Lowering Accord = Death of 2 Transmissions... *Pics to prove*

[JFreddy]

Alright, I finally have pictures of my second transmission to get fubarred from cruisin in the accord after its been lowered. Some of you hopefully have all seen the previous thread I made containing two different theories about why this is happening so then you'll know whats goin on, basically my axles are hitting the diff pin and taking chunks outta it, I'll let the pics speak for themselves (oh ya and then it starts to rip through the casing and thats where it leaks out tranny oil.:help: lol. Now if anyone can help in figuring out why this happens to only my accord and how i can prevent this next tranny from doin it... it would be greatly appreciated (yes the car is raised again its only lowered one inch right now cas im too scared to drive wit it any lower.)

[loko84hb]

pic is broken...

[JFreddy]

how do i fix it? im tryin to do that right now?

[JFreddy]

http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/4434/accord060320ma.jpg

[JFreddy]

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/9076/accord060311rk.jpghttp://img398.imageshack.us/img398/3443/accord060309tt.jpg
http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/4886/accord060292km.jpghttp://img383.imageshack.us/img383/5112/accord060284mk.jpg
http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/413/accord060278vl.jpg

[JFreddy]

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/9198/accord060263ub.jpg
http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/7760/accord060251gj.jpg
http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/8210/accord060249gi.jpg
http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/1093/accord060235oc.jpg

Thats all I got for now, and the first tranny was worse there was about an inch diameter hole where this one started to maek a hole... so yeah.... any ideas on how to make this stop?:rant:

[Hash_man_Se_i]

Whoa thats mangled bad.... I remember someone saying something about your engine mounts... did you check em?

[AccordEpicenter]

HOLY DIFF PIN. Are your diff bearings shot as well? Or is it just the diff pin?

[shepherd79]

i don't know, but i know for the fact that many people on this board have their cars lowered and never had this kind of problem. I had my car lowered 1.7" all the way around and my tranny is good.
You should check the engine mounts and make sure they are OK.

[Gerroni]

ouch.... check ur mounts i heard the same things. factory mounts go bad after 100k or something like that.

[Vanilla Sky]

i still stand by what i've said before, and that it's the motor mounts.

[JFreddy]

Ok, so what do u mean by check them...? how do I know if they are really bad as opposed to just old? and I dont know about the bearings but ya this has happened to two transmissions... this one is actually the better one... well i took it out before more damage was done... and I'm still taking it apart so later on I might have more pics of all the parts taken out.

P.S. The techs at work keep saying its cas u lowered ur damn honda... blah blah blah... but the thing that I cant grasp is y its only happened to mine.... argh... lol. Once I figure out how to check my mounts I'll do it, or should I just do the 3M window welder trick to stiffen them up?

[Vanilla Sky]

window weld is ok. i prefer to simply install new OEM replacement mounts. you don't have enough power to warrant harder mounts. all you'll get is a lot of annoying-assed vibrations that you'll kill yourself over.

grab a prybar and see if you can move your engine around. if you can, you have at least one bad mount. get up under the car and inspect the mounts as best as you can visually. feel them a bit. you certainly can feel cracks in them, and especially the oil leaking from the front mount.

i'm leaning toward the rear mount or the side mount. the front mount, the trans mount, and the torque strut have less effect on the trans position than the rear and side mounts.

[3gn86lxi]

Geeeeeezzzzzz.........
I wouldn't do anything to "stiffen" the mounts, just REPLACE them!!! Next tranny you have put in, have them replace all the motor mounts too.
My car is lowered 3 inches in the front, 2.25 in the back.............NEVER have issues with the transmission.
You definately have other issues, Honda techs don't know what they are talking about.

[JFreddy]

Alright so I'll get soem new motor mounts, and then do you guys think i'll be safe to be a low rider again?

And when do you have enough power that you should look into stiffer mounts?

[Vanilla Sky]

the guys that are shredding stock mounts are about the only ones i'd see with a need for stiffened mounts. these aren't race cars for the most part. when you get to that point, consider new solid mounts. the car would be unstreetable, but you'd get more power to the ground the instant it was applied, instead of when the mounts bottom out.

[Oldblueaccord]

If your mounts are OK....

I'd look at the lengeth of the axle/axles. Seems at compression there smacking into the pin in the dif and busting the case.

