Backlash in the rear axle of the VAZ 2107

We welcome car enthusiasts of classic VAZ models to the autoblog RtiIvaz.ru! In these videos we will look at the VAZ 2107 gearbox and adjustment. Nikolai Vladimirovich dedicated the video to the owners of rear-wheel drive cars, since today the trend is towards rear axle gearboxes. As a visual aid for repairs and adjustments, we showed the rear axle gearbox of the VAZ 2107, a common domestic car.

The main elements of the gearbox are helical gears of the main gear, the so-called “conic” and “planetary gear”, which make up the main gear pair. The plant produced four versions of the main pairs:

Low-speed, installed on the VAZ 2102. The pair has 9 teeth on the bevel gear and 40 on the planetary gear. The torque transmission number is 4.44, this is a low-speed option. Out of production;
On the VAZ 2101 - the famous “kopek”, the main pair had 10 teeth on the “point” and 43 on the “planetary”, with a gear ratio of 4.3, discontinued;
VAZ 2103, respectively, 10 teeth on the tip and 41 on the planetary gear;
VAZ 2106 - 11 teeth on the “pivot” and 43 on the “planetary”, gear ratio 3.9, is considered a high-speed gearbox.

It should be noted that the main pair with a gear ratio of 4.44 for the VAZ 2102 was, generally speaking, not produced as spare parts and was intended only to complete the VAZ 2102 gearboxes on the factory assembly line.

Differential device

The planetary gear is mounted on the differential housing. The differential consists of two axle gears, two satellites and a pin. The main, most common differential malfunctions are wear of the pinion pin (play) and wear of the splines on the axle gears.

On a car, the play of the pin of the satellites can be determined by turning the driveshaft by a quarter or more; if there is no play, then the shaft practically remains in place when you try to turn it in one direction or another.

It's also worth noting that there is never any noise coming from the differential. When moving forward (in a straight line), the differential rotates as one unit and it turns out that there is simply nothing to make noise there.

The cause of noise from the rear axle gearbox when gas is added and the noise disappears after releasing gas is (almost 99.9%) wear of the teeth of the main pair. This is clearly visible on the removed gearbox. The forward side of the teeth has significant wear, while the reverse side shows little wear.

If, after disassembling and troubleshooting the parts of the main pair, wear of the teeth is detected, then no repair will help and it will simply be a waste of time and money. Only the main pair needs to be replaced.

Home-couple

The gears of the main pair are selected at the factory based on contact patch, noise and other parameters and are marked. For example, on the planetary gears it is stamped - VAZ 2103 (model), 10 41 (gear ratio), 4091 (pair number). The main pair number 4091 is also marked on the bevel gear.

After marking these parts, they became the “main pair” and are not installed one without the other, that is, “family”. “- 6” is also marked on the “tip”; this is an amendment for assembling the main pair in the gearbox. When troubleshooting a differential, its bearings are also checked for wear and, if necessary, replaced. Bearing wear is often caused by unprofessional replacement of the gearbox seal.

For example, after replacing the oil seal, tighten the shank nut without observing the tightening torque (pull as much as possible) and the force is transferred not to the spacer sleeve, but to the differential bearings.

As a result, after a short run after replacing the shank oil seal, noise from the gearbox appears. Only in this case, the “hum” noise in the gearbox is constant and unlike the noise from worn teeth of the main gear. In this case, the hum is constant, regardless of whether gas is added or released.

Rear axle gearbox assembly video

During assembly, the gearbox is adjusted according to 4 parameters:

1. Selection of the adjusting ring

Parameters from 2.6 to 3.5. The ring serves to adjust the depth of engagement of the teeth of the “tip” and “planetary gear”, which is strictly specified. This is where the “correction -6” is needed for this main pair, which was mentioned above. Of course, this amendment will be individual for each main couple.

In this video, the main pair will be adjusted using a special device. It is clear that the vast majority of motorists do not have such a device and this is just a clear example of adjusting the engagement depth parameter. An option will also be given for adjustment without a “device”.

