3SGTE: wtf....where did those come from

[jholder]

As some of you may know, I've been tracking down this pseudo intermittent grinding issue when I accelerate from a dead stop. It's been annoying, the car is drivable, but I really haven't felt like driving it. I thought I found the issue a few times, but after some other posts, the behavior I was seeing was normal. It's very disappointing to think i've got it pinpointed only to find out it's something else. Anyway, been talking to a lot of people, and finally decided, given what I know about the situation, the most likely culprit was a soon to go CV joint.
(patience, I'm getting to it)

So I start to pull the driver side exle, and can't get it out to save my life, so to have a bit of sanity, I decide to pull the passenger side first. In my disgust, I also decide that f*** it, I'm going to pull the transmission too.

So I get out to the garage, to pull the passenger axle carrier off. My luck, I've forgotten to break loose the axle bolt, so out comes the impact wrench. bada bing bada boom. I'm just about to get up and get a hammer when I push on the axle with my finger tips and it slides back about 2 inches....... Wierd but cool... So I pull the carrier and as I set it down I look inside and....

wait! wtf are those....are those bearings....are those bearings loose, in an area that rotates.....

I seriously think I may have found my culprit.

Of course, I don't even know where they would have come from. Maybe out of the wheel bearing... but, would they have just slipped free?? I dunno. what do you guys think.

[Oteck]

the bearings in there are much bigger than that. i highly doubt it came from the axles either. maybe some asshat decides to stuff 2 bearings through the abs hole

[jholder]

Upon further review..the bearings both did, and did not, come from the axle.
They are from the axle. They're not bearings.

One of the splines on the axle has "dissappeared". Those pieces appear to be all that is left of it. On the one hand, the fact that they had been rolled in grease and rust and dirt inside the axle carrier does indicate that they were in motion at least part of the time. Since they're steel bits, I could see how they could make the grinding crunching noise I heard.

I'm a little wary at this point of slapping it all back together and test driving it. It would be nice to know, without replacing anything, that they were in fact the culprit. On the other hand, I should probably, replace the outer axle (what is this called? half shaft? axle stub?) while I've got the car apart. Of course it takes me about an hour and half to pull the subframe and axle carriers and all that stuff off. It would almost be worth my piece of mind to know that _that_ was the problem....

hrmmmm.

On a side note, why would one spline break and not more? It seems like all of the splines would share the torque with the wheel bearing grooves. I need to go check the wheel bearing as well for broken splines I suppose.

[Oteck]

this is the only thing you'll see in an axle

[Trak Turtle]

Hey jholder, did you pursue/ succeed in getting the drive shaft out of the axle carrier?
I'm about to go there... http://www.mr2.com/forums/turbo-3s-g...tml#post498343

[jholder]

not yet. I'm going to go ahead and reassemble everything, and see if what I found is indeed the culprit of the noises I've been hearing. If I start replacing things, I'll never know for sure what the real issue was.

I've taken all this stuff off so many times another 3 hours or so isn't going to kill me.

[Trak Turtle]

Ok, thx m8. Was wondering if this these two are as fussed up as the ball joints. I need to buy the sst if its needed.