My camry ran without differential fluid about 20K miles (after a trans fix two years ago) Now I am hearing a clunk from the left axle area. Can a home mechanic fix or replace the differential? The left gear shaft easily come off the transaxle (no hold on the snap ring)
In other words, over some 20k miles your differential lost substantial fluid. Is that more like it? At any rate, repairing differential carrier bearings and possibly gears is NOT job for a home mechanic.
trans fix
Can a
easily
Hmmm, I thought the V6 models differential and tranny shared fluid... Differentials are not a home mechanic fix. Maybe your just hearing a CV joint on the left side? Your missing a snap ring to hold your axle on? Seek another opinion.
I replaced the crownwheel and carrier bearings with a second-hand assembly in an Austin 1800 (Maxi) once. Didn't measure preload or anything like that. It was OK,...but then again its engine only made 70hp!
Jason
So your point is? Is an Austin 1800 very similar to the FWD automatic transmission in a '91 V6 Camry?
-- - Philip @ Maximum Torque RPM
Yes it was FWD in an alloy transaxle case with the differential assembley on the RHS as viewed from the front of the vehicle....same as the Camry.
To replace the carrier bearings was simple,..but I notice modern transaxles are split at the diff and dont allow the diff to be serviced (pulled down) as a discrete unit,..so on that basis the comparison is not a good one. The
1800 diff had its own split assembley.Jason
Thanks for the various comments. I have this weird feeling that the differential fluid was deliberately missed when I got my tranny fixed two years ago. I have the toyota transaxle manual. If i had the clearence at the back of the unit i could have taken it out and put a new one. Jason, the snap ring is there; why it is not holding. The shaft comes off without any resistance. You think something worn out inside because of the lack of fluid. or the ring worn out. The outer race is also worn out because I noticed a wobble on the axle.
I wish I had the answer but I haven't worked on modern Jap FWD driveshafts, only the Austin and a Passat which used different arrangements,..the VW had an inner CV while the Camry has a 'tripod-joint' running in a trunnion which is the bulbous lookng housing on the inner end. The Passat inner CV OTOH was ring-bolted onto the drive flanges which I think were simply held in place by a central boplt which screwed into a stub shaft protubing from the diff. These stub axles must have used a similar snap-ring arrangement to hold them in. The Austin was different again...
. That snap ring is supposed to hold the inner shaft firmly in the differential,..so I can only assume there's some kind of groove machined in the diffoutput splines to take that ring when it expands after the shaft is pressed in and snaps into place?!
The thing that surprises me is the manual says to prise the inner housing (tripod and trunnion) out during removal to overcome the snap ring,...maybe the mechanic didnt use a new snap ring??
We need an expert here on Camry transaxles!! Help
Sorry couldnt be of more help
Jason
You think something worn out inside because of the
two
of
off
driveshafts,
had
which
was
diff.
them
in
is
ring,...maybe
Further to what I was saying,...all FWD axles need to be able to 'trombone' in some way or in other words,..change their length slightly as the road wheel moves up and down as it encounters bumps in the road surface. If there was no provision for this movement, the whole thing would bash itself to pieces.
On some cars, they use a sliding drive-flange bolted to a solined stub axle which moves in and out of either the diff output splines or more commonly with the BMC minis etc,.. a drive flange which rides on the splines of a stub axles mounted into the diff-splines. Now the Camry uses that sliding tripod thingomajig which runs in and out of a trunnion which is that bulbous looking thing with the inner boot sealing it from dirt etc. So what does all this mean? In short, your Camry has splined stub-axles fixed into the diff's output-splines which are supposed to NOT move. The fact that one is moving, means the tromboning effect is being done at the diff output splines as well as where its supposed to ie the tripod and trunnion inner joint.
In my opinion I dont think this means the end of the game for that drive-shaft, but at the least you need to remove that stub-axle (sometimes referred to as the 'centre-axle'),...examine it for damage at the diff end and if ok, fit a new snap-ring and re-insert. Now if the diff output splines and its machined groove are in reasonable order, the stubaxle should meet someresistance as it goes that last 1/2" or so. My manual says to 'lightly tap it in with a hammer and brass drift until firm resistance is felt, (this i assume is where the snap-ring expands,.snappinto the diff-spine groove,...not the greatest of pictures I admit, as any shocks taken by the carrier bearings can in theory cause their rollers to brinnel their tracks,...but hey that's what they say.
Hope this helps,...Jason
Jason, thanks for the time and the comments. This V6 camry is a (front)two wheel drive. The spline looks fine except there is a burned look. May be because of the lack of fluid. After reading your comments, I am planning to put a new snap ring and may try to put an oil seal also before going to a mechanic.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.