Torrington Bearing

[obis88]

Greetings all,

As I was driving home from work yesterday I noticed a high pitch whine coming from the tranny when it downshifted to a lower gear or under high revs. I was concerned so I immediately took it to a Pontiac dealer and one of their mechanics did a test ride with me. He heard the noise and said it was probably the torrington bearing. He said they would have to drop the pan and see if there were any other metal parts to see the extent of what was wrong. What exactly is a torrington bearing and has anyone else had this issue? The car has a little over 72,000 miles on it. I asked the service guy what the cost would be on a worst case scenario and he said if I needed a new tranny it could run near $3,000! OUCH! Apparently they have to take alot of the tranny apart to get to this bearing so it will cost a bit anyway. Just wanted to know if anyone had this issue.

[clm2112]

A Torrington bearing is a type of roller bearing that looks like your typical Lazy Susan in the kitchen. It works like a flat washer, seperating two spinning parts or to take up clearance between the casing and a spinning part. Works to keep the wear down when used as a thrust bearing. It gets it's name from the company that came up with the idea, which is named for the town in Connecticut where the company was based.


Looks like this:



In the transmission, there's one between the input carrier and the reaction carrier (sun gears)...ther's probably more of them in there as well.

[Jrs3800]

There are several of those inside the trans... But it sits in its own little plate almost like a sealed unit, but there is just enough to allow the fluid to flow into the bearing... And yes you have to take the trans apart to get to them... If you have to go in that far then you might just as well go for a solid rebuild..

[obis88]

Ok, well I am dropping the car off this afternoon. I'll let you all know what comes of this. With this economic situation, it isn't the best time for something like this to happen. But what are you going to do, right? If it needs to be fixed then so be it. Alot cheaper than buying a new car! Thanks for the insight on this bearing.

[Jrs3800]

No problem... Let us know what the outcome is when you get it fixed..

[obis88]

Well my car was fixed. The torrington bearing needed to be replaced but also a few other parts. The shaft that comes out and goes into the wheel is not supposed to move up and down at all. It is supposed to be completely tight. Well that was moving and causing fluid to leak out. They needed to see what other damage there was and if metal shavings were in the tranny. They had to replace several parts but not a complete rebuild. Along with labor, it cost me $2100!

While they were doing that they noticed the front engine mount was bad. I had replaced that once already in early 2007! But he showed it to me in the garage and sure enough, it had torn again. The mechanic said GM made an error developing that. He said they should have used 2 motor mounts instead of just one. It's a common proble in these cars. You have a V8 engine w/FWD and they use only 1 engine mount up front. A defintie weakness.

I also had a water pump leaking so they replaced that as well.

I figured I'd have the AC serviced as well while it was in there since I had never had it looked at before in 4 years. No problems with the AC....just serviced.

The total bill for everything came to $2700. It took the Pontiac place 3 days to finish because one of their tranny mechanics had surgery and so only one guy was able to do it. And because of that, Pontiac picked up the tab for most of my rental vehicle as well which I thought was nice of them. Still, I wasn't expecting to have to shell out that kind of money. On the positive side, it's still cheaper than a new car and the water pump is guaranteed for life. Not that it will last forever but I will always get a free replacement when the next one goes.

I asked the guy if there was something I might have done to cause that shaft to loosen up or the bearing to go and he said no. There is alot of stress on those transmissions and sometimes things go. I have driven the car pretty hard at times but I am always up on the maintenance. For those of you that remember, I bought the car while working at the embassy in Berlin, Germany and drove it on the autobahn for 2 years. Lots of fun and never had a problem in those 2 years. I'll keep her as long as she'll run. I have nearly 73,000 miles now and she's been all over Germany and from Key West to LA in the states. Always use synthetic oil. Other than a K&N filter and cross drilled rotors, she is stock. Even the exhaust is the original. The original fog lamps have never been touched and both work but I rarely use them. The intermediate steering shaft was replaced under warranty a couple years ago and I am only on my second set of tires (the originals and now the set I have) and they have alot of life left since I rotate them regularly. The GXP is a fine car. It has it's quirks but what catr doesn't. She has alot of luxury, it's easy to drive, all the electronics have always worked. Nothing has gone out and left me stranded anywhere. Overall I have been very pleased with the car. Now let's see how I like a G8 GXP when they come on the market!

[00Beast]

Glad to hear it is fixed and good as new. These pontiacs are some of the best cars on the road, hands down.