zane9000 Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 So my car had all bad u-joints in the rear (among other things) that were making some pretty terrible clunking sounds. I got them all replaced and sure enough, the sound was still there (although it was to a much lesser degree). So I slid under the car and twisted the driveshaft around. it has about 1/4 - 1/2 inch of play. all the u-joints are nice and tight, it looks like the play is comming from inside my diff. I looked through my chilton manuel and I couldn not find anything about rebuilding a diff. I am pretty sure that I have an R200 in there, can someone tell me how much work this will be? Or should I just hit the junk yard and pull one out of a dead Z? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 You're not measuring the backlash when you twist the driveshaft. I suppose you might call it frontlash. Anyway, it's a hell of a lot larger amount of movement then when you open the diff and measure the backlash. I wouldn't pull the diff for the movement on the driveshaft. If it were making some horrible grinding noise or something then I think you might have a reason to tear into it. As to rebuilding the R200, I'd just replace instead unless you have a particularly hard to find gear ratio. The clunk could be stub axle splines are loose, front diff mount is dead, mustache bar bushings are dead, control arm bushings dead, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zane9000 Posted August 28, 2006 Author Share Posted August 28, 2006 well, i put a jack under the diff and it didnt move as far as i could tell, so i think the mount is ok. I had thought that the clunk was coming from the play in the driveshaft because when I twisted it around it would make the same clunking noise, only alot quieter. I also tried to turn the axle shafts and I didnt feel any play at all in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COZY Z COLE Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 As Jon said, have you replaced your bushings in the rear and tightened every thing up again, especially replacing the front mount and new mustache bar bushings??? LARRY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zane9000 Posted August 28, 2006 Author Share Posted August 28, 2006 No, I suppose I will over the weekend. I was just thinking that if it was the diff it would be alot easier to start there, but if ya'll really dont think that the driveshaft play is an issue ill let it go for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paz8 Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 You said your pretty sure it's a R200, If it's a R180 that drive shaft play can be adjusted out. Look at the differental were the drive axels go in, are there five bolts here in a star shape, if so it's a R180 rear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 You said your pretty sure it's a R200, If it's a R180 that drive shaft play can be adjusted out. Look at the differental were the drive axels go in, are there five bolts here in a star shape, if so it's a R180 rear. How exactly does that work? Is there something different about the R180? On all the diffs I've put together (probably about 10) the driveshaft is directly connected to the pinion. Any reduction in play means that the pinion and ring gear need to move closer together. Closer together means changing the backlash or the pinion depth, but you can't just change that to get rid of the play in the driveshaft, at least on the diffs that I've put together anyway. The pattern has to be centered on the ring gear teeth (pinion depth) and the backlash has to be correct or the thing will chew itself to pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paz8 Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Remove the drive shaft and tighten the pinion nut slightly, will remove some of the "play" in the rear. I know this is not the proper way to do this but it will buy some time until the rear is repaired or replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Remove the drive shaft and tighten the pinion nut slightly, will remove some of the "play" in the rear. I know this is not the proper way to do this but it will buy some time until the rear is repaired or replaced. Don't do this. It won't work on a R180 since it has a solid spacer. Tightening the nut farther won't do anything at all, until you strip the threads off the pinion. If the R180 had a crush sleeve, and it DOESN'T, then tightening the pinion nut more would increase the amount of pressure on the pinion bearings, but pinion depth on the R180 and R200 is set by means of shims behind the bearings pressed onto the pinion head, so you'd have to disassemble the diff and pull the bearing off, put more shims in, reinstall the bearing, then the gears would not mesh correctly even if you reset the backlash and all the rest. Paz8, you might want to read the FSM and become familiar with the diff. I think you somehow got a bit confused there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paz8 Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 As I stated in my post this is not the correct way to do this, but it works. I guess it takes up the wear in the pinion bearing and restores the preload on the bearing, I'm talking about a rear with lots of miles on it. I am not an expert, but I did say to tighten the pinion nut SLIGHTLY. If I was building or racing a Z car I would do it the right way. I don't want to ruffle any feathers here but I do know what has worked for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 No it doesn't. If you don't change the shims between the bearings the pinion preload won't increase by tightening the nut. If you don't change the shims under the pinion head then the pinion depth won't change by tightening the nut. I think if anything you've experience the placebo effect. My feathers aren't ruffled either, I just want to make sure we're not giving out inaccurate information here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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