A “device” with a micrometer is also installed on the device, simulating the gear of the main pair. The indicator shows zero. Then the indicator leg is transferred to the bearing bed and in this case the indicator shows a value of 3.25, which is not good, since it should be within the range of 3.0. On the second landing plane it turned out to be 3.45. The arithmetic mean is 3.3. To adjust, we will use the correction at the “tip” - “-6”. In this case (– 3.3) + (-6) = 3.36. The thickness of the adjusting washer required is 3.36 mm. Using a micrometer, select the washer of the required thickness.

Note. When the shank bearing wears out, it begins to rotate on the “tip” body. As a result, the bearing end, adjusting washer and shank gear bodies wear out. It turns out that when replacing the shank oil seal, even with the correct tightening torque, the adjustment of the depth of engagement of the teeth of the gears of the main pair is lost and the “howl” of the pair is ensured, as is its early failure.

Typical gearbox failures and their causes

The rear gearbox of the VAZ 2107 is a reliable device that is very resistant to mechanical wear. However, over time, parts gradually wear out even in the gearbox. And then the driver begins to hear a characteristic crunch or howl heard in the area of the rear axle or in the area of one of the rear wheels. Here's why this happens:

one of the wheels jammed because one of the rear axle shafts was deformed. This happens extremely rarely, usually after a strong blow to one of the wheels. In this case, the axle shaft is so deformed that the wheel cannot rotate normally. If the deformation is insignificant, the wheel will rotate, but when rotating, a characteristic howl will be heard coming from behind the damaged wheel. It is not possible to fix such a breakdown on your own . To straighten the axle shaft, the driver will have to contact specialists;
crunching sound in the gearbox when the car is moving. This is a more common problem that every driver of an old “seven” will face sooner or later. The gearbox begins to crunch after several teeth and splines on the axle shafts wear out in the main gear. If the wear is very severe, the teeth may break. This happens both due to metal fatigue and due to poor lubrication of the gearbox (this is the most likely reason, since the lubricant in the “seven” gearbox often escapes through the breather and through the shank flange, which have never been leak-tight). In any case, such a breakdown cannot be repaired, and gears with broken teeth will have to be replaced;
bearing wear on the axle shaft. This is another reason for the characteristic grinding noise behind the wheel. If the bearing has collapsed, then you cannot drive such a car, since the wheel may simply fall off while driving. The only solution is to call a tow truck and then replace the worn bearing. You can do this either on your own or at a service center.

Device

In order for the car to move, it is necessary to transfer the rotation of the engine to the wheels. But the engine speed is too high, and in order to correctly distribute the torque, a mechanism is needed that changes the gear ratio. Due to the gearbox and different engine speeds, the speed of movement changes, and the main pair of the rear axle takes over the rotation and transmits it to the wheels through gears.

flange, it is fixed on the drive gear (shank) of the RZM, and is an intermediate link between the driveshaft and this gear;
the shank of the main pair, at one end of which there are splines for pressing the flange, at the other end there is a bevel gear with a small number of teeth;
driven gear (planet gear), it is in mesh with the drive gear, and it is with it that it forms the main gear;
center differential, allowing the rear wheels to spin at different angular speeds.

The differential design is very simple - the mechanism consists of two axle gears, two satellites and a satellite pin. From the gearbox, the movement is transmitted to the axle shafts, on which the wheels are mounted.

Design and technical characteristics of the gearbox

The rear gearbox of the VAZ 2107 car consists of a massive steel casing with a shank, a driveshaft flange, two main gears mounted at right angles to each other and a self-locking differential.

Rear gear ratio

The main characteristic of any gear transmission is its gear ratio. It is the ratio of the number of teeth on the driven gear to the number of teeth on the drive gear. The driven gear of the VAZ 2107 rear gearbox has 43 teeth. And the drive gear has 11 teeth. Dividing 43 by 11 we get 3.9. This is the gear ratio on the VAZ 2107 gearbox.

