The it was supposed to be just an oil pan gasket project

[cakM3]

Strange since your setup looks solid Rob.....


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[ELCID86]

So the design is flawed or unit is faulty/missing components?

[Sockethead]

IDK.... I'm thinking that maybe there is an air leak...perhaps the valve cover gasket, that's pulling a lot of air in. The catch can is in the drug box and it's cooler in there so the catch can turns into a little distillery and the water condenses out...

Last time the valve cove gasket was replaced was by the dealer when the car was still under factory warranty.... that was about 100k ago and 2009 so I'm gonna start there.

[san]

Damn that's strange!


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[Sockethead]

Yes very strange. If anyone else has a theory, I'd like to hear it.

[Zhpabe89]

Damn Rob , you are a trooper. You have literally had the worst of luck with this TS2 kit. Hope you figure it out soon so you can enjoy the car. I really hope that I put down 300+. If not I’ll be pissed for spending 9k.

[Sockethead]

It wasn't all bad...I think Ryan has had it worse than me but he's got it pretty much sorted out at this point. Here's his project thread if you haven't run across it yet... http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showt...yan-s-2003-ZHP

[Sockethead]

Been a long time since I updated here, I did get some work done last spring but life and getting the M2 kinda took over...
I got the drive shaft rebuilt with a new guibo, center bearing and guide bearing. New front and rear Diff bushings and new adjustable lower control arms and bushings.



I chose AKG 95A bushing after asking Ray about his. He said no really noticeable Noise or vibration. All three bushings were torn. As you can see in the pics, you can't see the tears unless you flex the bushings. The rear bushing always tears on the side you cant see too. This is why I tell everyone that you have to take the diff out and flex to really check the bushings.











I used the Schwaban Bushing puller set to remove and replace. The set worked really well but I was disappointed that they didn't include a collar big enough to do the rear diff bushing. I had to use one from my master Ball joint set. Using an air gun to remove and install made the replacement a breeze. On any of these sets, make sure you lube the threads very well with grease. Not only will it make it easier to turn, the tool will last much longer. Another nice feature of the Schwaban set is they use a thrust bearing instead of a washer under the nut used for tightening. This makes the tool work much smoother and it will last much longer. As with the threads, keep the thrust bearing well lubricated as well.

I rebuilt the whole drive shaft using one of the kits from ECS tuning. It came with a Febi Guibo which is thicker and much stiffer tthan the OEM guibo. I was happy about that. Upon first inspection, the guibo I took out appeared to be in perfect shape but upon closer inspection I could see that there were surface cracks in the rubber and it was pretty flexible as well.
Separating the driveshaft wasn't difficult but it helped having a fine toothed ratcheting box end wrench. I used a chisel to get the old center bearing off.






A lot of people choose not to replace the centering bearing in the front of the drive shaft but I rebuild everything while I have it out. I cut the threads off a 1/2' shanked bolt, tapered the end and used this to remove the bearing. Fill the hole with grease and use a hammer to drive the bearing out. Refill with more grease as the bearing starts to come out. When driving in the new bearing, Make sure you don't drive it in all the way. It's supposed to stick out a bit. Use the marks on the old bearing to tell how far to drive it in.
When I reinstalled the drive shaft, I couldn't get it back in. I'm guessing that the Poly diff bushings didn't give enough to pop ii in. I ended up having to loosen all the diff bolts and slide the diff back a bit to get the drive shaft in place.







I used ECS adjustable lower control arms so I could get my camber back into stock spec. My last set of tires went pretty quick. I chose these control arms because the adjusters are in the middle, making them much easir to adjust. In hindsite, i wish i had gotten steel control arms. Although the aluminum control arms are much lighter. I'm concerned about corrosion amd the nuts are aluminum which is easily galled and stripped. I used a ton of antiseize compound on the adjusters, threads and nuts.
I used the Schwaben puller set again on the lower control arm bushings. I replaced with OEM rubber. It literally took more time to get the tool setup than to get the bushing out/in with the air gun-sweet! The bolt for the left lower bushing was seized in so I had to get creative to get that side out. I used a drill bit to drill out to rubber and remove the center then used a chisel to get out the metal. Not too difficult but time consuming.
I guessed the camber settings, reassembled everything and took for alignment... apparently, my guess wasn't too far off after looking at the before/after on the alignment sheet



I showed the kids all the stuff under the car, they loved it!

[az3579]

Interesting how Ray said he has no noise or vibration with the AKG 95A bushings. That is exactly what I just ripped out of my car because I couldn't stand the clunking they transmitted to the cabin. lol

I didn't mind the diff whine on decel, but the clunking had to go.

What are your thoughts now that it's in? Or are you not finished yet?

[Sockethead]

The bit of gear whine I had before (not sure where it's coming from) hasn't really gotten any louder and no clunking or anything. My clutch/flywheel is pretty noisy so it's hard to tell.
Ray did say that after 20K or so (IIRC) that they started getting louder but 20K will take me years to put on my car