Excessive play in output shafts

[DMC3165]

Hi all. Recently I started a thread about a bad output seal. This seal had just been replaced about 10,000 miles ago. At the time I also had Rob Grady install a new drive flange that had a larger sleeve over it to hold tighter against the seal. From day one it leaked slightly. By today it was totally shot spitting oil everywhere while I drove. I was going to replace the seal myself but I decided to let Grady look at the car because the play in the output shafts was really bad in my opinion but I had nothing to reference it to.

Turns out I was right (unfortunately). My output shafts were moving so much that the leaking seal replaced last year actually wore a burr right into the new drive flange. The flange was salvageable. But if we just replaced the seal it would only happen again. So against his better judgement Rob Grady tightened up on the Crown nut by one notch. Which may or may not help.

One thing about this, the seal that keeps giving me the trouble is the one on the driver's side where the crown nut is located. The passenger side seal so far is not leaking but does have a lot of play as well. If tightening the crown nut doesn't help that means my problem is in the spider gear. Aside from the leaky seal the transmission has no issues whatsoever.

So what would be the best way of rectifying this. Rebuild my existing unit? Replace it with a DMCH shelf unit? Look for a used one somewhere? Or just replace the seal every 10,000 miles?

Any suggestions would be helpful. I'm trying to weigh costs vs long term reliability.

[jmettee]

Mine *HAD* excessive play in the drive flanges. I have linked the video I made of it from over a year ago (sorry, couldn't find anything to prop the camera on for a more stable video). Against some recommendation, & talking to some experience people in the community, I tightened the adjustment nut farther to take out a lot of the slop. There is still some wobble, but not nearly as much. So far, no noise or any concerns after more than 6000 miles including a strenuous trip to Lexington for DCS 2010 (>1200 miles of highway speeds).

History: I know at least one PO had the transmission off the car for clutch replacement, but don't know what else may have been done. Many report that the adjustment nut has 8.5 turns to the setpoint. Right after making this video, I took the nut off & counted only 7.5 turns. I re-installed to 8-1/8 turns & took out quite a bit of the movement. So far, so good....knock on wood.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8AL0sSg7Ic

[DMCMW Dave]

If that nut was too loose you should also have noticed more driveline slop that usual, if too tight the gears will probably whine, although that might be hard to hear on a DeLorean. That would sound like a whining noise that increases is pitch as you speed up, and it would not change in different gears although it would go quiet with the clutch disengaged.

[DMC3165]

Justin,

With all the play you had in your axle stubs was your seal(s) leaking? I'd be content to leave it alone if it didn't keep eating up seals.


Aside from the seal problem, everything seems fine with it. So I don't know if I should have the trans rebuit ( if the parts are even available) or consider replacing the unit. Obviously this may get pricey so I may wait until the spring before I do anything.

One thing Grady mentioned yesterday is he has a used "Legend" test transmission on the floor. The only difference is it has the 11 spline input shaft. So either that has to be changed or I'd have to locate a different clutch. But we didn't get far enough into it to discuss how much he'd want for it.

I'd really much rather solve the problem of the excess play and the leaky seal in my current trans but it seems the only way to do that is to open up the unit which may get me involved in a timely and exspensive rebuild.

[jmettee]

Mine never had any odd noise or whine either before I tightened or now. The way I look at it....when loose, it would likely stress the differential & gear teeth. If too tight, it will stress the bearings on the differential, but the teeth should mesh as expected & not cause undue wear.

I'll be driving mine until I hear something that suggest something is going bad. I figure I have 6K on it so far without issue, so something will start making warning noise before failure. Of course if I come to need a clutch or some other reason for removing the trans, I'll crack it open & inspect as well as adjust per the manual.

[DMC3165]

Mine never had any odd noise or whine either before I tightened or now. The way I look at it....when loose, it would likely stress the differential & gear teeth. If too tight, it will stress the bearings on the differential, but the teeth should mesh as expected & not cause undue wear.

I'll be driving mine until I hear something that suggest something is going bad. I figure I have 6K on it so far without issue, so something will start making warning noise before failure. Of course if I come to need a clutch or some other reason for removing the trans, I'll crack it open & inspect as well as adjust per the manual.

I don't have any odd noises either but I have persistent seal leaks. That's the biggest problem with it.

[David T]

Doing the adjustment is not that big a deal especially if the transmission is out already. If the adjustment is too loose you will never fix the leak, with all of the play the seal will not last. Too loose is bad and too tight is bad and the parts are expensive. Removing the transmission is not that bad a job and while it's apart you can replace the roll pins. The downside to removing the transmission is that you should replace the clutch and that costs some $$$. If everything else looks good, then outside of some seals, gaskets and oil, the big deal is the labor (besides the clutch).
David Teitelbaum