Re: Changing synchros (an account from experience)

["Avram G. Dorfman" <dorfman@est.org>]

How much does it weigh? Hmmm... Well, no, the engine is going to sit there
just fine without it. As for lifting it out yourself, you'll find that it's
very difficult to actually get the trans out once all the bolts are done. It
takes a lot of fiddling to get the right angle so there's no angle pressure
on the input shaft. Jacking up the front of the engine an inch or so helps
get it so the angle you need to pull at is a little more downward.

My brother and I could lift the trans together w/out too much trouble. Doing
it alone while lying on your back would be incredibly difficult, if not
impossible. you really need something under it that can roll or at least
slide, so that the act of removing it from the engine is totally seperate
from the act of lowering it.

My second post talked about my opinion regarding the difference between
doing it yourself vs. buying one. I've told you as much as I can about the
whole "Audi changed the 3/4 synchro sleeve & hub." You will not be able to
find an "old style" synchro ring. You'll have to research parts cost for the
hub, sleeve & springs yourself.

One thing I'll say is this: If you need *anything* more than synchros, just
forget it. Synchos are about the only cheap thing in there. Everything else
is machine to exact tollerances. We thought about putting in a new center
differential b/c there is excess play in ours. How much? $2,000 for a new
center diff. I found a rebuilt one for $1,000. Remember, whole transaxles
used w/ warranty are $900 and less. Seals aren't very expensive, but it
looked like you needed special tools to pull them out.

My brother and I are a little afraid that the tranny shop did put the shaft
back together slightly wrong. Let me know when you've finished reading the
Bentley manual section on rebuilding the shafts, and we can talk about that.
It doesn't seem to have affected the car though. When you get the tranny
apart, and have the shafts out, but *before* you take the shafts apart,
there is something you need to check (for your own good as well as mine):
When we got the drive shaft (actually called the "hollow shaft" in the
Bentley manual), the gears on it did not line up exactly with the gears on
the input shaft. When 1st was line up, 5th was almost 2mm off, by my eye.
This could be caused by putting the circlips back in the wrong order. What I
want to know is, should they be exact? Or is some difference normal? You
need to know too, of course.

-Avram
-----Original Message-----
From: Obin Olson <obin_olson@hotmail.com>
To: dorfman@est.org <dorfman@est.org>
Date: Friday, August 13, 1999 1:15 PM
Subject: Re: Changing synchros (an account from experience)


>Hey ! Thanks sooo much for the reply!!!
>You are the FIRST person who has offered to help me through it!
>ok, so hte tranny is almost out now....BIG question, how much does it
>weight? I have the car on jack stands, so it's about 2-3ft up off the
floor.
>Is the motor going to tip over with out the weight of the tranny?
>what about using 2 jacks to hold the tranny up when I get all the bolts
out?
>
>A lot of people say that I should jsut get a used tranny, more parts in
mine
>are going to be bad then it's worth the time and money trying the
>fix.....what do you think?
>
>