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2000 Espirt v8 - tranny just went out to lunch!

5K views 20 replies 10 participants last post by  jtrealty 
#1 ·
How can such a beautiful day in So. Fla. turn out to be so bad? Just whipped a U-turn got in the gas a little to stay ahead of traffic and BAMM! Sounded like a TRANS axle went(u joint). I didn't dare get back on the gas. Luckily a strip plaza entrance was available for my exit stage right. Now I sit and wait for the trusty flat bed to arrive! I looked under the car both sides. Trans axles tight no play, no leakage. So I gingerly tried reverse , gets in gear rolls about half a wheel turn. Locked up! Tried first and second same thing good for a foot or so then locks up.
Any ideas gang? Thinking gears inside? How much for a rebuilt tranny? 2 or 3 months wages? LOL! :mad:
 
#3 ·
I'd place my bet on a broken tooth on the CWP. Piece of metal rattling around locking it up . Suffice to say don't operate to reduce further damage. Your high powered u-turn may have stressed it. I've heard this applies more to the Citroen transmissions with their lower torque ratings. But that hairy-chested V8 may have dealt your Renault transmission a bad hand.
 
#5 ·
I also concur with losing a tooth off of the ring gear. I also agree trying to drive the car can crack the transmission case. If you are "lucky" you will need a pinion and ring gear set and probably the output bearings. Your transmission is probably repairable or at the least many of the parts are saleable. The Renault transmission does not take well to sudden loads and won't die the first time and maybe not even the second or third but eventually it will. Buying another transmission is not necessarily the best choice since you can never know if it was abused and will soon fail as yours has. Also figure a clutch and that is another $2-$3K. Have the transmission pulled and call R S Motorsports. He rebuilds the transmissions for a lot of the Lotus dealers and other independent shops. This little "ditty" can cost $10K easily if you can't do any of the work yourself. BTW that E-Bay listing is for an S4s tranny. It will not bolt in to a V-8 but many of the parts are interchangable. Figure it will go for as much as $10K anyway.
David Teitelbaum
 
#8 ·
Doesn't suck when its a nice day and your out in one of your favorite toys and BLAM something goes wrong.

My V-Rod left me sitting last summer because the fuel pump went out on a super nice day. I awaited the wife with my trailer. One thing I can say is in the 2 hours I waited for my wife to come, about 10 Harley guys or groups of guys, stopped to ask me if I needed help, I felt like I was a member of the "brotherhood".
 
#9 ·
Ok, Guys! Back into the garage last night. I got everything loosened up or removed to pull the tranny and i'm looking at the dog-legs(drive shafts) the whole time thinking where or how do i release those? Remember up until now i have been a old school muscle car guy(Chevy). I am thinking i need to pull the wheels and pull from there? Any step by step how-to with images online? Maybe here? I am thinking while i am in over my shoulders to pull turbos and do some upgrading... Looks like i am going to build a bulletproof tranny or maybe put in a porsche box? So i might as well get her making more Hp. Thinking intercoolers too..... Any power upgrades anybody knows let me know. Both affordable or good bang for the buck projects and crazy stuff too. Always interested in what you guys do to pump these things up. Totally different to stroke a small block chevy and squeeze 500+ hp out of it without any forced induction. I have always wanted to do a twin turbo set up, just never had the opportunity til now. And really i am a speed freak, so the more power i can produce from this little v8 the happier i am. :shift:
 

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#10 ·
#11 · (Edited)
As pointed out you do NOT pull the wheels. The motor will have to jacked up a little too and supported when you remove the transaxle. Make sure when you punch out the roll pins you are at a good point in the rotation so the pins do not hit the case. When reassembling, the holes are NOT centered and you cannot put the pins back if you are 180 degrees off. ANY mods or alterations or substitutions from stock will wind up costing you WAY more than trying to fix the stock set-up. Remove the left strut so you can more fully open the engine cover to get the lift in. Remove the oil from the transaxle before taking it out. Do not forget to put the ground wires back or you will have ALL KINDS of electrical problems! Pulling the transaxle in the Esprit is one of the EASIER jobs! We call the "dog legs" half shafts. As for more HP, you can check to make sure your ECU has the High Torque Upgrade. Since it is a 2000 it should. You can also make sure you get full throttle pedal travel and you have no codes stored. Change the air filters. Any attempt to increase the power comes at a high price in reliability and parts. Unlike an American car, there is not a whole lot you can do to "Hot Rod" the car to get more performance.
David Teitelbaum
 
#12 ·
Would you like to buy an unused snow performance stage 2 methanol injector kit?
Including the extra nozzles needed for a V8 and the anti siphoning solenoid?

Snow Performance : Stage 2 Boost Cooler?

Purchased and never used... Also have new, unused, alloy boost capsules with two sets of springs, yellow and green

Might also let go of dual BOV with silicone T fittings

Also have a couple cat delete pipes, mint condition; used one short ride
 
#16 ·
That doesn't sound like a tooth missing from the CW&P to me. That sounds more like the spider gears in the differential have imploded.

A porsche G50 is a great transaxle for your V8. Adapter plate needed along with gear change actuation for the rear mounted shifter shaft on the G50 (short nose). Much better transaxle than the Renault box. Alternatively, a VW/porsche box from a boxster isn't bad either. Even an audi 015 (Audi 5000) is a better transaxle than the Renault.

Take it slow and step by step.
 
#18 ·
I've taken out and put back quite a few UN1 trans - often single-handed as well. When I do it I remove the rear boot, and knock out the concentric pins holding the CV joint to the stub axles. I then remove the rear wheels and release the upper suspension link and lever down and slide the axle shaft assembly off the stub. Works every tine. Mark the orientation of the axle stub and the CV joint because they only go in one orientation.

Then I release the bell housing bolts, shifter cables, various attachments (speedo cable, reverse light switch, clutch line, etc.), then the cross beam, I normally set it right under our chain hoist, wrap a canvas lift strap right by the axle stubs and take a little strain and wiggle it out of the flywheel and it comes right out. The ceiling mounted chain hoist is nice because as you lift it does not move the trans horizontally so it is an easy extraction from the car.

Getting it back in is a little trick because the alignment has to be perfect but with a little wiggling it will go back into position.
 

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#19 ·
Ditto what Mieczkow said, exactly. I've removed and reinstalled the renault box on both an S4S and a V8 and used that same process. Be gentle with it when reinstalling, you don't want to get a bend in the transaxle input shaft - you'll know if you do because it will be noisy and the seal will start leaking immediately...some hack before us did exactly that and that's the reason we had to remove the transaxle from the V8.

If you want a good reference for alternatives to the renault box check out GT40s.com - Powered by vBulletin. Lots of smart guys there working on the problem of putting big horsepower through a transaxle.
 
#21 ·
You have to get TWO clutch plates lined up. You MUST use an alignment tool and even with that you have to be lined up exactly to thread the input shaft into both clutch plates and then into the pilot bearing. Difficult to do without an engine lift to hold the transaxle steady as you try to get the angle right and line up the splines. Dry-fit everything on the floor first to make sure there are no burrs or nicks.
David Teitelbaum
 
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