Just makes you feel like an idiot

[South of Sydney]

I posted on here a while ago under "transmission mount" about a noise I had coming from the rear end of my Challenger trying to locate where the problem was etc. Eventually it was decided that it was caused by excess play in the side & pinion gears & I'd better find a new diff. Well in Australia that takes a little time but eventually I found a guy willing to part with an 8 3/4 diff complete unit & the deal was done although due to his
location it took until last weekend to pick up the assembly.

Anyway yesterday at work with the Dodge on the hoist I started to unbolt the 7 1/4 diif in preparation for the changeover & while removing the tail shaft I bumped the pinion snubber with my hand & guess what.........
the bloody thing was hanging on by about 3 threads on one bolt, the other bolt was missing altogether.

That's right folks when I removed it you could plainly see the dramatic witness marks left by the yoke as it hit the underside of the snubber. The one remaining bolt was enough to hold the thing in place when the car was on a smooth level surface, but anytime you hit a bump or turned, the snubber would skew sideways & clatter like a demon on the yoke as it spun around.  DOH!

So now I feel like a dope because 2 mechanics a diff expert & myself all assumed the worst & I checked everything except the pinion snubber I've wasted a couple of months & quite a few dollars on something that could have been solved with a bolt & 5 minutes work.

I now feel like I should give up playing with cars as this is the second time something like this has happened with the Dodge in the last 12 months, in fact the car developed a severe engine oil leak in November last year
which I assumed was the rear main seal becuase it appeared to be coming from the back of the sump & I had had a small weep of oil from there for a while. So I pulled the engine & found the sump seal was crimped & the main seal was ok did a few other maintenance jobs repainted it & refitted it only to find it was still leaking like a sieve. Turns out the oil pressure switch was leaking & oil had run down to the sump leading me to jump to conclusions ,the switch was replaced in 5 minutes & cost $7.

The diff problem occured on the first drive after sorting out the oil leak. so I haven't driven my Challenger since Nov 2007 because of assumptions & a certain amount of laziness on my behalf in taking so long to get around to things. maybe I should take up stamp collecting or something.


Cheers SoS


 

[Moparal]

Hey, we all learn as we go.  You do have an 8 3/4 rearend now and thats a very good upgrade

You are not close to being the first on the oil sending unit.

[LAA66]

 SOme times sheite happens that way. I have found that simply spending a little free time just looking around,,,, checking things here and there,,,,,, poking this and that, can help find small problems that may become major one later.

 Sounds like you are persistant and solved this one. Take some credit and move forward.

[tactransman]

Sounds like you are persistant and solved this one. Take some credit and move forward.

[South of Sydney]

 Thanks guys I'm still kicking myself however.


Cheers SoS

[Chryco Psycho]

every single one of us has learned the hard way on something simple
 Personally when asked how I know so much I tell people it is because I have done everything the wrong way once & I am blessed with a good memory LOL

[jeryst]

Everyone has experiences like yours. Any time I confront something on my car that I know nothing about, I talk about it to as many knowledgeable people I know, and try to get a general consensus. This site is the best place to do that.


Alexander Graham Bell performed over 5000 experiments while trying to invent the phone. His remark was "I now know 5000 things that wont work".

[MrMopar440]

Couldn't agree more with everyone above. I know I have ruined plenty of perfectly good parts with the best of intentions.  But, I just keep pluggin away and eventually it works itself out and you have learned a WHOLE LOT about your car. 

[426HEMI]

It is called the school of hard knocks and all of us have been there and done that so do not feel bad even the best make a mistake every now and then.  Cheer up and enjoy your car again.

[wally426ci]

Don't worry about it. I drove around in my 72 D100 for about 3 months with a knock. Turns out the past owner didnt put the motor mount bolts back in!!  I didnt figure that out until i was pulling the motor.