Not sure what the lenghts are susposed to be but look on NAPA online they list the legnths.


wp

[smufguy]

my car is lowered 2"s and i my lowest ground clearance is 3"s off the ground. My axles and boots are perfectly fine and my tranny is in perfect shape. I don tknow how/why you went thru trannies like you mentioned. My motor mounts are stock as hell. i dont know how old ur shocks are and how they are articulating. If moving parts are hitting each other, there is something really wrong with the suspension geometry on ur car.

[JFreddy]

lol. agh this is sucks, k my motor mounts i checked them out, they are alright, old i suppose so I ordered new ones from honda. My tech at work doesnt really buy the motor mount thing though... My axles are the same length as stock, I've replaced both of them with NAPA CVX axles, uhm I got an idea... still a shot in the dark but with my car lowered 3.25" if my front struts were blown... and my suspension was mostly coil would that effect it ?

[smufguy]

lol yeah that would affect it. with 3.25" lowering, u can lick the road clean with your rear bumper. raise the cr up so u can get the axles articulate better.

[JFreddy]

lol yeah that would affect it. with 3.25" lowering, u can lick the road clean with your rear bumper. raise the cr up so u can get the axles articulate better.
But ... but... i love the look of our cars just dumped... lol it is up now, its only down 1.5" on each, and k i feel a lil stupid asking but, by articulate do u mean just line up better and work with less stress? and if so ya thats what ive done for now, but i miss the super low look:thumbdn:

[89AccordLX2dr]

Doesn't matter how low or high your cars riding height is, aslong as it's within the original suspension travel limits. Something is moving side to side, be it the engine, or a wheel assembly due to broken bushing or mount... or you have incorrect length C/V's

86-89 : Right(man or auto) 19.7-19.9 in. Left(manual) 31.3-31.5 in. (auto) 31.6-31.8 in.

[89AccordLX2dr]

Ohhhhh you replaced your Half Shafts with something made for a different car maybe... The length of the shaft may not be the problem, but the input shaft may be too long/deep into the tranny. :idea:

[smufguy]

articulate means to be able to move up and down freely without any restriction. its a bio-engineering term. i guess the webster has it otherwise :cheers:

[thegreatdane]

If your mounts are OK....
I'd look at the lengeth of the axle/axles. Seems at compression there smacking into the pin in the dif and busting the case.
Not sure what the lenghts are susposed to be but look on NAPA online they list the legnths.
wp

my thoughts on this as well. Have you been using the same set of axles on both trannies?

[JFreddy]

Yes I have been using the same axles for both transmissions, but the first thing i did was measure them to the specs posted by the guys on here b/c i was hoping that would be the problem, They measured out the same.
They are CVX axles from NAPA.

So should I try replacing all my ball joints, get stiffer front struts and new motor mounts? Is my problem an up n down travel problem or a side to side travel problem? cas up n down would cas the axles to move in n out but so would side to side... If my front struts were blown would my travel be greater than stock? causing the axles to move greater distances than they are suppose to?

[89AccordLX2dr]

Did you measure the input shaft length (goes into trans), comparing it to the original shaft. I have a shaft here I can measure the input shaft (RH side) if you need be. *But assuming your NAPA isin't run by idiots, and gave you the correct half shafts* I'd go with motor mount problem. As for struts, they won't effect nothing aside from your shock dampening. I can't see balljoints wearing far enough to allow that much freeplay to damage a transcase, they would pop apart first.. but I was wondering about where your control arm fastens to the frame, if that is broken or rusted away allowing alot of flex. Start with the input shaft length first, I'll measure mine soon and edit the length in later.

Edit: Please note this is the RH side Shaft, I don't know if the LH varies.

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/9681/cv44ia.th.jpg (http://img191.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cv44ia.jpg) http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/6974/cv30tw.th.jpg (http://img138.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cv30tw.jpg) http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/9991/cv26ja.th.jpg (http://img138.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cv26ja.jpg) http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/8242/cv18if.th.jpg (http://img138.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cv18if.jpg)

[thegreatdane]

If you can somehow get to compare your own axles with a known good set of axles? The length might be correct but there could be still something wrong with the inner cv joints.

If your struts were shot the car would be bouncy, but it wouldnt cause your tranny to blow up. You can test your struts by making the car bounce up and down using your hands pressing on the fenders, and when it's in a bounce you let go and the car shouldnt bounce up and down by itself more than 2 times, if it does the shocks are shot.

Theres no reason to replace ball joints if there's nothing wrong with them.

But yea also check your suspension and engine mounts.