928 5-speed transaxle rebuild (update)
Discussion
I visited the patient in the shop last night and got a chance to look at the transaxle while it was still apart. It is an impressive piece, built more like a gun. Very nice equipment. The mechanic, Dave, said he actually preferred working on the 928 transaxle, said it was a relatively easy and straight forward unit to work on. He said the tough part is getting it out of the car, and from looking around, I could see what he meant.
The entire rear suspension must come out. It was sitting on the floor, while the car was up on a hoist. He said once you get the thing out of the car, the rest is pretty easy. Anyone planning on swapping out a transaxle themselves, for a rebuild replacement, better think again. It would take 4-guys to lift out that rear suspension, not to mention that heavy transaxle.
The "noise" I was getting was traced to the front main bearing. It's a large (4") diameter bearing with ball bearings inside. The innermost raceway had pits. Dave spun it around so I could listen, and sure enough, there was a lot of noise, which was traced to the rough pits inside. I could have driven it a lot longer, but I'm sure glad it's being fixed.
As a side benefit, I get all new synchros heh heh. I looked over the gears, synchros, etc., and it is one IMPRESSIVE piece of equipment. Most of the parts inside were still in perfect condition. That front input bearing is the one that takes all the rabbit starts, and that's the reason first gear sounded so loud, second not so loud, third almost quiet, etc., as the load was transferred down the shaft and away from that front input bearing. By the way, it's a $400 bearing, ouch!
Now for THE BAD NEWS...........not for me, but for anyone owning a new Porsche. Dave said he was just about to crack the case on a new Porsche, and was excited to be able to open one up and work on such a fantastic piece of machinery. The shop foreman yelled "STOP". Come to find out, Porsche won't sell parts to their new transmissions, so if you have a problem, you're **** outa luck, and you have to buy a rebuild exchange unit "from Porsche". (I'm going to post this in another thread for the 911 and Boxster guys).
All said and done, I sure like playing around with the older cars. I can't wait to get the shark back on the road. Yes, I took some photos, but I left them at home. I'll post them in a few days so everyone can see what a 1983 5-speed transaxle looks like on the inside.
Regards, Dogsharks
The entire rear suspension must come out. It was sitting on the floor, while the car was up on a hoist. He said once you get the thing out of the car, the rest is pretty easy. Anyone planning on swapping out a transaxle themselves, for a rebuild replacement, better think again. It would take 4-guys to lift out that rear suspension, not to mention that heavy transaxle.
The "noise" I was getting was traced to the front main bearing. It's a large (4") diameter bearing with ball bearings inside. The innermost raceway had pits. Dave spun it around so I could listen, and sure enough, there was a lot of noise, which was traced to the rough pits inside. I could have driven it a lot longer, but I'm sure glad it's being fixed.
As a side benefit, I get all new synchros heh heh. I looked over the gears, synchros, etc., and it is one IMPRESSIVE piece of equipment. Most of the parts inside were still in perfect condition. That front input bearing is the one that takes all the rabbit starts, and that's the reason first gear sounded so loud, second not so loud, third almost quiet, etc., as the load was transferred down the shaft and away from that front input bearing. By the way, it's a $400 bearing, ouch!
Now for THE BAD NEWS...........not for me, but for anyone owning a new Porsche. Dave said he was just about to crack the case on a new Porsche, and was excited to be able to open one up and work on such a fantastic piece of machinery. The shop foreman yelled "STOP". Come to find out, Porsche won't sell parts to their new transmissions, so if you have a problem, you're **** outa luck, and you have to buy a rebuild exchange unit "from Porsche". (I'm going to post this in another thread for the 911 and Boxster guys).
All said and done, I sure like playing around with the older cars. I can't wait to get the shark back on the road. Yes, I took some photos, but I left them at home. I'll post them in a few days so everyone can see what a 1983 5-speed transaxle looks like on the inside.
Regards, Dogsharks
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