Strange Problem...Car will not move even when engages in gear....

[broxma]

Just a thought.

Doesn't the VC require a bit of heat to actually lock the system together? I always believed it did, or at the very least that it is not as locked as might be believed. I'd wonder if without front wheel propulsion if the weight of the car and a cold box would be enough friction to overcome the VC initial lock up? Especially if you had the e-brake on and were trying to feel the car pull against the brakes?

Couldn't the axles be locked in the transmission correctly, and the joint at the spindle have popped out? I assume it's got an stock gearbox, so if one of the axles had come uncoupled, at the spindle, the axle would spin fine at the transmission but the wheel wouldn't move. That happened to me while making a U-turn in my G20. The front pass. outer joint popped out from turning the car at full steering lock. The car would not move, but it rev'd normally and the speedo worked fine. I'm thinking something along the lines of when you pull the strut off and the spindle falls, uncouples the outer joint. You put it back on, but the joint doesn't go back in. I know it can actually kick off at an angle, look fairly normal, and spin freely right at that outer joint.

The lesson here is, don't expect to find an LSD front passenger side axle for a 95 Infiniti G20 in Gainesville, Florida in a day. They had to overnight that bastard from who knows where.

/brox

 

[alansupra94]

Overnight parts from Japan?

 

[GVR47111K]

No, NOS!!!!!!

 

[Barnes]

Quoting broxma:
Just a thought.

Doesn't the VC require a bit of heat to actually lock the system together?



I think under the various situations I proposed there would be very little load on the VC. I think this would translate to an effectively 'locked up' VC. It is a thought though.

 

[alansupra94]

So after checking out the car, it seems that the passenger side axle is fubared.

Basically, the axles are all the way in (I suspected I did that at least right), but when I went to go spin the passenger wheel, I noticed that the axle was not spinning, rather the outer boot was spinning /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/uhh.gif. Looks like the CV joint is screwed up. I haven't taken it out since it was already late and didn't want to wake the neighbors up with the air compressor.

Thanks for all the help though.

 

[Barnes]

Aren't you glad you didn't pull the transmission first? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[jmorri15]

Quote:
Aren't you glad you didn't pull the transmission first?


I would still pull the trans to figure out what the problem with the VC is. In my experience it should drive with a single blown axle.

 

[alansupra94]

I am just going to install the axle and see if it drives.

 

[DynastyLCD]

Quoting jmorri15:
Quote:
Aren't you glad you didn't pull the transmission first?


I would still pull the trans to figure out what the problem with the VC is. In my experience it should drive with a single blown axle.



depending on the way the differential is setup.

an open 2-spider center differential, would attempt to spin just the broken axle. a welded differential would still drive with a single blown axle.

 

[alansupra94]

^^^

Thats what I thought.

 

[jmorri15]

our transmissions have two different diffs built in. a center and a front. it doesnt matter how the front diff is set up, the viscous center diff should still send power backwards. I had a front axle break and i was still able to drive the car because it was sending power to the back.

 

[Barnes]

Valid point jmorri15. Which is why in my giant diagnostic post I mentioned that for almost all scenarios he'd have to have two problems. However I am curious about Broxma's statement about VC fluid needing to be hot to work. I'm pretty sure I remember the same thing, but it would just seem to me it would be 'locked up' enough to create the scenario that two things on Alan's car would have to be wrong. However I've never tested the 'lock up' characteristics of a VC at room temperture on a bench. Would be interesting to look into that.

 

[Barnes]

Quoting jmorri15:
Quote:
Aren't you glad you didn't pull the transmission first?


I would still pull the trans to figure out what the problem with the VC is. In my experience it should drive with a single blown axle.



Well, he DID diagnose a problem he migth not have found at all if he went straight to pulling his tranny.

 

[alansupra94]

I mean if the center VC died, would it make a ton of noise? Also, how can I test if the center VC is working?

 

[desant78]

Launch aggressively? Assuming your VC died, a stock vr4 would have enough hp just to spin those front tires effortlessly. If you move instead of spin in place, then I'd say you got nothing to worry about.

This also assumes that you can move as a FWD car with a blown VCU.

 

[DynastyLCD]

Quoting jmorri15:
our transmissions have two different diffs built in. a center and a front. it doesnt matter how the front diff is set up, the viscous center diff should still send power backwards. I had a front axle break and i was still able to drive the car because it was sending power to the back.




this could be due to other factors, such as a center differential failure. i've seen this too, but in both cases, the washer between the top gear in the center differential, and the housing, had basically worn away to nothing resulting in the gear welding itself to the top of the housing. its a fairly common problem. this would get you home even with a broken front axle, as the housing would still spin with the spider gears trying to spin around the stationary top gear. this is what i mean by that - center differential failures

 

[broxma]

Quoting broxma:
Couldn't the axles be locked in the transmission correctly, and the joint at the spindle have popped out? I assume it's got an stock gearbox, so if one of the axles had come uncoupled, at the spindle, the axle would spin fine at the transmission but the wheel wouldn't move.

/brox




I'm here all week.

/brox

 

[alansupra94]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worthy.gif

Just realized you said that Brox.

 

[mitsuturbo]

You don't have to pull the whole transmission out to check out the VC. Just pull the end cover off.

 

[alansupra94]

Just an update.

I took the axle out, removed the old boot/clamps, cleaned up the whole entire cup, put new boot on w/ new grease and clamps, re-installed on the car and the car moves great now!

I will still do the "wet pavement" check to see if the rear wheels are moving BUT I am pretty sure they are fine.

Thanks,
Alan