THSCC Forums

I think that's the gotcha-- the "spin the rear wheels" trick isn't conclusive in this case. I've driven a couple of early Miatas where the diff was "verified" to be working like that and they weren't providing any lockup under a heavy load.

If the car drives fine for you, I wouldn't worry about. It's actually a bit more stable with the rear diff acting open, albeit a bit slower in the tight stuff.

Jim

Is this something that once it has been replaced, you don't have to worry about it from then on? Was it a faulty design they subsequently fixed or something?



Hmmm I do get a bunch of strange noises that I'm slowly tracking down but nothing like that. The latest one is a very dull thump-thump sound coming somewhere from the front of the car. At first I thought it was coming from the right front braking system because it went away when I got on the binders. I've since discovered that it also goes away under moderate to heavy acceleration and it sounds more like it is centrally located behind the dash. But as always with sounds like that, it's hard as heck to tell exactly.

I'd love to figure out the mystery groaning/funny pitch sounds when the car is driven in the wet. It seems to be drivetrain related since it changes pitch with speed but I can't see anything visibly wrong under the car. I saw a couple of posts on one of the dsm boards with people having a similar "problem" but nobody could figure it out. It doesn't seem to affect the operation of the car so I'm not sure what to make of it.

Ahh, the joys of 175k mile car ownership! I'm actually having fun (so far) tracing down all the little glitches and hopefully in the near future, it will be back to (nearly) brand new.

Jim

I would guess that it's the carrier bearings for the driveshaft.

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In need of car.

That car needs poly bushings, bad. Any bushings would be an improvement. That's true for any high mileage car, honestly. My 175K Volvo has tons of suspension clunks that would be remedied by new bushings, but I'm not doing anything but the bare minimum on that thing right now.

Re my VLSD: I think it is actually working, but I'll probably kill it sometime next season. That's fine with me, for I'l then go with a torsen. I'll need it for the evential FI power increase

I have heard of DSM replacement transfer cases failing, but I believe this is the exception rather than the norm. I believe the newer transfer cases are a different design. Jason should be able to answer this with certainty, though.

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Tom Freeman
'98 M3/4/5 | '93 Spec3 325i | '12 TSX sport wagon | '03 Tahoe
Team Silver Bullets '91 240SX

Ah, the same carrier bearing that got me a new transmission at 41K miles on the green car...

Yeah, I'd have to go with Jason on that one too. It's probably harmless, but it is annoying.

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Tom Freeman
'98 M3/4/5 | '93 Spec3 325i | '12 TSX sport wagon | '03 Tahoe
Team Silver Bullets '91 240SX

Is that something I can fix without too much pain and suffering? Did you get a new tranny just because of the noise or was there something else going on?

It may be something I did because I didn't notice it until I put the stock springs back on the car. I fixed a few other noises when I was doing the springs so it might have been there all along but was masked by the other racket. Also, I may very well have missed something since I didn't have a manual or anything but it seemed like I got everything buttoned back together correctly. I might take another look at it this weekend.

Any thoughts on the strange wet weather noises?

I haven't had a chance to fully look around the underside of the car but I'm going over to a friends next week to put it on a lift. Maybe I can see something better then.

Thanks for the info,

Jim

The redesigned part on the transfer case is just a bushing. The previous one was made of a material that tended to get hot and not expand at the same rate as the material around it. The new ones more closely match the surrounding metals. I don't think it's normal for the new ones to fail. I just think that it's so easy to check that even if I did have a new one I would still check it.

I've "heard" that the carrier bearings are cheap and easy to change. I've never done it so I don't know for certain.

Have you checked out http://www.vfaq.com ? Ugly site, but there's lots of good info hiding in there.

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In need of car.

http://www.plymouthlaser.com/dshaft.htm

Step by step with pictures on Driveshaft and carrier bearing replacement.

The Vfaq page also has a 'ghetto' hop up on the carrier bearing involving squirting some "window weld" in it to stiffen it up and thus preventing the launch thump. Personally, I like the thump on a hard launch, most say its doing no harm and when it does thump I know I just put down a REALLY good launch. (ie 1.7 60' times on street tires)

I would also say they my car whines when the T-case fluid is low. It leaks like a sive, I need to replace the yoke. Its not a bad job, just too lazy to do it Its on the winter to do list.

Ryan

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02 Focus SVT
STF 9

Jim,
You got the brand new carrier bearings with the car. In the cardboard box along with the tie rod ends. I looked at doing it, and would not call it "easy" but not terribly difficult. You can also come get the service manual if you want, I meant to give that to you with the car also. I think the noise when the car is wet is associated with the exhaust piping, I don't have an explanation as to why, but I think that is where it is coming from.

Ewww that's what those things are in the box! I was wondering but kept forgetting to ask...

And, yea, I'll definitely take the service manual. Didn't realize you had one and it sure beats trying to use the internet for fixing stuff. If we have another night event, maybe you can bring it then. Or perhaps the next meeting... I'm starting to find my way around the dsm sites and while they do have some good info, highly organized is not something I'd call them at this point.

That noise sure is strange. It was happening this morning when the car was cold. I think it was still damp from last evening but once I ran it for a few minutes, it went away. Hopefully one of these days I'll solve that mystery...

Jim

- and thanks again Ryan for the *very* helpful links...

Your welcome! http://www.plymouthlaser.com is a great site and hasnt steered me wrong yet.

Ryan

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02 Focus SVT
STF 9