Cascade Crew

Xophertony · Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 6:21 pm Post subject: I... i think it's hosed.

i got the new flywheel and clutch installed, put the tranny in, fillid it with fluid, installed the driveline and got the car on the ground in just a little over 3 hrs. i started it up and yay, the clutch works...

the car however vibrates violently, just as it did before. with the clutch in or out, in gear or out. i have a theory:

the rear main cap bearing is toast. and here is why. the clutch had been in the car around 9K miles. chattering pretty bad the entire time (found out why that was happening too). i also noticed that the original pilot bushing was elongated... alot. i think all the chatter was causing the input shaft and crank to wobble; elongating the bushing and putting undue stress on the rear main bearing, causing it to ultimately fail. and when it failed it caused a sudden increase in crank walk, causing a sudden increase in vibration and chatter, which made my clutch brake.

now this sucks, but these things happen right.. it's not my fault right... WRONG. i found out something interesting from a more experienced mechanic then myself. if you are installing a tranny and can't get the input shaft in the pilot bushing and you allow the transmission to hang (as in you take a rest and leave the input shaft in the clutch) you can bend the clutch. well, i was probably wrestling with that thing for a total of four hours the last time i did the clutch. and i took a lot of little breaks... so that excessive clutch chatter i had... yeah, that was probably my fault..

so to sum up, due to my ineptitude and ignorance of proper mechanical technique, i broke my engine. at least that is my theory.

even if i am right (i am usualy not about these things) this is not a huge deal right? just pull the engine, drop the pan, replace the mean bearings and go... well that costs money.. and takes time, and a place to work on the car. money i have, i am awfully short on the rest of those things. and when it comes down to it, it's a 2.8 fbody. is it realy worth the hassle?

this brings me to some questions:
is there any way to figure out what the hell is wrong with thing without pulling the engine? if i have to pull that 2.8 out, it's not going back in. i'll ether get a genI/II/III SBC or get a 3.4. there is little to no point in putting the 2.8 back in. these things belong in smaller cars, like sunbirds, cavaliers and chevettes. Very Happy

anyway, any advice or storys of how you have effed' up really bad on a car and cost yourself a bunch of time and money would be appreciated... feeling a little depressed right now... Crying or Very sad

and i was all excited too, while i had the driveline out i tightened up the ebrake cable so the car would be able to slide around and do 180*s and 360*s again... now i can't do any of that fun shizzle. (i did a little 90* ebrake slide on my dads street while testdriving... man that shizzle is fun. i love my little car...) Very Happy

now i'm happy again...

aww.. but it's broken, now i'm sad. Sad

tell me your screw up stories and cheer me up...

iansane · Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 7:53 pm Post subject:

I found out the other day that my increasing effort to shift my trans wasn't caused by a broken/leaking slave cylinder or air in the lines but the fact that I only have two bolts left holding the trans to the bellhousing. So everytime I hit the clutch pedal it pushed the trans away from the motor. Yeah. Make ya feel any better?

Xophertony · Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 11:02 pm Post subject:

a little... but that is not realy your fault...

91RSVert · Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 4:54 am Post subject:

I kpet having this ignition problem with my old s10. I replaced I swear everything and kept having the same problem. So being a show truck I figured out something neat to replace it with. In the process of pulling the old motor I found a wire to the dizzy was pinched between the dizzy hold down and block and shorting out. Embarassed

So all that cost me a motor swap. But in the end, I had something neat and something I made look all stock and got so many complements... and the looks of ppls faces at car shows going Shocked

Xophertony · Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 9:06 am Post subject:

i did that same thing once. got the dizzy replaced for free though. i pinched one of the ign module wires.

Twilightoptics · Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 9:08 am Post subject:

I vote put a 3.4 in and leave the 2.8 to The chevette project as a spare!

It's hard to say. If you did somehow toast a bearing, you toasted ALL your bearing. That metal has to go somewhere eh?

Quasi-Traction · Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 10:43 am Post subject:

I vote put a 4.3 in it and carburate it!
Just kidding.

That sucks dude. You might just want to sell the car as it is and get yourself a small pickup or something. You'll probably need one for your work anyways.

Xophertony · Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 11:43 am Post subject:

well, i have to do a bunch of diagnosis before i decide on anything. this vibration feels real different from a miss, but i'll make the rounds and pull plug wires anyway.

as far as needing a pickup, with the seats out my firebird does a real fantastic job of holding my tools, spares kit (5 boxes) and four sights worth of equipment (usualy i can condense down to two boxes a sight). so i should be fine with an fbody for this. plus if i am ever leaving the portland area i get a rental car. i did longview area last week, and that was as far as they have sent me with my own car.

Sellmanb · Member Joined: 30 Nov 2004 Posts: 727 Location: Tigard, OR

Tony, I couldnt see a rear main bearing toasting a clutch. You can check your crankshaft thrust play if you really think the crank took out your clutch though I suppose.

Couple things though. Is this engine speed related? If you take the belt off and run the motor, is it still there? Have you checked all your mounts? When was the last time you took a compression test? Fuel pressure?

Xophertony · Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 4:44 pm Post subject:

i have never actualy done a compression test. Embarassed

i'll try that belt thing.

i'll take a look at the motor mounts.

fuel pressure was last checked a few months ago, i'll hook up the tester. fuel pump has about 30K on it now, it was a genuine GM replacement.

thanks for the tips bobby. also i thought the clutch toasted the bearing,not the other way around... but it does sound kinda silly. man i hope i don't have to pull the trans again, sure it's easy, but it gets old...

Quasi-Traction · Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 5:00 pm Post subject:

I'm sort of with bobby, where I think this is a stupid thing like a improperly balanced flywheel and clutch, pilot bushing not sitting flush, or the input bearing of the trans being fubar.

keep us posted tony.

Twilightoptics · Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:05 pm Post subject:

Drive it up here some time and we'll do a diagnosis.

rjmcgee · The Hammer Joined: 08 Jan 2004 Posts: 2328

I have a V6 T5 here if you need to try a differant one. Your welcome to barrow it.

Demon · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 8:53 pm Post subject:

Twilightoptics · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:13 pm Post subject:

Hmmm I am certainly not an expert on the fact.... but I say nay on the hole tranny unsupport thing. The input shaft is WAY big and WAY hard to be bent by 70lbs of leverage. It's hardened to the point of breakage before real bending.

Now stranger things happen so it's possible.... but I think your problem lies elsewhere.

If you wanna to try different shafts... come get one from me. It's 4 bolts and some vaseline.

rjmcgee · The Hammer Joined: 08 Jan 2004 Posts: 2328

Xophertony · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:41 pm Post subject:

rodney is funny...

thanks for the offer on the trans by the way, and the input shaft paul.. if i have to pull the trans again i might swap that out just for kicks. as far as driving it up there.. it can't safley exceed 20MPH in it's present condition, i would be afraid of throwing my flywheel through my legs, and as much as i like to drive, i like to walk too.

i may not get any wrench time again until friday, but i'll keep you all up to date.

Schultzy89GTA · Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:08 am Post subject:

Dewey316 · Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:16 am Post subject:

Sellmanb · Member Joined: 30 Nov 2004 Posts: 727 Location: Tigard, OR