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Drive axle bearing & transmission overhaul?

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7.2K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  Jeremy R.  
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#1 ·
I've got a 2001 9-3, manual transmission, with a worn drive axle bearing. I had it checked out in the East Coast before driving it across the country, and got the green light. I had it checked out in the West Coast, and was given similar encouragement: eventually it would fail such that the transmission would start to leak, but it would be ok to put off a repair until then, if wanted.

Here's where the two shops differ, though. The East Coast shop (a Saab dealership, actually) told me that Saab's procedure is to overhaul the transmission when doing this repair, but that they thought that procedure was unnecessary most of the time.

The West Coast shop (a very reputable place here in Seattle) told me that they couldn't see how one *couldn't* overhaul the transmission at the same time as the bearing is mounted from the inside of the transmission housing, and that if you take apart a manual transmission, it's pretty near impossible to get it together again as all the parts have worn into a particular fashion.

So, my question(s): does anyone else have experience with replacing a drive axle bearing *without* a transmission overhaul? Can the bearing be replaced without going into the transmission? If not, any ideas how the shop on the East Coast gets away with putting a transmission back together without needing a complete overhaul?

The difference in price is about $1500-2000 to replace the bearing *and* transmission ($2600 was the estimate), and I would assume with 130k miles on my clutch, I should consider doing that, too, which would tack on another $1000-1500, I'm sure.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I love my car, but I'm not sure I can invest this much in her anymore :(

Patrick
 
#2 ·
The bushing can be replaced without even removing the transmission from the car. The procedure is here:

http://www.thesaabsite.com/Saab-900-93-Inner-driver-bushing-replacement.htm

A few bucks in parts and a willingness to learn is all you really need. Be sure to replace the oil seal AND the oil seal O-ring while you're in there.

BTW, is your oil seal leaking yet? If not, I wouldn't bother with the new bushing.
 
#3 ·
I was under the impression that the axle support bush(either side) could be re-newed without pulling apart the transmission.. The clutch assembly should be part of the several thousand dollar transmission rebuild....

The brass synchronizers do wear, if a man extracts the transmission, he must trouble himself to at least examine the parts that do wear... Saab used to have a major component rebuild program.
The 4 speed cost $225.. ..the cast iron 3 speed wore as well as its casing metal...
 
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#4 ·
Darren900 said:
The bushing can be replaced without even removing the transmission from the car. The procedure is here:

http://www.thesaabsite.com/Saab-900-93-Inner-driver-bushing-replacement.htm

A few bucks in parts and a willingness to learn is all you really need. Be sure to replace the oil seal AND the oil seal O-ring while you're in there.

BTW, is your oil seal leaking yet? If not, I wouldn't bother with the new bushing.
Click to expand...
Darren, this is some great info! Thanks so much! I'm looking forward to passing it along to my shop.

The seal is not leaking yet, no, so I have been holding off on getting this repair done.

I have to bring my car in tomorrow for another leak (valve cover gasket, perhaps?), and I'm trying to come up with my $ amount for the "fix or sell" question. In the past 12 months, I've had to replace a turbo, head gasket, oil vapor recovery unit, and a couple of emmissions-related sensors. All total, about $4500. The thought of another $3k in repairs has me seriously wondering whether any more investment is worthwhile.

Again, thanks for the article! I'm sure it will come in handy.
 
#5 ·
broomduster said:
I have to bring my car in tomorrow for another leak (valve cover gasket, perhaps?), and I'm trying to come up with my $ amount for the "fix or sell" question. In the past 12 months, I've had to replace a turbo, head gasket, oil vapor recovery unit, and a couple of emmissions-related sensors. All total, about $4500. The thought of another $3k in repairs has me seriously wondering whether any more investment is worthwhile.

Again, thanks for the article! I'm sure it will come in handy.
Click to expand...
Sounds like that thing is a real money pit. If you're not planning on becoming a fairly serious DIYer soon, I would suggest selling. These cars can be prohibitively expensive to own if you get all your work done at a shop.
 
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#8 ·
Darren900, you seem to be very knowledgeable in this area. I own a 1999 9-3 convert with manual 5-spd transmission. Recently, I have noticed alot of vibration from the front of the car. It is very pronounced under acceleration. This morning had the car up on a lift at the local shop, and noticed alot of "play" in the driver side dirve axle where the axle meets the transfer case. I also noticed a small amount of oil seeping from the transaxle. Does this mean the seal is shot, and also likely the inner bushing, or do you think I can get by with just replacing the entire driver side drive axle (passenger side seems fine, and no leaking of oil)?
 
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