Stuck in Argentina with a tranny problem

[Nicolanders]

Hola!

We are the proud owners of a 1979 Nissan Patrol and we plan to tour the Americas. We are stuck in Tucuman, Argentina, because there are problems with the car.

The engine seems to be in very good shape. It starts like a charm and sounds good (from what little we know of engines). However, we do have two problems, and one of them is huge. While waiting for the work to finish we got some friends in the city. Luckily, one of them knows a mechanic. He had a look at it, and listened to it, and told us the transmission is very bad and wont go much further. We suspected this since the Patrol makes a horrible sound when driving, and it gets worse the faster we go. This video gives you and idea of the problem. After changing up into third gear, we don't touch neither the clutch nor the gears again. The sound is only from giving gas and not. The sound is worst when giving only a little gas to maintain the current speed.

Watch the video: https://vimeo.com/89806677

Our mechanic friend also said the clutch is worn out which is why we have problems changing in to gear some times. Even when at a stop the first gear wont always engage. Changing into it feels like forcing a stick into a moving wheel. It makes a bad sound too.

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Now - we are wondering what to do. And we would be very thankful to get the advice of you guys here on the board. Our friend the mechanic says we really need an entirely new transmission box since repairing the one we have will probably only solve the problem temporarily and/or be more expensive anyway. And in Argentina it is very difficult (impossible) to get the parts. He told us we might be able to go slowly somewhere better for the repairs if we use a very heavy transmission fluid.

We will go to a local transmission "specialist" on Tuesday and he will hopefully be able to tell us more.

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We would love your advice on what you think the problem is, and on how to solve it. Would it be an option to limp to Chile - will it be better there?

What do you think we should do?

Thanks in advance!

[Coyote Patrol]

What I heard in the video sounds like bad bearings. If the noise goes away or gets better in 3rd, then it's probably gear noise, or bad counter shaft bearings. See in 3rd gear your input shaft is locked to the output shaft bypassing the gears, so there isn't much pressure (load) on the gears. If the noise is still there in 3rd, more then likely it's bearings. Bad bearings would be the best scenario in this case It would be cheaper to repair. My opinion, it's bad bearings. Good luck to you, i hope it's not bad gears.

[sleepyzzz]

just remember that the ride was free, and you are still money ahead with your repairs made. good luck on getting your tranny fixed. and before alarms,bells, and whistles go off, please remember that some of our members children are on here also, so try to keep the F bombs from dropping.

[Nicolanders]

What I heard in the video sounds like bad bearings. If the noise goes away or gets better in 3rd, then it's probably gear noise, or bad counter shaft bearings. See in 3rd gear your input shaft is locked to the output shaft bypassing the gears, so there isn't much pressure (load) on the gears. If the noise is still there in 3rd, more then likely it's bearings. Bad bearings would be the best scenario in this case It would be cheaper to repair. My opinion, it's bad bearings. Good luck to you, i hope it's not bad gears.

Thanks a lot! That sounds a lot better than having to replace the entire transmission. What are these bearings called exactly?

The noise gets worse the faster we go, so in 3rd gear it is as bad as it gets. It's difficult to hear much difference from 2nd and 3rd gears, it seems to not matter which gear. When the we give only a a little gas to maintain the current speed, it is the worst with heavy grinding. The loud is quite loud - it is barely possible to hear each other in the car while shouting.

Can we do something to find out if it is indeed the bearings? Or maybe to make it easier for you to hear or see it?


sleepyzzz: Apologies, we were only quoting, but now the f-bomb is removed. We have only paid 1500 USD for the Patrol so it is indeed very cheap. Our frustration comes from having already waited five weeks in this city spending our money on hotels everyday not being able to travel in our Patrol - and now having a huge problem according to a local mechanic. We are hoping for the best.

[Coyote Patrol]

The pic of the tranny you have on the ground shows the input bearing since the retainer is off. There are 5 bearings in the tranny. The input shaft bearing, the input and main shaft pocket bearing, the output shaft bearing, and the front and rear counter shaft bearings. There is also 1 gear bushing. You can see the tranny apart in my transmission teardown/rebuild thread in General Tech. The best way to check these is to remove the tranny and turn the input shaft. If they are bad, you will feel it. Teardown is the only way to know for sure. Noise in every gear is a sign of bad bearings. I would guess the worst one is the input shaft bearing.

[Coyote Patrol]

Tranny in neutral, Patrol not moving, clutch pedal not pushed in, and revving the engine slightly, is it still noisy?

[Nicolanders]

Great, thanks a lot! It really is a great help to be able to point the mechanic in the right direction. And thanks a lot for the very explanatory thread on transmission. We (tried to) read it yesterday. It's comforting to know a bit about what is going on inside these parts that the mechanics talk about. And it makes me want to take the transmission apart myself (probably not a good idea though )

Tranny in neutral, Patrol not moving, clutch pedal not pushed in, and revving the engine slightly, is it still noisy?

No, it sounds great. The engine is pretty much all you hear and it sounds wonderful. I can make another video of it - also one with the clutch pedal pressed / not pressed.

[Coyote Patrol]

Ok, well with tranny in neutral, vehicle not moving. The only bearing in the tranny not moving is the output bearing. So either you need the weight (load) of the vehicle to make the bearings noisy, or its just a bad output bearing, or the transfer case is the culprit. Have someone listen to it and determine for sure the noise is from the tranny and not the transfer case.

[Nicolanders]

Thanks - we will do that.

It seems like the grinding noise is there when there is load on the transmission. In neutral (moving or not) the car is pretty quit and nothing sounds wrong.

In first, second, or third gear it sounds the same to me, although the grinding gets worse the faster we go. The pattern is like this: it is worst when the load is almost on (that point when you only need a little power to maintain speed). Second worst when the load is fully on. Third worst when going downhill using the gear to brake.

Everything happening in 2x4.

[sleepyzzz]

no apologies necessary to me, as i use that and worse all the time. i just don't put it in print i am sure that you have to be going nuts, as you say between the motel bill, eating out all the time, it would surely break me. Maybe you need to tell your mechanic that you will have to move in with him if he doesn't hurry up and get your rig fixed.