That's the question. No end play. About 1/16th's either way of side play.

Bad input shaft bearing? What'll cause this side to side play?

The tranny is out of the car, and I'd rather take care of it now...

 

I would check the bearing retainer and the needle bearings that are inside of the back of the input shaft.

 

If the trans is out of the car, that is normal. There's nothing holding it from doing that except the bearing preload. Same for the mainshaft. When it's installed, the drive shaft yoke is held in place by the extension housing bushing, and supports the end of the mainshaft; and the pilot bushing/bearing inthe crank supports the front of the clutch gear.

I would not advise tearing the trans down to try to fix that, if there's nothing else wrong with it. You'll probably end up creating more trouble than you will cure.

 

On the contrary - I'd really rather prevent the transmission from blowing up, seeing as how I'm running 6psi of compressed turbocharged air through the little 2.8.

Bearing retainer, and needle bearings? Can you be more specific, as to which bearings the input shaft rides on? I'd like to have them in hand, when I pull the tranny apart.

 

It is normal. There's nothing about the transmission that will prevent that from happening, all the parts are relatively free to wander around at will. I'd recommend leaving it alone if there's nothing wrong with it.

But if you just really want to tear into it, the easiest way to get the parts is to buy a rebuild kit, which will come with all of them (which you'll pretty much need if you tear it down). Check www.gearzone.net or www.hanlonmotorsports.com

 

RB is right just listen to him. The input shaft goes into the pilot bushing or bearing "user prefrence" and thats what takes care of the play, thats what it is designed to do. Unless you have a known problem service it with a good synthetic oil replace the seal, slide it back in and whip on some V8 butt.

 

Well, alright... I'm picking up another V6 tranny for $50, so if this one goes, I'll have a (hopefully by then) freshly rebuilt one to slide in...

Man, I hope this tranny doesn't blow. I can't help but see the weak T5 as the 'weak link' in this turbo project

 

Yup. My old T-5 had plenty of play in the main shaft....but it still worked fine when I pulled it...