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Can a locked front diff be unlocked? EA82T S/R *STUCK DIFFERENTIAL not a locking diff


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THIS IS ABOUT A TRANNY THAT LOCKED UP,NOT A Locking diff....

 

 

That's a single range EA82T with the pushbutton atop the shifter.

 

 

Tranny locked up like you'd see in a cartoon.1/8+ inch of rubber for about 40 ft.

 

Shifter linkage was loose.Had been waiting for AAA,got pissed and tried to take off on my own after hooking the link over without the bushing and lock nut.I was foolish,I know,but I'd driven about 60+ miles already and only had a few miles to go,and was pissed at AAA for making me sit for 1 1/2 hours and watching the sun go lower and lower.

 

So,it seems there may have been two gears selected at once.

 

There's an outside chance that it was so low on gear oil that it may have seized but there wasn't any high pitched squealing beforehand.The level was very low,but I've driven my '78 quite low before too.

 

Car was going forward.I had just shifted from 2nd to 3rd,let the clutch out and maybe got a few feet and BAM!

 

I must have lost the nut and shifter link bushing just down the road from where I pulled over to drain some coffee.Went to put it in reverse and the shifter came loose.That was the begining of it all.

 

Good thing I had that EJ22 in the cargo area well lashed down.Amen!That literally WAS my Christmas present.Also lucky that it locked up on a country backroad in eastern CT and not down here in the rat race.Double AMEN!!More hair on my body now,for sure.Hope it never happens to one of you folks.

 

 

 

OK,I pulled you this far.Now,what do you think about being able to break it loose and it still being good?

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As one who has grenaded many rear ends and a couple of trannys (not this one yet...) If the wheels are jammed, and neither wheel will turn with both the front wheels off the ground, I'd say you have a lot of broken pieces stuck in the diff. I've had good luck with dragging vehicles the opposite direction till the shards pop back out of the gear teeth, draining the fluid and chips, and refilling.

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As one who has grenaded many rear ends and a couple of trannys (not this one yet...) If the wheels are jammed, and neither wheel will turn with both the front wheels off the ground, I'd say you have a lot of broken pieces stuck in the diff. I've had good luck with dragging vehicles the opposite direction till the shards pop back out of the gear teeth, draining the fluid and chips, and refilling.

Agreed with checking this to determine diff/final drive vs gearbox proper. The one time I had a transaxle jam up, the bearings supporting the final drive (it was a transverse layout, so no R&P per se) disintegrated.

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The trans shifts very smoothly through the gears and going into 4wd with the hi/lo selector has gone from being very difficult to engage / disengage to easy fingertip control. I'm very happy with the car now - lots of fun to drive.

 

neat thread kayakertom - has it driven fine since them? no reoccurences?
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well i'm of no help here, but how did the loose shifter cable cause this? i'm trying to understand what happened, since i'm a little weak on manual trans stuff.

 

Not a cable,the hard linkage where there's a large loop at the end,has bushings,nut on the end of the link rod secures it all to the tranny.

 

I really think it's because 2 gears got selected at once.We'll see.We're definitely trying to break it loose first before doing any take down.Naturally,I'll be draining the chips,etc.....but thanks for making sure.

 

You know,it;s these 2 1/2 year projects with interuptions that really suck.I should have been all over the underside making sure everything was snug,etc. I'm guessing I barely toqued the nut on by hand just to get it towed from the old workshop and just neglected to get back under there.I don't know....but we'll find out if she'll break loose soon.Going to be a fun day,I'm sure.:-\

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Drain result:

Mostly a metalic silt at bottom of pan with a few fragments of gear teeth.No real chunk of tooth.Motly the fragments looked like shavings off the gear teeth.Motor oil I used as gearbox lube to get home was quite blackened :-\ .Magnet on the drain plug held mostly silt,a pinch of metal "hairs",and a couple of shavings.Again,no real chuncks.:headbang:

 

Added a full 3qts. of 80W90 and the reading still looked on the low side.Going to make a little run tonight and check it again,probably in the morning.Driver's manual said it should take 2.7 qts. ....hmmmm.

 

Going to do another drain.I just don't feel that great about it although it sounds much better and behaves very well.

 

 

Only problem:

Not catching 5th cleanly or sometimes just not at all and I throw it back into 4th in frustration and fear of it grenading.I managed to get 5th on the long ride home with the motor oil in the gearbox.Seemed to get worse after the drain/refill with the proper gear oil.

 

Could I have slightly bent the shifter fork when I was struggling with it while the shifter was working loose all that time?Or do you think it's more likely the 5th gear synchro worn too much to help?

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If it is the 4wd trans, then its capacity is 3.5 quarts. Might consider making up the difference with auto trans fluid.

 

I'll look again,but I swear my DM said 2.7 for the S/R 5spd.Been wrong once or twice before,so we'll see.;)

 

Yeah,maybe the tranny fluid thing,drive it around,then drain and refill.Didn't use the car tonight.Will make the New Years Eve food run and do it then.

 

Happy New Year all you fellow Suba-cretins! :headbang:

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Yup,you were right,it's 3.5 qts. US

 

So,I did the tranny fluid thing,drove it a bit,drained it.WOW,took a lot more silt with it and ouch! :-\ some crunchy stuff today.Definitely most of a geartooth face is missing,maybe two,more...???

 

5th gear doesn't want to engage,hurting synchro for sure.

 

Otherwise not bad to drive at all.Going to go for another tranny though since there's two in the northeast,one not too far.

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