Tranny questions

[ericb382]

What: S13 Sr tranny

Symptom : Over the past month or two I started hearing some humming from my tranny, only when the clutch is not depressed. When I pushed the clutch down the sound went away.

Probable cause: I dropped the tranny and the input shaft has quite a bit of play and the pilot bushing was pretty worn.

Questions: I pulled the old pilot bushing out and before I installed the new one I slid it over the input shaft to check the fit. It has more play than I expected. Not nearly as much as the old one I removed, but how much play should there be here? I checked the FSM but couldn't find anything... Sorry for the vague "measurements" most my tools are at work so it's hard to try to get all the info before posting when I'm in such a rush...

Also, can I just replace the input shaft (front main shaft) bearing and put the correct thickness snap ring in and call it good or does it more likely need a complete overhaul at this point due to added strain on other bearings, gears, thrust washers, etc.?

Is it even possible to remove the input shaft bearing without a complete overhaul? The FSM shows it being pressed out after everything is apart, is there an alternate method?

[Matt93SE]

I don't have any experience with the internals of the KA and SR trannies, but I have quite a bit of experience with FWD Maxima transmissions, which also liked to eat input shaft bearings.

The problem is if that bearing has gone out and filled the tranny with trash, then your other bearings will fail in short time from contamination. If the bearing had just started to go, then I'd say change it and move on with life.

But yes, the tranny usually has to be pretty much torn down and the bearing pressed off. no other way around it unfortunately.

[Def]

I don't have any experience with the internals of the KA and SR trannies, but I have quite a bit of experience with FWD Maxima transmissions, which also liked to eat input shaft bearings.

The problem is if that bearing has gone out and filled the tranny with trash, then your other bearings will fail in short time from contamination. If the bearing had just started to go, then I'd say change it and move on with life.

But yes, the tranny usually has to be pretty much torn down and the bearing pressed off. no other way around it unfortunately.

What Houston said.


Last I remember on fitting an pilot bearing on an input shaft was a loose slip fit like 0.001-0.003" of space. It slipped on easily and had a slight bit of play on it. I think it's just there to help support the input shaft when it gets deflected on the clutch end.

[hai1206vn]

Too much of a pain to tear it down to get to the bearing. You can pick up any good KA tranny and swap the bell housing.

KA trans are still cheap, even though have decreased a lot in quantity. Tons of kids bang and break **** trying to race honda's, and the guys who know better have gone through a few or have stocked up a few.

[ericb382]

I talked to some of the guys at work yesterday and got an idea on how to pull the bearing. I'm going to weld some all-thread onto it and then try pulling it out with a bearing puller. The countershaft bearing looks perfect so I may have caught it early enough, I was just hearing a slight humming. I'm a little worried about the rear main shaft bearing with the added stress it was likely seeing.

Also not sure if I'll be able to get the new bearing in all the way since it's actually pressed onto the input shaft and not the case. I think I'm just going to wing it and see if I can get it in.

I measured the new pilot bushing and I have about .007 of play. Way better than the .046 I had on the old one, but still a little looser than I was expecting to see.

[Matt93SE]

The proper tools to do it right don't cost that much, and you don't have to worry about welding to oil steel and getting weld spatter in your gears.
pressing the new bearing on isn't that hard either. just use a bearing puller and a press. worst case scenario, take the shaft and new bearing to a mechanic or tranny shop that has a press and pay them $20 to install the thing for you. voila.

[ericb382]

I was trying to do it without tearing the tranny down, just pull the front cover, pop the c-clip off and pull the bearing out. No such luck though... I tried it today, the welds held up, but the bearing case broke as soon as I started trying to pull it out.

I didn't drip or splatter any slag, but I'm just hoping I didn't warp the bell housing at all.