tranny went bad on type44. Shall I be surpised?

[Roy Wendell]

On Saturday, February 17, 2007, at 05:55 PM, kbogach wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> yesterday I finally found a reason for variable vibration in my 200tqa
> '89  - flanges for axles wobble big deal.    My friend mechanic said
> bearings in tranny are worn out.
Not likely. First of all, the drive flanges don't sit in bearings. The 
diff carrier sits in bearings while the flanges bolt into the 
differential side gears. If the bearings that support the diff were bad 
then the ring and pinion gears would be out of alignment and the 
gearbox would sound like a coffee grinder gone mad. The diff side gears 
usually aren't spinning much relative to the carrier and consequently 
are just metal to metal excepting an oil film. Unless the gearbox was 
run a long time without oil or one front tire larger than the other 
then I find it highly unlikely that either the gear or the carrier is 
worn down to the point where it's a problem. There has to be some 
movement of the drive flanges because the gear to carrier fit has to 
allow some clearance for the oil film.
>     I was shocked as I thought that
> manual tranny are indestructible while having oil in it.  I even  used
> this "axiom" as one of  self defense tricks  on "get newer
> car"-advisers.   It always had RedLine inside since I bought it in
> 2002.    I've never heard of type 44 failed tranny.   Am I alone out
> there?
It's not impossible but is extremely rare. I myself have one that 
whines a bit and I can tell that there is something not quite right 
about the reverse idler gear. As usual, it depends a lot on the 
previous owners. But short of running without oil I can't see one 
failing in the way under discussion.
>
> Rear brake hose gave up when I was torquing wheel nut an my friend
> stepped on brakes to hold the car.  I took the news better than that 
> but
> still upset.
Had that happen too. Failed right at the crimp junction which is, not 
surprisingly, the point of highest stress concentration. Failure at the 
crimp is also a common symptom of letting the caliper hang by the hose 
during brake work. It's an 18 or so year old piece of rubber. Give some 
respect where it's due.
> I would appreciate if someone have a recommendation on whether I should
> rebuild the tranny or get one from junk yard.  I never dealt this
> trannies before.   Also, what should I do while there except rear crank
> seal, clutch(?)?  Linkage ball was replaced 2 years  ago when I did 
> head
> rebuild.
Check out the Bentley manual under the diff section. I'm thinking that 
you don't have to disassemble the whole gearbox, just take the diff 
side cover off and pop it out. Then you should be able to eyeball the 
whole affair. I wouldn't even bother unless you can directly compare 
the amount of wiggle to another car/gearbox to determine that it's 
really a problem.

Odd vibrations in a quattro are almost always something in the 
driveshaft, specifically the u-joint. It is  inherently non liner in 
its rotation if there is any angle difference at all between the front 
and rear sections of the shaft.

Roy