Thanks again guys. I'm on vacation in Jekyll Island, GA til Thursday. I'm going to order any parts I need through auto zone since I have $50 in free credit with them. I don't go back to work til Monday so I have time (Fri-Sun) to tinker when we get home

 

And the tranny is original, as far as I know, with close to 148,500 on it. Because of the "no bus" issue where the guages quit working, I'm not sure EXACTLY how many miles are on it. I smacked my dash while going down the road and everything started working. When I got home, I changed battery cable ends and cleaned the pcb fuses, relays, etc, then cleaned all grounds I could find. No bus went away. Used electrical cleaner and a wire brush.

 

Update to the "grinding" sound. My wife found a Tires Plus coupon for a vehicle check for $10, so I took it in just to find out what they would say about what all needs to be replaced. Turns out nothing. I asked them to look at the grinding sound, and they confirmed that it came from the differential housing, but that was as far as they went. They asked me to take it to a transmission repair guy, who wants $55 just to look at it. He said, just from my explanation, that it sounds like a carrier bearing probably went bad. He wants me to leave it with him until Monday, when he "might" be able to look at it. My question is this...is this something that I can check myself? I replaced the gear fluid and gasket a week or so ago. At that time, I didn't know what to look for, and to be honest, I have no idea how to determine if the carrier bearing has gone bad or not.

If I re-open the differential, I assume I can reuse the gear oil since it's new, but I'll have to buy a new gasket and scrape the old one off both sides. I've read in other posts where you all suggested for another member to buy a bearing and seal set.

How do I determine if a bearing has gone bad? Should I buy a bearing / seal kit and where can I get it from? Auto Zone?

Thanks for your help. The transmission guy also told me not to drive it because it could tear up the whole rear end. Is that likely?

 

Carrier MUST be set up correctly, and that will need to be redone if you replace bearings in there. Not an exercise to be undertaken lightly. If you do it wrong, you will waste the gears, bearings, and probably some other stuff too.....

If you are just inspecting...... Take CAREFUL note of EVERYTHING you remove, and make sure it goes back in, in EXACTLY the same place. Once you have the carrier out, (which is also an exercise......) you can just look at the bearing, and if its bad, its generally obvious. If you haven't done gears before, I HIGHLY recommend you pay a reputable shop to do the repairs.

 

+1 or get a friend who knows what they're doing

 

Thanks guys. I won't attempt it. My friend said he "may" be able to do it, but I think I will take it to a shop. What would think the cost replacing a bearing would be? I know "it depends" but should I expect $200, $400, more?

 

Probably not much different than replacing both carrier bearings. (they live in the same environment.....) Considering regearing? Now would be the time, as labor will be the same. (or very close.) Just parts.