Another important point should be noted here. VAZ 2107 was produced for many years. And over the years, gearboxes with different gear ratios were installed on it. For example, the earliest models of the “seven” were equipped with gearboxes from the VAZ 2103, the gear ratio of which was 4.1, that is, the tooth ratio was 41/10. On later “sevens” the gear ratio changed again and was already 4.3 (43/10) and only in the newest “sevens” this number is 3.9. Due to the above reasons, the driver often has to independently determine the gear ratio of his car. Here's how it's done:

the car is set to neutral gear;
The rear of the car is raised using two jacks. One of the rear wheels is securely fixed;
After this, the driver manually begins to turn the driveshaft of the car. It is necessary to make 10 revolutions;
By rotating the driveshaft, you need to calculate how many revolutions the unfixed rear wheel will make. The number of wheel revolutions should be divided by 10. The resulting number is the gear ratio of the rear gearbox.

Bearings

The rotation of all gears of the gearbox is ensured by bearings. In the rear gearboxes of the VAZ 2107, single-row roller bearings are used on the differential, and the rollers there have a conical shape. Bearing marking is 7707, catalog number is 45–22408936. The price of a bearing on the market today starts from 700 rubles.

Another bearing is installed in the gearbox shank (i.e., in the part that connects to the cardan). This is also a tapered roller bearing marked 7805 and catalog number 6–78117U. Standard VAZ shank bearings today cost from 600 rubles and more.

Differences in VAZ rear axle gearboxes

RZMs differ in the gear ratio of the main pair; in total, there are four types of gearboxes on the VAZ classic:

The slowest one is the RZM 2102, its drive gear has 9 teeth, and the driven gear has 40 teeth. To calculate the gear ratio, you need to divide the number of planetary gear teeth by the number of teeth on the drive shaft; for the VAZ 2102 the drive gear is equal to 4.44.

The “penny” gearbox (2101) accordingly has the number of teeth on the gears 10/43, so its IF is 4.3. The next, faster one is RZM 2103 - it has a ratio of 1041, which means the gear ratio is 4.1. And finally, the “fastest” will be the 2106 gearbox, with the number of teeth 11/43 and an inverter frequency of 3.9, respectively.

Many VAZ 2101-07 owners strive to install the fastest gearbox, but this is not always necessary. If the car often carries cargo, that is, the car is a “workhorse”, high speed is of no use, but high-torque power will be very useful. It should be noted that RZM 2102 was not supplied as spare parts; it was installed only on station wagons.

Higher or lower?

Often, owners of classic Zhiguli cars use replacing the main pair as one of the types of tuning their cars. Which gearbox should I put on the VAZ-2107? It is worth choosing the gear ratio based on the engine power. If you install a pair with a low ratio (for Zhiguli the maximum parameter is 3.9), it will be easier for the car to accelerate to maximum speed. But in the range of 0-100 kilometers per hour, it will lose significant time for acceleration.

If the motor has not been modified, it is better to install a gearbox with a “4.4” ratio. The car will accelerate faster to one hundred kilometers per hour, but it will not go higher than this speed or will pick it up very slowly. Therefore, adjusting the gear ratios is not the only modification for the “seven”. In addition, the motor itself will have to be modified.

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Replacing the rear axle gearbox of VAZ 2106, 2107

The main disease of REM is increased noise (hum), and the gearbox can hum for various reasons:

there is insufficient oil in the bridge, or it is completely missing;
the gap between the gears of the main pair is not adjusted;
the gears are worn out, they have chips and other damage;
the main pair has a manufacturing defect, the gears are not ground in from the factory;
the shank nut has become unscrewed or loosened;
bearings are worn out.

The main malfunction of the center differential is the wear of the gears of the axle shafts and satellites, when the surfaces of the parts are heavily worn, play forms between the differential gears, but the rear axle usually does not make noise due to wear of the differential gears.

ZM gearboxes on VAZ classics can be repaired, but only if there is no wear on the gears. If the mechanism can no longer be repaired, it needs to be replaced. We replace the rear axle gearbox of a VAZ 2106 on a “seven” as follows:

we install the car on a pit or a car lift; changing the gearbox on the ground is extremely inconvenient;
if the car is installed on a pit, it is necessary to jack up both sides; in any case, the rear wheels must be removed. If the work is not done on a lift, you should install stops under each side of the car (in the rear);
unscrew the drain plug in the REM, drain the transmission oil, having previously prepared a container for it;
remove the rear brake drums (two guide bolts on each side), after first removing the car from the handbrake. The drums can be difficult to remove; they are dismantled by tapping them from behind with a hammer through a wooden block. You cannot hit the drum with a metal hammer; the drum may break;
remove the brake pads;
unscrew the fastenings of the rear axle axle shafts on each side, each axle shaft is secured with four nuts;
we press out the axle shafts, for this you will need a special puller, you can also make a homemade device;
remove the driveshaft by unscrewing the four bolts and nuts. If the same REM is installed, the cardan with the shank must be marked; this is done in order to put the shaft back in the same position. If you install the cardan incorrectly according to the marks, the shaft may begin to vibrate;
unscrew the eight bolts securing the rear gearbox (key 13), remove the assembly.

