Is my input shaft bearing going out?

[AmTeC]

Video of concern: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za73Ic26wuk

Hey guys. A while ago, I pulled an H2A5 from a donor CB7 for my manual swap. Today I was inspecting the tranny to see if there was anything that needed addressing before the swap. I turned the input shaft by hand, and I hear this raspy bearing sound. Same thing in all gears. The input shaft has no discernable play in it. When changing the direction of rotation of the input shaft, a clunky clattery noise can be heard, dunno what that's about. The car shifted great when it was alive, however, its cat was stolen so if the car was making any whirring or whining noises from the transmission, I def did not hear it over the open exhaust. I posted a video link above, let me know if that sounds normal to you or a sign of something more sinister lurking within. Someone on reddit told me the noise was normal and to just send it, but I'm not convinced.

So is this sound normal or is the tranny on its way out? I found a video on how to open up an H22 transmission and it honestly doesn't seem all that hard, I've already got the transmission out of the car. I'm assuming I can follow the H22 transmission teardown guide for an H2A5, is this correct or am I an idiot? I don't have a helms manual rip.

[AmTeC]

I'd also like to add that quite a few people have told me to just ignore it as long as there's no play in the shaft, is that really wise? I mean I have the transmission out already and if I wanted to replace the bearing, now would be the best time, wouldn't it? Who's to say the bearing can't fail like 4000 miles after I install it? Am I overthinking this?

[Grumpys93]

I know mine makes a clunky noise but not super loud. It sounds like gears are turning which they are obviously are. But its hard to tell you without hearing it.

The video should be a pretty good guide on tearing it down.

[Raf99]

Yep. Done for. & are these OEM bearings? How old are they? I've done the same spinning thing with mine and it does not make that sound.
Now... yes people are right about having no play and no issues. So I guess it all depends on how much "sound" you want to hear. This would be Stage 1 of the bearings getting old = sound. Then sound gets louder, then start to have play. Could it last for another 10,000 miles, probably yep.

[AmTeC]

I have no idea if they're the OEM bearings but I would assume so. It's got around 155,000 miles on it so I'd be surprised if it's had a rebuild or something. I do wonder what could have caused this to start going out, normal wear and tear? Is this a normal occurrence for a CB7 transmission at this mileage? I drained a small sample of the MTF and it was fairly clean with almost no glitter floating around.

As for putting it in the car in this condition, I don't think I would be comfortable with doing that, I think I'm gonna open it up and see which bearing(s) need to be replaced, and change the input shaft seal for good measure. I'm not afraid of it suddenly breaking on me, but I'd rather not have to pull this thing out again for the remaining time the car spends with me.

[Raf99]

I have no idea if they're the OEM bearings but I would assume so. It's got around 155,000 miles on it so I'd be surprised if it's had a rebuild or something. I do wonder what could have caused this to start going out, normal wear and tear? Is this a normal occurrence for a CB7 transmission at this mileage? I drained a small sample of the MTF and it was fairly clean with almost no glitter floating around.

As for putting it in the car in this condition, I don't think I would be comfortable with doing that, I think I'm gonna open it up and see which bearing(s) need to be replaced, and change the input shaft seal for good measure. I'm not afraid of it suddenly breaking on me, but I'd rather not have to pull this thing out again for the remaining time the car spends with me.

So ya, the bearing is .... 30+ years old now? lol.... how long do you think a bearing should last . Like wheel bearings this sound is just normal use + we don't know the history of maintenance done to the transmission. And you may not be able to tell the play of the bearing while it's in the transmission due to other items involved here. If you are hard strapped for cash then pop the transmission back in and drive it until it dies. If you have the money, time and knowledge there's no harm in doing a bearing kit on it.

[AmTeC]

Hmm, I suppose you do have a point, I always thought mileage was more important than age, I guess there comes a time when the age starts becoming an equally important factor. Seeing how the car this transmission came from did a lot of sitting around for long period of time,and then the transmission sat in my shed for another 5 years with almost no oil in it. I guess that plus its age gave the earth a chance to start taking it back.

Also, an excellent point, 30 years is a long fucking time.

Anyways, I have started to disassemble the transmission to diagnose the source of the sound, and I'll give an update on what I find, so far I caught a glimpse of some of the synchro teeth and they don't look too bad, fingers crossed there aren't any nasty surprises waiting inside.

[Raf99]

Remember to check out the synchros too, they always go if someone was hard on it! Look for worn out teeth...

[AmTeC]

Update: I got the transmission opened up. The synchros look good to my untrained eyes, the engagement teeth on the gears and sliders are in great shape, they still have that defined point that a new one would have, all the gears looks good with the only one with any obvious signs of wear being the reverse gear, but it's not really that bad.

The Input shaft bearing was indeed bad. Unfortunately it seems that pretty much all of the bearing, have some degree of play or noise to them, including the diff carrier bearings. This is pretty discouraging. I would love to learn how to replace the bearings myself, as I don't want to spend a ton on this, but it seems like I don't really have a choice now. Bearing kits are awfully expensive, and if I got a transmission shop to do it, parts plus labor would probably cost more than another transmission, hell, the bearing kit alone costs more than what I paid for my daily driver cb7. but finding another transmission here is pretty difficult, and it's condition would likely not be much better. Very conflicted on what to do.

It seems that it hasn't gotten many MTF changes in its life, as there is some sludge inside, my theory is that all the debris and metal in the MTF probably ruined the bearings while somehow not affecting the gears and synchros somehow.

[Raf99]

You can just do it yourself. I did mine.

https://sync-trans.com/products/bsk-...41911724638458

[AmTeC]

Do you know what tools I may need for this? Is a press required? Also since the bearings are being replaced, would it be advisable to go ahead and replace the synchro rings as well?

UPDATE: I managed to get nearly all the bearings out, that was actually really easy. putting the new ones on should be even easier. The diff bearings look tricky, not sure what to do to get them off, may have to get a shop to press them out.

[Raf99]

Hi. So proper pullers and presses are required technically. But can you do it at home with heat and hammers and other items. yep. (I would use Allen key for example to gently pull up bearings if you didn't have the proper puller.) Sometimes proper tools needed though. Youtube videos may help you too. And yes, if you have the trans apart and you are doing this right, then do the synchros.