Differental Broken?

[phreaksho]

ok i will start at the begining pull outta my drive way... clunk... jack it up sway bar endlink nut came off and it popped out. so go buy a new nut put it back toghther. start to pull away agian and clunk and it started pulling hard to the right for the 2 feet i drove. couldnt see anything broken.... get it in my driveway and drive it back and fourth... no noise. as soon as i would turn it would make the noise and the car would **** to the side i was turning. i replaced boh sides and still didnt fix it... took it to the look shoshop and they said my front subframe bushings were bad which droppped my engine abou 3 inches... replaced those still hasnt fixed it!!! only thing left that said it migh be is the differental is shot... it is hard t get into first or second when you let the clutch and put it back in at a stop or slight roll. you need to put it in 3rd or 4th first before it goes in i knew the tranny was going... but does this really sound like a differental problem since it only happens when i turn?

 

[CerberuS]

Could be CV shafts.

Im 100% sure the other trans issue (hard shift) has nothing to do with the hard turns.

 

[phreaksho]

yeah well both axles were JUST replaced lol hasnt been driven with them and it still does it

 

[CerberuS]

what about alignement (i doupt an alignement can be that bad but hey , im trying)

 

[FREAK_SHO]

Engine mounts, New or original? Have you checked the rear Subframe mounts?

Dave

 

[SuperHO]

Poke around on your transmission housing around the spot where the speed sensor is (top of the tranny case below the throttle body...you'll see the cable coming from the firewall and into a vertical electronic plug on the tranny case) and see if you can find a hole. Also check the bottom of the case. If there's a hole anywheres, you blew a diff pin.

If not, I'd still suspect something in the suspension. Did you get an allignment after replacing the subframe bushings?

 

[phreaksho]

havent got the car home from the shop yet... so now it didnt get an alignment also... i didnt get an alignment after i did my clutch about 2 months ago... i replaced the front engine mount and the tranny mount where both bad the other one i checked when the subframe was down and it was fine at least looked fine no cracks in the rubber or tears i also dont think that it blew the dif pin out... i dont know anything about them but can they just go bad? break? i had the axle out and looked in to where that connected and the splines seemed ok no metal chunks but i really dont know what to look for in a broken dif also rear bushings are still good

 

[CerberuS]

If the diff Pin went bad , you'd had a hole in your tranny.

so i guess its not that.

 

[SHOCH]

I managed to turn my splines once, kinda twisted like a worm drive, on a new axle. I remember Doug Mellum saying he thought it was for a early Taurus 4 cyl mtx. Either way, I'd be checking whatever was just done first.

 

[Racer X]

Did you check your wheel bearings?

Additionally, the hard 1st/2nd engagement is a clutch issue.

 

[phreaksho]

yeah well the clutch has like 4000-5000 miles on it and its a stage 2/3 dual friction centerforce so im hoping its not gone or im gunna flip *could it be a throw out bearing? i dont know if it was used more than the clutch was i bought the clutch right after the break in and he gave me the tob

 

[Bizzy]

If the diff Pin went bad , you'd had a hole in your tranny.

so i guess its not that.

Not always. If it just popped it could be clunking the pinion around inside and just not popped the case yet. In any case, I wouldn't drive it until you find out for sure.

Now, while the car is at the shop you should have them check to make sure the halfshafts are installed properly in the trans on the driver's side and that the halfshaft is properly engaging the intermediate shaft which in turn is installed in the trans. It could be that one wasn't all the way in and popped out a little bit.

To answer your questions. Yes, a diff can just break and they often do quite suddenly without any warning. If you pull the shaft back out, preferably on the driver's side, look for 3 shafts inside the diff. One long one goes all the way through the middle and 2 shorter ones that meet in the middle at the long one. The 2 short ones are the ones that eject so if either of those are missing do not move that car another inch. If the case isn't cracked at all you've still got hope, a diff can be replaced with another one rather easily. Well, for me it's easy.

Questions for you. If you sit in the car with it not running do you have any problems shifting through any of the gears? If no then you've probably got yourself a clutch problem, specifically the pressure plate or TOB.

If you do then you could possibly have a problem with your shifter not being connected or aligned properly or the subframe not being aligned properly or even internal issues with the trans. What issues is a good question and I don't think anyone could tell you without seeing inside the trans.

Is your trans full of fluid? When you pulled the shaft out did it leak any? You need to verify that as well.

 

[phreaksho]

well like i said the subframe was dropped 3 inches and this is when i was having the troubles shifting... so new bushings should raise it back up and maybe that will be the fix? i hope it did leak fluid when i pulled the axle out. to late for it to be moved lol... its been moved quite a bit by the people at the shop im just hopping that the axle wasnt full in and this will all be over with thanx for the help guys

 

[SuperHO]

Could be the shifter boss broke when the subframe dropped.......

 

[Bizzy]

Bushings alone aren't going to cause a 3" drop, sounds to me more like the bolts themselves might have pulled through the unibody. That happened to me when Ferd installed the recall kit upside down with the nut part of the plate nut on the bottom and the plate side up. The driver's side rear subframe pulled right through and the subframe dropped about 3" like you describe. I had trouble steering but I didn't have any trouble shifting at that time. Maybe it would have been different if both rears were dropped at the same time.

But you're saying the fronts are bad so I would assume it would cause a similar driving issue. But still...I don't think it could drop 3" without something being broken versus just being worn out.

Yes, Tim, it would cause undue stress on the boss and if not taken care of it could break. But more than likely it's just the subframe not being where it's supposed to be causing the problem. But if I was him I'd be more worried on why it dropped 3" as I just don't think that's possible, even with the worst front bushings, without something being actually broken.

 

[phreaksho]

oh no the bushing are completly broken in the middle the bolt may have gone through them im not sure but i know they were really really bad yeah but see that was still not the cause of my actually problem *maybe the shifting but i havent driven since they were replaced* they took the axles out and said they were really stiff even tho i just bought them and put them in about a week ago but labor was free for that so its all good and i get them exchanged... if this doesnt fix then i have no idea and they only thing they could tell me is the dif went bad. but since they are moving it around *you think a shop would be smarter than that if it has a bad dif* who knows whats going to happen they wont have new axles till tommrow and i shall go from there... but i just bought a parts car so that should help out alil

 

[CerberuS]

Its prolly gonna solve everthing when you fix that.

One thing at a time. Have the bushings fix , and leave us some feedback.

 

[Bizzy]

Personally, I'd get a different shop. Few things make me more ****** than a shop that obviously don't know their ass from a hole in the ground yet they still try to soak the customer for everything they can while they take guesses on what's wrong.

 

[phreaksho]

yeah..i like to do all my own work but i just couldnt figure this one out. but yea i would rather take it to a different shop but ive delt with them before and they are the only shop that knows shos in about a 100 miles but i guess im not doing anything specially for the sho

 

[phreaksho]

ok well just heard from the shop that the tranny is busted. the main person was not there tho so i didnt get awhole lot i have to go in on monday and find out exactly what is wrong tho but the 2 new axles did nothing time to rip out 2 trannys... ugh