Disassembling the gearbox and replacing satellites

The satellites are additional gears installed in the differential gearbox. Their purpose is to transmit torque to the axle shafts of the rear wheels. Like any other part, pinion gears are subject to wear. After this, they will have to be changed, since this part cannot be repaired. To restore worn teeth, the car owner has neither the necessary skills nor the necessary equipment. In addition, any gear in a car undergoes a special heat treatment - carburization, which is carried out in a nitrogen atmosphere and strengthens the surface of the teeth to a certain depth, saturating this surface with carbon. An ordinary car enthusiast cannot do anything like this in his garage. Therefore, there is only one solution: purchase a repair kit for the rear axle gearbox. It costs about 1500 rubles. Here's what it includes:

a pair of gears for axle shafts;
a pair of satellites for the differential;
satellite axis;
support washer.

In addition to the repair kit for gearboxes, you will also need a set of regular open-end wrenches, a screwdriver and a hammer.

Sequence of operations

To disassemble the gearbox, it is best to use a regular bench vice. Then the work will go much faster.

The gearbox removed from the machine is clamped in a vice in a vertical position.
A pair of adjusting locking bolts are unscrewed from it, under which the locking plates are located.

So, an ordinary car owner is quite capable of removing the gearbox from the rear axle of the “Seven”, disassembling it and replacing its worn parts. There is nothing complicated about this. Certain difficulties may arise only at the stage of adjusting the new gearbox. But you can also deal with them by carefully reading the above recommendations.

Defects in the gearbox

Increased play in the RZM can be formed due to wear of the differential pinion pin - if you grab the driveshaft and rotate it clockwise and counterclockwise, this play can be felt. Also, increased clearance can be formed due to wear of the splines inside the differential housing itself.

If the gaps in the main pair of gearboxes are not adjusted, a characteristic noise occurs when the car moves:

when the load increases (sharp acceleration), a characteristic howl is heard in the bridge;
When I let off the gas the noise goes away.

The engine can hum in a different way, but the characteristic feature described above can most often be heard on VAZ classic cars. Worn teeth of the main pair are clearly visible on the planetary gear - they become rounded, and they often show traces of rust.

Where is the gearbox located?

On the "sevens", as on all representatives of the rear-wheel drive family, the gearbox is located at the rear, under the bottom of the car. It connects the cardan to the VAZ 2107 axle and causes the wheels of the car to rotate. Rotation occurs thanks to axle shafts engaged in the gearbox, which, due to the technical features of the rear axle of the VAZ 2107, will have to be removed later. If the car is lifted, or when viewed from a garage pit, the gearbox is simply impossible not to notice.

Signs and malfunctions of the classic rear axle gearbox

Replacing a gearbox with your own hands is a labor-intensive process, which includes not only the purchase of a new unit (quite expensive), but also time costs. Therefore, before you start, you need to make sure that the gearbox is faulty. You can define the signs like this:

gradually accelerating the car, listen carefully and remember at what moment the noise appears;
while driving, start engine braking (remove your foot from the gas pedal at speed), at this time listen to the gearbox and note the moment the noise appears;
accelerate the "seven" to hundreds, switch to neutral and turn off the engine - listen to how the gearbox behaves while coasting.

Adjusting the VAZ rear axle gearbox

If the main pair in the gearbox is worn out, it must be replaced. But you can’t just put the gears back in place; the gaps in them must be adjusted. In total, two types of basic adjustments are made:

The thickness of the adjusting sleeve (washer) is selected for the shank (drive gear). The washer can have a thickness from 2.6 mm to 3.5 mm;
The gap between the gears of the main pair is adjusted using two adjusting nuts of the differential housing.

