It's been a while since I posted, no more LGT

I made a huge mistake in listening to my wife, I should have known better and have paid the price.

It seems the throwout bearing on my LGT froze, broke off the input shaft, input shaft destroyed the clutch assembly and exited through the side of the transmission case. I heard the noise, but she insisted it started when we put new tires on the car, so in a moment of weakness, I let it slide.

Since the car was sitting in pieces at the dealer with a $5k repair bill, I did my best to negotiate a new car. There are a lot of issues in my life at the moment and looking at a rather large repair bill on a vehicle with high miles, we ended up with a Tribeca.

It is a really nice ride, has decent get up and go. Higher clearance than the LGT considering we are moving to snow country. Actually handles pretty well for a smaller SUV type vehicle. MPG blows at 70+.

It cost me the decked out Excursion I was about to buy in the process. I didn't want 2 relatively large payments every month.

Cliff Notes: Listened to my wife, transmission blew apart. Driving a Tribeca now. Tribecas drive and handle well.

Yeah really sorry to hear about this too. Was it under powertrain warranty? If so the dealer should have fixed it. TOBs are known weak link issue.

We're debating the whole Tribeca, OB XT, Forester XT issue. Really think we'd be happier with the Tribeca, since we already have a Legacy GT Wagon (essentially a lowered OB XT) and for the price, we get better utility than the FXT. Seems to be a no-brainer and compared to a full-boat Excursion, you definitely made the right choice, unless you have to haul a lot of people, or tow a lot of weight.

Yeah really sorry to hear about this too. Was it under powertrain warranty? If so the dealer should have fixed it. TOBs are known weak link issue.

 

We're debating the whole Tribeca, OB XT, Forester XT issue. Really think we'd be happier with the Tribeca, since we already have a Legacy GT Wagon (essentially a lowered OB XT) and for the price, we get better utility than the FXT. Seems to be a no-brainer and compared to a full-boat Excursion, you definitely made the right choice, unless you have to haul a lot of people, or tow a lot of weight.

Warranty was out of time. My response was, "Should I have considered a catastrophic failure at 80k miles?" The guy really didn't have a response.

The Tribeca is the wife's car. The Excursion was for me. I gave up a F250 to get the LGT and the Excursion was to replace my truck. No big deal though. I really wanted a 6.0L diesel 250 4-door again, so now I can work on finding one cheap. The new ones don't have the power or the fuel mileage of the 6.0L. So a '04-07? may still be in the works at a later time.

We're going to just have one car for the moment, not sure how well that's going to work.

Yeah - the whole 1-car thing gets old really fast.

BTW - did a quick Autotrader "Excursion Diesel" search (50 miles of PHX) and this was the result

Good luck and enjoy your new Tribeca.

Warranty was out of time. My response was, "Should I have considered a catastrophic failure at 80k miles?" The guy really didn't have a response.

 

The Tribeca is the wife's car. The Excursion was for me. I gave up a F250 to get the LGT and the Excursion was to replace my truck. No big deal though. I really wanted a 6.0L diesel 250 4-door again, so now I can work on finding one cheap. The new ones don't have the power or the fuel mileage of the 6.0L. So a '04-07? may still be in the works at a later time.

 

We're going to just have one car for the moment, not sure how well that's going to work.

Dude i dont know about you, but on my 05 i just got a thing from SOA extending a warrenty on my wheel bearings because the 05s go out often until 100kmiles. You should call them and see if this offer was given to your 05, if it was truely the bearing everything should be fixed becasue they know the bearings go bad.

Throwout bearing has nothing to do with wheel bearings.

Whoops i read that thing in haste lol, i was thinking how the hell did a wheel bearing do that lol

Too bad about your LGT. May she rest in peace.

we will likely get a 7pas Beca for our next car. likely will replace the FXT

This is scary.

These throwout bearings seem to be going. My buddy posted about his going and was a very similar situation.

The problem is that the TOB rides on the transmission snout and grooves it which compromises the integrity of the case and it eventually fractures. Your foot will likely not detect the "drag" that's occuring when you clutch, but it's wearing.

What you need to "fix" this, is one of these (Click). I'm going with the non-Turbo model on my 98 LGT, because the notoriously poor factory TOB is going on a relatively new clutch and will definitely go with one of these (in Turbo-variant) for my 05 LGT if/when things start to sound-off in the bell-housing area.

Shoulda made her pay, plain and simple.

Well, the normal slap her around a little is out of the question. Not risking it after $30K worth of IVF to finally have a kid on the way.

Funny though, 8 months ago I could have paid cash for the Beca, now I'm damn near broke and in debt more than I care to think about. But the kiddo's heart is beating away so it's all good.

Well, the normal slap her around a little is out of the question. Not risking it after $30K worth of IVF to finally have a kid on the way.

 

Funny though, 8 months ago I could have paid cash for the Beca, now I'm damn near broke and in debt more than I care to think about. But the kiddo's heart is beating away so it's all good.

Wow! - congrats and a new little one one the way, worth way more than any car, any day.

This is scary.

 

These throwout bearings seem to be going. My buddy posted about his going and was a very similar situation.

To be honest, it makes a load of noise when it goes. If I'd driven the car more often, maybe I'd have put 2+2 and realized it was something else.

Of the 80k miles, I put make 3k on the car. Which is sad in more ways than one.

Wow! - congrats and a new little one one the way, costs way more than any car, any day.

Fixed

Fixed

Also true x 11ty billion . Just ask me - I'm the father of the "bride".

Yeah, I need to know a little more about this TOB failure issue too... I'm quickly approaching 80k miles, and I really cant afford a new tranny at the moment.

Are there warning signs, am I really supposed to have my tranny pulled apart for the trans snout kit SBT linked even though there doesn't seem to be a problem, or just wait for it to fail, and pay a couple grand for a new tranny...?

Yeah, I need to know a little more about this TOB failure issue too... I'm quickly approaching 80k miles, and I really cant afford a new tranny at the moment.

 

Are there warning signs, am I really supposed to have my tranny pulled apart for the trans snout kit SBT linked even though there doesn't seem to be a problem, or just wait for it to fail, and pay a couple grand for a new tranny...?

Warning signs - yes! Noise, when the clutch is depressed (grinding/crunching sound), and when the clutch is fully engaged (foot off) in neutral and likely in gear (growling/whining noise).

You'll likely hear the latter before you hear the previous. When you hear the growling/whining noise, don't wait, make this mod to the transmission snout and live in relative unconcern going forward. At 80K if you're not hearing anything, I'd say you're one of the lucky ones. May think about a new clutch disk too if the PP and FW are otherwise in good shape.

No, this just fits over the snout and is held in place with set bolts, then the new TOB slides over this stainless steel bushing. No more TOB riding on the soft aluminum alloy snout.

Excellent advice /.

Yes, thank you...

I'd like to install this Snout Repair kit as preventative maintance, but I don't see how it's worth it to have the tranny opened up when my clutch/tranny seem fine...

It holds well in all gears, smooth operating, fine engagement, quiet except when cold (slight whinning under light load, 4th & 5th) & whinning in second gear (normal, AFAIK)...