car to see if theres anything else I need to replace without solving this..

 

[Spdfreak]

you should try to take the axle you currently have to a parts store and just compare with different years or even a gst axle to see one of them should fit

 

[Rengar18]

Compared a 97 gst/94gsx/96 RS axle today and they all ended up having the same size shaft. Also tried a 97 gsx axle with ABS (Mine doesnt have) and the shaft was the same length.

Talked to the mech today and he explained that the shaft that goes into the tranny is too short (Bout a inch too short, prob alrdy said this) Need a 4 inch shaft (Stock gsx 97 is 3in)

Only other option Ive been told is to take the axle to a machine shop to increase the length but who knows how much thats going to cost.

PLEASE help guys, pretty much exhausted all options... really just looking for any kind of advice...

 

[bastarddsm]

What are you talking about? there are only three different pass side axles for a 4g car. Early 1g, late 1g, 2g. other than that you have a massive chassis problem.

 

[Rengar18]

What are you talking about? there are only three different pass side axles for a 4g car. Early 1g, late 1g, 2g. other than that you have a massive chassis problem.

A 4g car? what exactly are you trying to say? And a chassis problem? Ok... are you basically saying the problem is unfixable? Could you please elaborate?

 

[AllWheelRS]

He's saying that if the listed axles don't fit, your entire frame could be severely bent or in some other manner, way out of spec causing your tranny to sit too far from the passenger side wheel hub, in which case, your axle will be the least of your problems.

 

[Rengar18]

How could something like that happan? It wasnt in any kind of accident, clean title and everything. What can I do from there is thats the case?

 

[Rengar18]

Great. Car hasnt been in a accident, has a clean title... what could cause this? Is there somethign I can do to remedy this?

 

[Spdfreak]

Is there a chance you could have the wrong hub on the vehicle or maybe there could be something wrong with the tranny when they rebuit it causing it to go to far in the tranny.

 

[Achelea]

Something is wrong there. Parts don't suddenly become Too short.

My question is the splines not reaching, or is the entire transmission an inch too far away?
Reason I am asking is things don't just go an inch out of spec when it's rebuilt.

I see X possibilities.
1.) Transmission was not rebuilt correctly. The spline was installed backwards, too far inboard, or is missing the spacer required. I've never rebuilt one of these trans myself. It would seem if it's an inch off, something is not in there right. Parts do not come an inch short.
2.) The drivetrain and engine are mounted too far inboard. Something mounted backwards can do some Serious fitment issues.
3.) The frame of the car is damaged out on the passenger side. Maybe he hit a pothole and pulled something loose. Maybe the frame caught a curb and bent inward. Something is Wrong.

You need to ask the mechanic A.) Was he the one that took it apart B.) Does he have the old parts and C.) Does he guarantee the transmission was rebuilt properly? Cause it's not

 

[Rengar18]

Sorry for the late reply, couldnt get much info till today.

Apparently the spline doesnt reach far enough into the tranny.
Also the car hasn't been in an accident as per to Carfax. And the mech didnt notice any damage.

But I called the mech that did the rebuild again and he said that there is a possibility that they could have made a mistake but thats all the info he could give me claiming "were not the perfect shop" Real professional right?

Anyway, Pretty much have two options here. I could have the shop I have it at now take the transmission apart to make sure everything was rebuilt correctly (costing me about $350 plus whatever I have to replace in the event something was done wrong) or have them make me a custom axle 4 inch shaft axle to fit inside it(which im not sure how much will cost in the first place, depending on the shop). I mean there might not be anything wrong in the tranny to begin with right? How sure are you that it could be something done wrong with the rebuild to cause this because this is alot of money to drop on a hunch.

Simply just trying to explore my options... want to get this fix but not trying to pay for another transmission on a hunch..