engine and drivetrain Not Feeling So Great About This 5 Speed Instal...

[evanb]

Got my 5 speed in today, but it seems like it's leaning way too much. I also think the engine must be rotated slightly, throwing the direction of the tranny off to the left.

The pictures are a little hard to tell by, but how does this look to everyone?

[rover1]

how streight is the guibo?

[evanb]

I haven't attached it yet. Probably give it a shot tomorrow. It looked like it would be flush. My concern is the elbow in the middle of the drive shaft and the downward angle of the tranny.

It's hard to get a good picture of it...

[M3M3]

don't worry about it.  mine is the same way.  tranny ended up slammed against left side of tunnel and even raised up as far as it will go in the back, it still results in a downward angle for the DS.  my center bearing is down and off to one side to get quibo square.  kink in u-joint in middle.  not a problem...that is what u-joints are for.  mine has been spin tested to well over design limits for a 2002 driveshaft with zero issues.  (s14, 5 spd  and 4.44 diff run up to over 120mph on track for many miles).

 

just make sure the engine is sitting all the way down in its mounts and the guibo is square to driveshaft.  that is the critical element of DS alignment.

Edited November 14, 2013 by mlytle

[peterschop]

How are your motor mounts? Did you dry run fit the transmission before attaching the rear mounting brackets?

Edited November 14, 2013 by peterschop

[allbim]

I'm having a hard time telling what i'm looking at. Shine the light from the same direction as the camera, or use the flash built into your camera. You should always try to avoid a light shining directly into the camera. 

[Harv]

Is the shifter in the center of the hole? Who's kit?

I'm just interested.

John

Edited November 14, 2013 by Harv

[Hans]

Hard to see in there, but I believe engine and trans (4 or 5 speed) should sit on the centerline (side to side). That could be affected by the location of the rear trans mount (assuming engine mounts are correctly installed). Did you make a new trans mount bracket? Did you attach new ears to the tunnel to hold bracket? Is the rear trans mount bent to one side?

 

It sure looks like someone has pruned one side of the center bearing bracket, which moves drive shaft to Pass side. Why?

[evanb]

Ok I hooked it up tonight got some better shots. It's seems that it's ok, the only thing giving me concern is that it takes a little force to push the center bearing up into place, which pushes the trans and engine forward. It only pushes it forward 1 or 2 mm though, so it seems ok. I might be tricking myself, but I swear I see some flex in the guibo however, which worries me.

The shifter hole sits off to right ever so slightly, and is also a mm or two lower on the right than left, which says to me that everything is slightly rolled to the right. I'm using the Ireland short shift kit and shift plate, as well as their rear mount.

Also while everyone's here, I'm befuddled by the speedo cable to tranny install. Do I just shove the cable into the hole and tighten that screw? How far in should it go? Also what lube is recommended for the ball on the shift lever?

Thanks again everyone.

[mike472]

Loosen the four bolts that hold the diff from the bottom. It should move back a little and relieve the pressure on your guibo. After you do that get one lobe of the driveshaft and trans flange at 12 o'clock and the other at 6 o'clock and take note of the gap at each position. Shim center bearing down with washers until the gap is even at top and bottom of guibo. Don't want that guibo flexing as the driveshaft turns.

[Hans]

On the speedo front, you may need to wiggle the cable tip around a bit to get it fully seated. Gently tighten bolt - cable should not pull out if its seated and bolt fits into groove.

Still puzzled about your center bearing ears - why did one side get cut? Unless it was to allow enough slack to get a too-long drive shaft to fit. I'd try moving the diff back and see if that gets any more slack. You may want to fabricate another bracket for the bearing that gets it into the middle.

[jimk]

Center bearing ears are not equal length out of the box.

[AceAndrew]

Center bearing ears are not equal length out of the box.

 

and the differential input is offset, certainly not "center line"

 

[peterschop]

How did you determine where to put your transmission bracket? Did you line up the transmission and driveshaft before attaching the bracket? If your engine is rotated, something don't sound right.

 

The thehackmechanic posted an entry in his blog today that maybe helpful.

 

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/blog/67/entry-151-thoughts-on-the-rear-support-bracket-and-the-driveshaft/

[Hans]

I stand corrected on center bearing ear lengths. Went out to the garage to examine my collection and yes, the bearing is not in the center of the bracket, but none of mine are quite as obvious as the one in the picture, and I'd never motived the driveshaft offset that much relative to the mounting ears. So disregard my thoughts on relocating.