I posted up pics a little while back of my diff that broke and chewed up some other parts in the process.

Anyways, I sourced another stock diff, clutch housing, etc to fix my tranny. Also, I bought $400 worth of seals, bearings, synchos, hubs, sliders to repair some other parts of the tranny.

Here is the problem, the tranny feels good and shifts fine even the 3rd gear problem is gone due to new parts. Hell, it even goes into reverse easier than it ever has. Problem is there is a knocking noise that can be heard and slightly felt coming from what sounds like the diff. Can really start to notice from 3rd gear on. 5th gear it is the worst. I drove it around a little bit this afternoon after I got it all back together. Like I said, the tranny felt fine other than the noise.......................

I am not 100% sure what it is, but I know it is not supposed to do that. what is everyones thoughts?

 

it takes a while after you do a full rebuild for the bearing chatter to go away. if its not just that, you sure you got the shims put in the right way? dont know a ton about trannys but i know some of the shims are tappered and go in a certain way.

 

Yeah, the main shaft shim and washer were installed correct. The concave side went towards the new bearing that was installed and the flat washer towards the gears.

Maybe it is bearing noise....didnt think of that. Its not exactly a full rebuild but it got new bearings in the clutch housing and new sealed bearings on the diff.

 

New bearing should NOT make noise. Please! They are NEW BEARINGS.

What type of bearings did you use on the diff (taper? roller?) Did you follow the Helms procedure for selecting the proper differential bearing shim? What was the clearance after shimming?

 

You should not be able to feel your differential bearings!!!

 

Nobody said that I was feeling my diff bearings. I simply said that something was not right. Personally, I have never heard of new bearings making noise, but if a dozen people got in here and posted and all had similar stories of how their new bearings make noise in the tranny for a short period I would possibly develope a theory.

Honestly, with the sealed bearings the shim clearance is not as critical as with the tapered bearings. I am not sure what the clearance is, but having talked with a half dozen people one of which is an Acura tech/mech, 3 racers, and a few others they said they have never checked the clearance on a sealed bearing diff and all have been fine once assembled and put on the car. Not saying that is right, but I do not believe my clearance is the issue with this.

 

the bearings will make a little chattering noise until they get their fair share of mtf through them. i just rebuilt my tranny with all new bearings, seals and a 3-4 sleeve set. it made some chatter but after driving it around a little it went away.

 

I just rebuilt my tranny with all new seals, most of the bearings are brand new, and a different GSR diff, clutch housing, and a 3/4 gear synchro, hub and slider kit. Now from 3rd gear on it makes a knocking noise and it sounds like the diff. In 5th gear the noise is most audible especially at lower speeds and RPMs.

I was thinking that there could be a couple teeth on the ring gear that are not meshing correctly together. I did reuse that stuff from the other tranny that had metal chunks sent throughout.

 

how did the clearences look?

 

I believe they were fine, but something is not right obviously. You are thinking it is a clearance issue I presume?

 

Diff shim clearance IS important.

What clearance did you set the mainshaft at?

New bearings don't make noise.

 

Not sure what the clearance is. Tranny was taken apart, cleaned, new bearings went in along with a used diff, and then the tranny went back together.

Since a ton of aluminum chunks went through out the tranny not to mention a tooth from a spyder gear, could something on the ring gear be out of shape? Everything looked fine, but that doesnt mean it was.

Its weird how everyone I talked too that either races NASA Honda Challenge, drag races, or works for Acura said that diff clearance was not that important with the sealed bearings on the diff. Tapered bearings were a different story. All of them said they have rarely if ever checked the clearance and never had a problem. Not saying that is right, but I find it funny.

 

Also if new bearings made noise then why doesnt a new tranny from Honda sound all smooth? hahaha

 

You need to shim the mainshaft. Did you tear the shafts down completely and clean them? If not then you might have already damaged one of your new bearings.

 

Cleaned the mainshaft up really good. Did not tear apart the countershaft, but cleaned it out good. Didnt see any substantial debris.

Its weird how I know people throw random junk together and get it to work forever. I can almost do something right and well luck is not on my side.

 

Really? I'll speak for myself and Chris/Aquafina, it had better be silky smooth when leaving the driveway.

Synchros might need a few miles to bed in like brake pads, but no bearing noise.

 

Mainshaft debris clogging oil ports







Countershaft debris clogging oil ports



Thus is why we strip..............the shafts all the way down.

 

well on my tranny after i got it together and in after full tare down, new 3-4 sleeve set, bearings, seals and shift gate (snapped off) it made a little whirring noise that eventually went away after i let it idle for a little bit. maybe it wasnt the bearings.

 

Say there is debris clogging the port on the countershaft. Why wouldnt it make the noise in 1st and 2nd gear? Why would it only make the noise from 3rd gear on? Most notably in 5th gear. Not saying you guys are wrong, just asking a question. Also, before I ever took the car up the street I fired it up on jackstands and made sure it was going to shift into the gears. It did it automatically, as soon as I got it into 3rd gear...knock..knock..knock..knock.

 

Can't tell you without seeing it.

 

Well it may come back out of my car this weekend.

When looking at a stock GSR diff. Just how much play is to expected in the spyder gears? Is there anyways I can check that diff to see if its good or not?

 

All that info is in the Helms manual.

 

Do not own one. Never have owned one in the past 12 years of owning a Honda. The internet is a great source of information on certain topics that is why message boards are created, right? Also, some people know things right off the top of their head, especially things they deal with all the time.

Maybe Ill just do a little search on here, maybe it will help clarify things dealing with differentials?

 

If you don't want to buy a Helms you can find them online for download.

 

Yeah, I am a member of that other board that has some for download. I forget the name of it. You got any suggestions for places to download?