Archangel1183

I bought my xA about 7 months ago and it's had a loud drive-train since I bought it.
It needed a clutch job and I thought the noise would go away after a new flywheel and clutch kit, but it didn't.
The clutch release bearing was replaced twice thinking that was the problem. I think it's the transmission input shaft bearing.

Has anyone with a manual xA or xB had problems with a bearing in the tranny?

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Jan06xB

Coast in neutral with the engine off to see if it is the input shaft or the rest of the tranny, the noise should also stop with the clutch pressed and tranny in any gear since that stops the input shaft from spinning also

Archangel1183

Thanks for the info. I'll give those a try.

Archangel1183

I just want to update this. I had the tranny checked out and everything looked good as far as all the gears and synchros. I had all the bearings replaced and the noise went away. One of the bearings was broken and another was really loud and wobbly. I believe the one making the loud noise was the main shaft bearing.

Archangel1183

Here's a couple pictures of the bearings. First one has all the bearing that were replaced and the 2nd has the 2 bad bearings. The one responsible for all the noise was the biggest one in the 2nd pic.

Sciota

Thank you for this, I have had a noisy transmission for some time, and as of recently it was binding up , and not shifting. I have it up on jack-stands and am pulling it out today. I will see what is going on in there, but I suspect that it is bearings as well.

Archangel1183

I'm glad that this thread was able to help someone. I couldn't find any information when I had the issue. I sold my Scion XA and bought a used 2013 Honda Fit. A month later I traded it in for a 2016 Honda HR-V. Despite it being a "fancier" car with many more bells and whistles, I really miss my XA. :/

Sciota

Got the transmission out today without dropping the sub frame. Wow, when i turn the input shaft by hand I am wondering how this thing even turns. lol Pulled the first cover off today, and everything there looks OK. I'm going to research how to take the rest of it apart tonight.They are surprisingly rare and expensive to replace, compared to an automatic. this would be the perfect car if i could figure out how to swap out 5th gear to about 2k rpm at 80mph.

crimpshrine

Can you tell me what you ended up doing with your transmission?
I've got a rattle kinda noise that stops when I push down on the clutch pedal.
Thanks

Archangel1183

That sounds like the clutch release/throw out bearing. There are several videos on YouTube that you can compare the noise to.

https://youtu.be/Kij4p1Ir0PE

Sciota

Mine was the input shaft large bearing that finally exploded. The best I can explain, it was like road noise from tires but deeper in the car, and worse when I stepped on the gas in gear. When the bearing went I was hauling a loaded trailer up a hill, heard and felt it go, I instantly pushed in the clutch and pulled over.

I replaced the shaft bearings pictured and it is as good as new now, and no noise.

The noise was constant while under torque, clutch in or out while in neutral did not effect it.

Here are the pics of the broken transmission and replacement parts I Installed. I also installed a new input shaft seal since it is only acessable from the inside of the transmission.

Archangel1183

That's exactly how mine sounded. The noise seemed to get louder and faster based on the RPM's.

crimpshrine

So how long from when the noises started until it blew? Did you do the work yourself?
Mine has a rattle that only stops pushing the clutch fully in.
Same winding up roar as RPMs increase.
Been like this for about 6 months, doesn't seem to be getting worse.

Sciota

My noise didn't have anything to do with the clutch pedal in or out, only when transmission was engaged in gear and driving. It could be your clutch throw-out bearing? I wonder if it is disengaging all the way? Mine got progressively noisier over about 9 months. I did all the work myself because the shop wanted around 2k for the job. I learned a lot, but wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they have patience and correct tools. I had to buy a few new pullers and such. It was up in the air for 4 weeks while I took it apart and then ordered the parts. It would be much easier to replace the clutch.

crimpshrine

I've looked at some of the videos for throwout bearing. So either people have a noise that goes away when they just lightly step on the clutch pedal, or its quiet at idle and screams when they push the clutch. Mine doesn't go away until pedal all the way down, which leads me to believe that it could be input bearing. I wish it'd hold out until it was clutch time anyway. No way I could replace the bearings myself so might be cheaper just to swap another tranny in. Unfortunately the 5spds are not easy to find or cheap like the autos.
Another weird thing is that its much louder at night. Maybe the extra load on the engine from lights and running the ac at the same time (hot florida nights). Or could be its just more quiet outside making it easier to hear. Not sure.

Sciota

You could drain your trans fluid and see how it looks? Also, have someone push and release clutch while you are outside listening.... I hope its not your trans, but the input bearing seems to be the weak point in these manual transmissions, and yes they are hard to find that's why i rebuilt mine It was at 230k.

crimpshrine

I was thinking about changing fluid just to see if it makes any difference. I've only got about 8k on the MT90 thats in there now. What fluid do you run?

Sciota

MT 90? I thought the XA had a c60. I have reg. gear oil now to break it in, but I am switching to a full synthetic.

crimpshrine

Redline MT90 gear oil

TimmyJ

so I have the same issue on my 04 xb, pretty sure it's the shaft bearings, but my local trans shop says it's a unicorn transmission and that parts are also hard to come by. So where can I source the bearings?