I recently acquired a very clean 93 sc300 and have had about everything I found to be sub-par fixed on the car. After last weeks final fix (this included carrier bearing replacement) the car has a new noise.

When accelerating from a stop there is what feels like contact in the tunnel (directly under the armrest) and once the car is moving the noise and contact are non-existent. The car went back to the shop and so far they have:

1) removed and rotated the drive shaft (even though it was marked upon removal) as a troubleshooting method. Drove the car and noise and contact still there.

2) flush tranny and diff (both were done 1 week ago as a complete service). Will drive car tomorrow and update me then.

3) They are also taking the driveshaft to a specialty shop to see if the balance is correct and will update on that as well.

Is it possible that the LSD has weakened and that the clutches are giving and that is what I feel once the initial torque of accelerating from a stop is applied? Or could it be that the driveshaft is making contact with something in the tunnel?

Any thoughts are appreciated in advance.

 

azsc300,
Did you put in a supra or aftermarket LSD? Stock SC300 does not come with one. By "carrier bearing" I assume you mean the differential carrier bearing? Is it seated properly? With the driveshaft removed, is there any wobble when you spin the U-joint on the diff side?

Regards

 

Nick T

Sorry for the confusion I do not have the LSD (its a habit writing that as my other cars all have LSD in them, and if the sc continues to exhibit problems I will put the Supra diff in it). I agree that the Diff on the sc300 is an open one. By carrier bearing I do believe I mean the diff carrier bearing (I have had the car a week and am not familiar with its workings just yet). As for the wobble I have not had the shop check this but assumed (perhaps wrongly) that this would all be part of the trouble shooting process. I will pick up the car today and drive it again to see what the progress has been. The shop is sticking by the fact that it is the diff which I can't buy into. Reason being that there was no diff problem prior to my bringing it in for the bearing replacement (even after the last service when diff was flushed). They mentioned that they changed the fluid again and added what I think equates to friction modifier and that there is no "noise" but that you can still "feel" it. I have to be honest and say that I don't agree with the diagnosis but until I can drive the car again I am not in a position to say if it's the diff or the bearing.

thanks for the input
MG

 

azsc300,
By your own words, it seems the problem became apparent AFTER you had the bearing replaced. I would venture to guess they either failed to seat the bearing properly or failed to align the gears ( if it was removed for bearing replacement) leading to either an imbalance or off kilter situation causing the noise.

No noise, but you can still feel it might mean the bearing has seated or worn out so is no longer binding, causing the noise BUT since you still feel the imbalance, that new bearing maybe shot or has worn something ELSE beyond service specs.


Luck

 

thanks for info I think we got the problem worked out. no noise and no sliping!! Car is back to its smooth self.

 

Good to hear. What was the problem?

 

I think it was a mount problem. All has been replaced and the diff flushed twice.