Driveshaft flange on pinion gear question
06-09-09, 11:10 AM
#1
Driveshaft flange on pinion gear question
The flange that bolts to the pinion gear on the front side of the rear end housing (The driveshaft bolts to it) , the bolts go through it and there is another big piece right behind it that has the cutouts or spaces that allow you to insert the bolts for the driveshaft, well that piece has moved so now the bolts cant come out, it made it hard to remove the driveshaft but I got it off. So I need to know if this is a problem or if something broke or if it just spun a little and is not a problem? I took the diff. off cause the diff where the splines are for the left axle broke, cracked in two places and the diff. spun around the axle. So now I ordered a T2 diff. and a new axle from napa for only $63. Please let me know what you think. Thanks
06-09-09, 11:37 AM
#2
The piece you are referring to is the companion flange. As long as you didn't loosen the pinion nut (which you have no reason to unless you are swapping the ring and pinion) you can just rotate the diff by the flange. You might want to pop the cover off first and remove the broken lsd unit first. It would also be a good idea to upgrade the axles as they will likely be the next thing to break.
06-09-09, 11:47 AM
#3
Thanks for your reply. I already removed the lsd and have not loosened the pinion nut. I would like to be able to get the flanges lined back up to make it easier to install the driveshaft, I hit it with a hammer and it didnt move. Can I get it to line back up somehow? thanks
06-09-09, 12:37 PM
#5
The bolts are stuck in the flange cause the bolt holes dont line up with the cut out areas behind it, so I cant remove the bolts which made it hard to remove the driveshaft cause i had to pull the driveshaft towards the front of the car to pull it off the bolts in the flange and it wouldnt go forward enough until i loosened up the power plant frame. So I just wanted to know if that is a problem other than the problem of it making it harder to remove and install the driveshaft. The pinion gear rotates fine, but I was trying to line the flanges back up so I can remove the bolts. Understand? thanks
06-09-09, 01:56 PM
#7
I am talking about the piece that is inbetween the flange on the pinion gear and the diff housing, it has 4 open spaces that allow access and removal to the 4 bolts that bolt the driveshaft to the flang that is bolted onto the pinion gear. That piece in the middle with the 4 open spaces moved, so now the open spaces are not lined up with the bolts so now the bolts cannot be removed from the flange on the pinion gear. So the piece in the middle must have spun/rotated when I launched the car and/or when the diff broke. I just had the driveshaft off a few weeks ago when I put in a new clutch and some bearings in the tranny, and the pieces on the pinion gear were lined up properly allowing me to remove the driveshaft bolts. thanks
Trending Topics
06-10-09, 12:24 AM
#10
See the attached picture and you will see what I am talking about and what the problem is. The counterweight has moved, I read that it is pressed on, not sure how or what it is pressed onto, but can't I just try to move it back to where it should be? Any idea why this would have moved?, assuming it moved when the diff. broke. thanks.
06-10-09, 12:36 AM
#11
Here is some more pics of the damage. First picture shows a bunch of broken pieces found in the housing, they look like they used to be a shim of some sort, and must have came from the center of the LSD cause I don't see anything else broken, besides for the cracks in the diff. splines shown in the 2nd picture.
06-10-09, 05:52 AM
#12
See the attached picture and you will see what I am talking about and what the problem is. The counterweight has moved, I read that it is pressed on, not sure how or what it is pressed onto, but can't I just try to move it back to where it should be? Any idea why this would have moved?, assuming it moved when the diff. broke. thanks.
I'll say it again....yep it's bent AND broken. Search out a good used one on the parts forum.
LAter
06-10-09, 12:29 PM
#13
See the link below for a video showing how I was just able to move the counterweight back into the correct position where it should be. I was able to move it using a big crescent wrench and the flange in my vice, see video. Play the video 3 times to see it good cause the first two times I played it, it kept stopping, so keep refreshing the page and watching it until you can see it play through, sorry it's a low quality cell phone video. Also see the picture attached, after it moved. When moving it, it would move back in forth like it was on a rubber bushing or something that allows it to flex back and forth, but with much force I was able to get it to move and then stay in it's new position, and now it can still sway back and forth some, I assume this is normal and supposed to be able to flex back and forth some. And nothing appears broken or bent so it seems it is just fine. What do you think? thanks.
http://cztreadmills.com/RX7/RX7-comp...ange-video.mov
http://cztreadmills.com/RX7/RX7-comp...ange-video.mov
06-10-09, 01:13 PM
#14
Since I had to remove the companion flange, can i just put it back on and torque the pinion nut back down, would it be okay not replacing the crush collar? I was thinking it would be okay to reuse the crush collar as long as I am careful and don't over tighten the nut.
