Trans Input Shaft Bent

[PhillyPhiat]

Hello,
About a month ago I posted on here that I replaced a throwout bearing but I used grease. It made a loud screeching sound that wakes up neighbors in London... I thought it was just because I used grease. I adjusted the clutch cable tension and long story short, i think i bent the input shaft while pulling the trans. I wasn't pulling on the trans or anything, and I was using a jack to support it, but i think i bent it because when the motor is running in neutral there is a rattling in the bellhousing. When I look at the clutch fork it is rattling all around. I know it's on the pivot bearing correctly, because i've been playing with it for a while now.
Anyway, how easy is it actually to bend that input shaft? And if I did, how major of a job is replacing that input shaft? Do i have to completely disassemble the gearbox?
Thanks
Travis

[dmwhiteoak]

My manual states not to let the transmission hang on the input shaft because it will bend. I would think you would have to tear into the gearbox to replace it.

[manoa matt]

I would first check to see that the throw out arm is still engaged on the pivot ball on the opposite side. It can become disengaged from the pivot ball, or the spring that holds it on the ball can break.

[So Cal Mark]

I would expect the center hub in the clutch disc to bend long before the input shaft bends

[azruss]

I agree with mark. input shaft is pretty tough, would take a lot to bend it.

[131]

No way in the world is the input shaft bent. It wouldn't go through the clutch plate spline if it was, let alone line up with the spigot bearing. You'd tear the front out of the gearbox housing before bending that shaft.

[vandor]

I agree with the others - if the input shaft was bent, you would feel vibrations. Bad vibrations

[So Cal Mark]

it would also be nearly impossible to install the trans since the input shaft wouldn't want to go into the pilot bearing

[PhillyPhiat]

OK thank you all for the input!

I was able to install the trans back into the crankshaft so, I guess that's reassuring that the input shaft is not bent. The reason I thought it was bent is because there IS a lot of vibration of the throwout bearing and the clutch fork. It sort of wobbles as the shaft spins. It wobbles when it is free of the clutch fingers. However it squeaks loudly when it is engaged.

I was talking to a guy at IAP because I was gonna buy a new input shaft. But he said the same thing as you all, that it was very hard to bend the shaft. He said it might be wobbling bc there is no sleeve that is pressed into the input shaft? I can't find any diagram that shows a sleeve between the bell housing and the throwout bearing. What is this? How does it go in? does anyone have a diagram or a photo if this part? The guy at IAP says you can't get them. that's bad news

[azruss]

i hope you checked out the pilot bearing with your finger when the tranny was out. if that bearing is shot or missing, that would account for the vibration and noise you are getting. That bearing is required to hold the tip of the input shaft true while rotating.

[vandor]

Did you install the conical thrust washed that goes between the bellhousing and the input shaft bearing?

[PhillyPhiat]

Thanks for all the replies! Some things make sense now, and some things are getting more confusing, I think.
I never took the bell housing off of the transmission itself. So no I didn't install any washer or anything. I also didn't check the pivot bearing. It was functioning fine before the throwout bearing went, so I didn't think anything would be wrong with it. I didn't check that either. Guess I'll be dropping the trans again this weekend. What else should I be checking. The guy at IAP told me there is a sleeve that is pressed into the back of the bell housiing that the throwout bearing rides on. That is supposed to keep it from wobbling. Right now it seems the bearing is too loose on the input shaft. Almost like the shaft is too thin for the bearing. The old bearing was plastic and the new bearing is metal. Could this be accounting for any of the problems? I didn't expect this to be this big of a deal.
Also, could this be caused by a bad pivot bearing? If that goes bad would that then cause the throwout bearing to be damaged?

Thanks for all the help!!

[131]

The throwout bearing doesn't touch the input shaft, it slides on a sleeve that extends out of the bellhousing, as you mentioned. It should be a snug fit on the sleeve, slide freely with no side movement. If you pull the box out, take a photo inside the bellhousing before you disassemble it, that'll be the best way of getting people to diagnose the problem.