tranny went bad on type44. Shall I be surpised?

[kbogach]

Roy,  drive flanges move a lot - 1/4 inch at least.  But there was no 
whining whatsoever.   The reason I went there is that I significant oil 
leak in the area of right drive flange(I had to add about 300-400 ml, I 
don't consider it was dangerously low level, righ?).  I  changed the 
seal anyway.   What puzzles me that moved the car out of garage to 
parking lot,  moved in on the lift next day to change brake hose and the 
flange was all in oil.   Probably it wobbles so much that even new seal 
can not hold the oil inside.  But why the left side does not leak then, 
I wonder?   Moving flanges with hand feels same on both sides. 
Unfortunately, I don't have garage, it is damn cold and I have limited 
time in on lift in a garage where my friend works as mechanic.   I need 
to find shortest time-wise remedy.  I sounds like I have to find used 
tranny.

Thank you,
Konstantine.

Roy Wendell wrote:
>
> 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
>
>