06-10-09, 04:31 PM
#16
I assume you are not being serious. Can you please explain why or how it is broken, cause it seems fine to me, I know I could be wrong but I dont see why it wouldnt be okay. And it takes alot of force for me to move that counterweight/dampner so thats why I am thinking it could be okay and not need to be replaced. Thanks
06-10-09, 05:57 PM
#17
Something is not right. Those two flanges should not spin independently. You're going to need to find what is broken. The crush collar cannot be re-used. I would take it to a trans shop at this point if you are not familiar with what is going on. Did you loosen the pinion nut prior to this happening?
06-10-09, 06:05 PM
#18
should that counterweight dampner not move at all or is it supposed be able to move back and forth a little bit like it does in my video? It feels normal and doesnt feel broken. I have done a couple other rear ends and would like to do this one myself and save the money. Thanks
06-10-09, 08:23 PM
#19
No the damper should not move independently of the companion flange. Something is off, which may explain why the diff broke.Get a new piece from Mazda and a new crush collar.The procedure is in the fsm. You're going to need a dial indicator and some kind of adapter to hold it to the diff. You will also need to buy or make some kind of tool to hold the companion flange while you torque the pinion nut to spec. Summit racing sells an inexpensive diff setup kit that works ok, but you will have to play around with it to get it to work right.
06-10-09, 08:49 PM
#20
Thanks for the info. Im sure the diff broke cause its the stock diff which broke while lunching it at the drag strip with only ten psi in the Et street tires which did not even spin and because i dropped the clutch too fast and so the diff just broke, and it was about time it broke after a couple years of lots of quick launches and the car is pretty fast and its alittle unusual it lasted this long. I can move the damper from side to side only a small amount and only with a lot of force pulling it, and it feels springy and it feels like its doing what it is designed to do, and I dont mean it moves and stays there, it moves and then goes back, this is what is shown in the video, like its made to do this to absorb some drive train vibrations and noise which I believe is the whole purpose of the damper. And with some extra force I was able to move it further so that it would be back in the original position lined up with the driveshaft bolts. It doesnt move with just my hands, although I can feel it almost moving a very small amount if i push the damper with my thumbs. Can one of you do this on yours and verify what I am saying. Perhaps you guys have just never realized that it will twist a very small amount with some force. And if the damper is just pressed on then it should be not completely impossible to get the damper to actually spin some as I was able to get it to spin so that it rests back in the position where it should be, lined up to allow the bolts to be removed, as shown in my last picture above. thanks
06-10-09, 11:31 PM
#21
Something is not right. Those two flanges should not spin independently. You're going to need to find what is broken. The crush collar cannot be re-used. I would take it to a trans shop at this point if you are not familiar with what is going on. Did you loosen the pinion nut prior to this happening?
I wanted to also ask about a whining noise my rearend has had since it had different gears put in it last year. I just had my stock 4.10 gears put back in few months ago, and I had this done at a shop, and I only made 4 runs down the track since then, and not many miles. Last year I had 4.77 gears and all new bearings put in, by that same shop, and I swear the rear end was much louder than I thought it should be after this was done, ever since then it has been loud with like a constant whining noise, so I have always thought the person who set it up didn't do a perfect job, but I didn't have any problems so I just lived with the loud noise, but I don't think that is why the diff. just broke, because I made lots of passes down the track since that shop worked on the rear end, and never had any problems with it, until I wore out my clutch and replaced it and then the last couple times at the track I was trying to let out the clutch faster and not let it slip as much trying not to wear out the clutch too fast, and that's when it broke when I didn't let the clutch slip like I always have for the past few years when I never broke anything, only wore out clutches.
Before I removed the LSD diff. a couple days ago, the gears did feel like they mesh together good, and the ring and pinion and all the bearings are still in good shape. But the pinion gear felt like it could be too tight, if I turned it with my hand it felt like the bearings were just barely binding up, like the pinion gear nut was maybe too tight. And it felt the same after removing the LSD. Also if I didn't turn the pinion gear for a few seconds, it was almost hard to get it to start rotating again, but once it got going it wasn't as hard to turn, but it was hard to get it started. Now with the pinion nut removed, it spins very nice and freely with no resistant, and the pinion gear has not really moved out at all and I was lightly trying to hit it out with my hand and it didn't budge, it's not loose in there. So do you think the nut was tightened too much or what?, cause the pinion gear was a little difficult to spin, and could that have caused the whining noise? Thank you for your time and help.
06-11-09, 12:30 AM
#22
Page M25 shows the instructions for replacing the pinion seal, which include removing the pinion nut, the companion flange and replacing the seal, and then torquing the nut, it doesn't say to replace the crush collar. This is like what I did, cause I didn't remove the whole pinion gear, just the flange, so why wouldn't the manual say we have to replace the crush collar. AND then it has the instructions for measuring the pinion preload, again having the nut torqued down and then removed. So I'm just wondering why exactly I should take it all apart to replace the crush collar and why it can't just be simply bolted back together(following the manual instructions).
06-11-09, 08:43 AM
#23
I found this thread where I bunch of guys talk about how you don't need to replace the crush collar if you just remove the companion flange. http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/tr...laced-but.html
