My Trannie Problem... 2nd Opinion/Update

[joe camarda]

Well the immutable Mr. Allison took a look at my bike and it seems that I jumped to an erroneous conclusion (so what else is new?)....anyway I concluded that a bushing which had been machined into my side case dropped into the moving trannie.

 

According to Carl, that was not the case. What dropped into my trannie came from a hole behind the starter on the left side of the trannie. This hole is about an inch above and just forward of the nuetral indicator switch plug. What ever WAS in that hole is now inside my trannie and is the source of my misery.

 

Any comments are welcome.

 

BTW, the dealer is anxious to get the bike back for repairs but is back-pedaling somewhat on the liability issue <_ . as i said shall see>

 

Joe

[al_roethlisberger]

I have no idea off-hand what "part" that would be, but I'm very interested to hear what happened as a "root cause".

 

al

[callison]

Well the immutable   Mr. Allison took a look at my bike and it seems that I jumped to an erroneous conclusion (so what else is new?)....anyway I concluded that a bushing which had been machined into my side case dropped into the moving trannie.

 

According to Carl, that was not the case. What dropped into my trannie came from a hole behind the starter on the left side of the trannie. This hole is about an inch above and just forward of the nuetral indicator switch plug. What ever WAS in that hole is now inside my trannie and is the source of my misery.

 

Any comments are welcome.

 

BTW, the dealer is anxious to get the bike back for repairs but is back-pedaling somewhat on the liability issue <_ . as i said shall see>

 

  Joe

51785[/snapback]

 

 

 

I'm not going to claim a perfect memory on this, it's been a long time since Joe's bike went to the shop and the transmission was disassembled. What I think I remember seeing (Failure #1) - at a glance - was what looked like a "peg" inside the side cover that was obviously bent down. I had assumed that it was a peg in a hole and that the hole had elongated. Looking at the sidecover illustration from the shop manual, the only thing that resembles a "peg" specifically is the eccentric shaft (part #9) that has something to do with limiting the shift pawl movement. I hope my memory is correct on that one, because the eccentric uses a threaded hole in the sidecove and I presume that a competent machinist would have little problem solving the problem despite the poor quality of casing material MG uses.

 

Failure #2 is something else again. The shift fork selector wheel (or whatever it's called - I only have the illustrations, not the parts list/text) is circlipped to a shaft that is supported at one end in the side cover (part #12). Aside from the obvious engineering challenges of properly supporting a moving part at one end in a thin casting, I haven't heard of any other failures of this type.

 

I'm going to make a couple of observations here that may have no merit whatsoever, but do give some food for thought.

 

1. Joe isn't a big guy, he isn't capable of Godzilla like foot stomps to the gear shift lever that could give rise to these kinds of failures.

 

2. This particular sidecover may just be a poor casting. When my transmission cases cracked in the accident, no welder in the Sacramento could effect repairs to the casting because of its porosity and poor material qualities. If this side cover is flimsy, then it is entirely possible that the end supported components, both the selector shaft and the eccentric shaft, could fail in normal usage. Who knows?

 

3. At some time the side cover may have been abused. Either at initial assembly at the factory, or to some extent during the repair of failure #1. The two failures are not at the same location, but the repair of failure number one would probably require the removal of the component at failure location #2 and the subsequent re-assembly may have contributed to failure #2. That would leave the reason for failure #1 unresolved.

 

A. Personally, I'm going to go with Reason #2. Unfortunately, Joe's bike is well out of warranty and I doubt that MG (and especially MGNA) will accept any responsibility for a defective casting or replace it. However, if another side cover fails and locks up a transmission with the rider getting hurt - then a safety recall might ensue.

 

B. Joe likes to be different. This places him well up the scale from the infrequent Scura clutch plate failure.

[joe camarda]

Jumpin Jeehopshua Carl...HOW do you know so many things? Anyway I seem to recall that the hole was a shouldered hole like shown in diagram in front of 20,17 and 21.

 

But to think that big ol' gear (12) dropped into the trannie...well that just makes me wanna smoke some more crack! Joe

[callison]

Jumpin Jeehopshua Carl...HOW do you know so many things?  Anyway I seem to recall that the hole was a shouldered hole like shown in diagram in front of 20,17 and 21.

 

I told you my memory of that was pretty dim. A flimsy casting could still be the cause though.

 

But to think that big ol' gear (12) dropped into the trannie...well that just makes me wanna smoke some more crack!   Joe

51795[/snapback]

 

You're a Sheriff's Deputy Joe, you don't smoke crack, you smoke the crack smokers...

[Mike Stewart]

Ok Joe and Carl,

 

Now that I can post pictures (thanks again Ben), is it this shaft in the side cover (the one that the oil is leaking out of) that fell out?

 

Mike

[joe camarda]

Mike...going by memory here (?), but yes I believe it is...Carl, what say you?

[callison]

Ok Joe and Carl,

 

Now that I can post pictures (thanks again Ben), is it this shaft in the side cover (the one that the oil is leaking out of) that fell out?

 

Mike

51958[/snapback]

 

That's the one. If it leaks, it isn't tight. I wonder just how it's secured.

[joe camarda]

So Mike...whats the story on that piece. It looks like that IS the piece that fell into my trannie. How likely is it to cause extensive damage to the trannie? BTW. I saw your parts all over ebay...if I knew what will become of my Sport I would have bought some of them. Joe

[Mike Stewart]

So Mike...whats the story on that piece. It looks like that IS the piece that fell into my trannie. How likely is it to cause extensive damage to the trannie? BTW. I saw your parts all over ebay...if I knew what will become of my Sport I would have bought some of them. Joe

52166[/snapback]

 

Joe,

 

My bike is in the shop at the moment (Monroe Motors) having the trans recalled preformed. I did tell the service writer to look at the sidecover while the trans is down for the leak. I have an extended service contract but as you know, the side cover is hard to get from Guzzi .

 

I don't know what type of damage the gear would cause that is behind the cover. I would suspect that the pin fell out to the outside and then the gear fell down inside the transmission.

 

 

If you need a spare transmission, I may have one up for grabs.

 

Mike