So I cracked open my GSR tranny to replace the differential, but I haven't received the new replacement yet. Is it bad to leave it sitting opened up to collect dust? (I have a dusty garage + a dog that sheds a lot!) It's been sitting for a couple days already.

I left it opened so that I wouldn't have to crack it open again since I thought I'd get the new diff sooner, but would like to make sure.

Is there a specific way to clean or does a simple re-fill/flush + refill suffice? Looking for some input, thanks.

 

Get either cheap towels or wash clothes (ok, we'll call them rags!) from Wal-Mart or you local second hand store to drape over the open case and shafts laying on the bench.

When they end up oil soaked, do NOT wash them in your wife's washer unless you like sleeping on the couch.

 

Thanks for the input, but now that there already is a little bit of dust on there, would a simple refill/flush procedure be fine?

 

reclean everything

 

Dirt is a close second to abuse when it comes to killing transmissions. The ball bearings life span really depends on cleanliness even if it seems ok at a glance. One thing I would recommend is break down the main and countershaft and clean them thoroughly inside and out. The mainshaft is especially prone to centrifugally collecting junk inside it.

Take a papertowel and set it underneath, take a can of brake cleaner with a straw and spray inside the oil holes. See how much junk and brass glitter come out of them, its pretty amazing how much accumulates there.

 

also i often take a small needle for filling up basketballs and such and put it on the air gun and use it to get compressed air inside the shaft and blow it out.

 

I'll have to try it. thanks.

 

gun cleaning kit, many uses

 

i like this idea.

 

i always take the entire gearset and clean it in a clean parts washer. works really really well. just make sure you get it good and dry before reistalling. as for breaking down the shafts.. i wouldnt bother if you dont have the experience.

 

thus way bother even cleaning the shaft assemblies?

Might as well drop them in a mud puddle and slap them back rather than break them down on clean the oil ports.

 

Pretty much, transmission building really isn't something you can half *** that way and not get burned.

 

i mean ive been building trannys for quite a while now. never had a single one fail on me. but im doing it half *** huh? hmm

 

Blocked oil passage in mainshaft that feeds the outer bearing, it burnt up really nice.



It was a (cough) professional rebuild.

 

Among other things...if you don't understand how to break down, evaluate piece by piece and thoroughly clean the transmission parts then its not really a good overhaul or rebuild.

Your quote doesn't say much, people around here need a little more proof than that to determine how knowledgeable you are on the subject.

 

I almost always lean on the lazy side and almost ignored tbone's advice...

After stripping down the countershaft it was clear why hes the guy to listen to..

After blowing through the shaft and thinking it was fine... found 2 of the oil passages clogged to the point i had to use a pick to clean them out. A good bit more grit and grime came out.

On the mainshaft the needle bearings were packed with sludgy grit grime. This is all after thoughoughly cleaning the shafts while together.

Taking apart the shafts was easier than splitting the case. I should have ordered the little dampers in advance... cuz now I'm going to have to wait another week to get it back together.

 

a lot of good info in here. I don't own an air compressor, so I'm assuming compressed canned air + some brake cleaner and some clean rags will do the job?

This is actually my first time cracking my tranny open. Looking to get it nice and clean before it goes into the car.

appreciate the pics mista bone, helps a lot

 

I have a compressor and didn't use it at all... I blew through it with my mouth lol. But yeah brake clean and a pic or even a very small allen wrench will be fine to clean out the orifices.

I picked up a rectangular oil drain pan/bucket thing at Autozone and 3 cans of brake clean, used an old toothbrush to scrub the individual bits...

Here are some more pics. You can see on one of the collars the crud was stuck inside the oil passage so even though it looked clear when on the shaft it had a ton of gunk blocking oil flow...



I used the same big bearing puller to get the top 2 bearings off the counter shaft. Those are the only thing you'd need anything special to get off... The rest of the shaft would come apart if it was supported on just wood... probably better for the gears that way too...



What I didn't picture above is on the counter shaft as a precaution what I did was thread the 30mm nut back on to the top, then put an impact socket on that and hammered out the shaft. It all dropped pretty straight and even. But be careful because this is an prime opportunity to F up your gears.

Here's everything after it all had it's turn in the tub with the brake clean



One of these was bad and I didn't think to just order them in advance:



Here is a shot of some big chunks of the ISB plastic gate bits that where lodged in between the gears in the synchro rings... again everything looked just fine with the shafts assembled.






Another good tip is to "Stake" the countershaft bearing...

Google: "staking counter shaft bearing"

I don't know if that's only for D series trannies or not though.

Good Luck. Splitting the case is seriously the hardest part.

Other tips: Freeze the shafts and dif and heat the gears/bearings on a space heater or with a hair dryer/heatgun they should go back together fairly easily.... Use Oil to lube everything as you reassemble. If you're gloves/hands get dirty change/wash them.

Spray out the case well and make sure you pay close attention to any oil galleys. I spray through those with the red extension tube on the can so it blast directly in there.

I Spray, scrub with brush, wipe with clean rag, inspect, repeat if required. Also if your rag leaves any lint spray it off after with more brake clean and let it air dry. (this is for anything you're cleaning.) But remember to lube EVERYTHING very well in oil before re-assembling, the brake clean will strip of ANY trace of oil.

 

In the top picture you can see the clogged oil orifice in the counter shaft too... that was after having blown through it before dis-assembling it and feeling that it seemed clear/unobstructed when I blew through it.

I can't even begin to explain how happy I am I spent the extra time and effort taking it all apart.

Did you have any sludgy/metal on your magnet? If yes even a little... clean the shafts. Well worth it.

 

Nonov, I took pics tonight of what I deburr, will post tomorrow on DSO and maybe here.

I'm wore out from this week!

 

You owe me an F5 key lol... and tell the mods at DSO it's not a DOS attack coming from my ip.

JFWY... I'd say I'm on the edge of my seat but I fell off it when you said you had pics.

 

I haven't been out to the shop since Saturday night. I have the pics but need to do the write up part.

I hate doing write-ups, Chris/Aquafina did an awesome job with his.

 

I hear ya there. I gotta look for Aquafina's write up. Are talking about deburring the synchro sleeves and collars or all the gears sharp edges.

 

Just clean it with rags, cover till diff some thru, put it back together and do a fill-flush than fill you'll be ok. I could understand if dirt and rocks and sand fell on top.

 

Here's what came out of my countershaft with a little brake parts cleaner through the oil orifices.



Strip 'em down and clean 'em up!