Need Advice On Installing New Transaxle Finned Side Nut

[thehackmechanic]

I removed one of the finned side nuts on the transaxle of my TCS to replace the leaky seal. I bought the proper tool from Ray at RD, and did what everyone advises and marked the nut and the case and used my phone to video the removal so I could be certain about the number of turns to remove it (8 1/4), but while I was pressing out the seal, I cracked the finned nut. D'oh! I found a replacement here (https://www.renault16shop.com/Webwinkel-Product-95844017/), but when I tried to install it, I get about 7 turns in and can feel the nut coming to a stop as it encounters the bearing. I test-fit the original nut back in (it still can thread in even though it's cracked), and my 8 1/4 turns on it feels correct; once screwing it in that far, back to where the original marks line up, I can feel it coming to a stop against the bearing.

How do I proceed? The manual says "Screw the adjusting nut into each half-housing until it makes contact with the bearing track ring." Do I just do it by feel and leave it there?

Thanks.

--Rob Siegel

[Pfreen]

Which nut?  Left or right, looking at the rear of the transmission.  The left sets the crown wheel lash and the right sets the bearing play.

[thehackmechanic]

It's the one on the right.

[sandy]

   Rob, the first thing I would do is lay the two parts side by side and do a careful comparison. The deck height may be different. If that is the case, then at least you will know that it is usable. I am not the one to give advice on how to tension the thing though. It was nerve wracking for me too when I did this job. There are also some very tricky o-rings in there. I remember sourcing square ones because the round ones just would not cooperate.
   Sandy 2721R

[Pfreen]

Thats a good thing since it only sets the bearing play.  I would do a comparison of the nut thicknesses and maybe calculate depth of the original and the new nut by measuring the height above transmission case.

Anyway, somewhat slightly tighter than hand tight should be sufficient preload on the bearings.

The manual talks about this setting.  However, they use a scale and rope to set it.

Btw, there is not a guarantee here for this procedure, but it is what I did on my car.  It still purrs along.  However,   I have always had a small whine in 5th gear at slow speed regardless of this adjustment.

[jbcollier]

The two output seal nuts position the ring gear/diff carrier.  Their position is critical.  It is very common for people to futz it up.  This leads to a diff that whines either in accell or decell.  Left long enough the ring gear and pinion are permanently damaged, i.e. they can't be adjust to be quiet again.  When I tore down my transaxle, I found the ring gear freeplay was incorrectly set.  I would strongly recommend you remove the tranny and the bell housing, and set the ring gear freeplay properly.

[thehackmechanic]

Well... crap.

[Pfreen]

Btw, I have talked to a number of people with 5 speeds and they all noted a slight whine at slow speeds.  Does yours whine?

[jbcollier]

If you feel lucky, you can wind the new nut in tight, back it out and then back in again until it just snugs up.  There is supposed to be zero preload on used bearings.  You probably won't be any worse off.

Myself, tranny out and do it right.

[edgefinder]

I just now grabbed both output shafts on mine and rotated them together forward and back hard to see how much slack at 28,000 miles. I'm with jb on this one. They probly all need to come apart once and get set up right