The washer for the shank is selected in such a way that the shaft with the drive bevel gear rotates in the gearbox housing without backlash with a force by hand (0.3-0.4 kg). In this case, the shank nut should be tightened with a force of 12 to 26 kg, usually 18-19 kg are tightened.

After installing the shank, the differential housing with the planetary gear attached to it is put in place. The housing is secured with two covers (4 bolts, a knob with a 17mm head). The adjusting nuts are tightened from the sides of the bearings, the differential is installed so that there is play between the gears of the main pair, and the planetary gear should not be clamped. By moving the adjusting nuts to the right and left, the shank gear is brought to the planetary gear. By adjusting, you select the moment when the gap between the gears practically disappears.

The last stage is to adjust the preload of the differential bearings; the adjusting nuts are tightened from the sides. This work must be done with an indicator; the device should show from 0.14 to 0.18 mm, the gap between the gears should be within 0.08-0.13 mm. After the operation, the adjusting nuts are fixed with plates so that they do not turn.

It should be noted that adjusting the VAZ rear axle gearbox is a very difficult matter, and it is better to trust it to professionals.

How to adjust the gearbox without visiting a service center?

The service and repair manual for most cars has tolerance parameters for each component. For example, adjustment of the rear axle gearbox (differential bearings) of classic Zhiguli cars is carried out in the range of 8-13 hundredths of a millimeter. For such work you will need a micrometer and special devices.

With their help, you can actually work in the conditions of the manufacturer's plant, the installation accuracy is no worse than that of the inspection department's quality control inspector. If you are not a car mechanic, there is no point in buying such precision instruments, but a couple of micrometers and a homemade device for making adjustments with your own hands in the garage will not hurt.

Repair or replacement, which is better?

Car owners of VAZ classics often cannot decide what is best to do - buy a complete ready-made REM assembled or purchase individual parts and repair the gearbox. It’s really difficult to decide here - the price of a new gearbox, of course, is higher, but the owner of the car is freed from the headache of adjustment. The thing is that it’s not so easy to find a good specialist in VAZ gearboxes, and there is no guarantee that the new main pair will not hum.

If a car owner buys a new gearbox, but it hums, the part can be exchanged under warranty, but the car owner loses money on removing and installing the gearbox. If you purchase a defective main pair, the repair itself will be more expensive - you will have to pay a technician for a secondary overhaul of the gearbox.

VAZ rear axle gearbox locking

On VAZ 2101-07 vehicles, the factory does not provide locking of the center differential, but the industry already produces both differentials with locks and fully assembled 3M gearboxes. The most common today are REMs with screw locking; in them, the differential gears are locked depending on the load. In such rear axle gearboxes, a preload clutch is installed, it connects the wheel axle shafts with a certain force, and acts as a blocker.

Locking the VAZ rear axle gearbox provides the following advantages:

increases cross-country ability, allows the vehicle to avoid slipping on difficult road sections;
allows the car to accelerate faster at the start;
The car corners more confidently.

But ZM gearboxes with screw locking also have their disadvantages:

Fuel consumption increases slightly;
when accelerating, the car handles worse;
The differential and assembled gearbox with locking are much more expensive than standard parts (the price is approximately 2-2.5 times higher).

VAZ 2101-07 car owners should know that after installing the RZM with blocking, the car will not become an SUV, and it will not be able to move on severe off-road conditions.

Nut tightening

Now the most important point is tightening the nut. To properly tighten the nut, you need to do the following preparatory work:

hang up the rear of the car;
Remove the rear wheels and brake drums.

Tighten the nut until you feel a slight stop. Thus, we brought the bearings to the new spacer, but we had some play in the flange. He must be. This is normal with a new spacer. We tighten the nut 10-20 degrees and check the play. Tighten the nut until there is no play. Next, we check the force to break the flange using a digital scale. We insert the “ear” of the scale into the hole on the flange and pull it at a right angle. The breaking force should be within 1.5 kg. If the force is less than 1.5 kg, tighten the nut literally by degree and control the force.

The tightening torque of the nut should be from 12 to 26 kg/m when the required force is achieved. If, after eliminating the flange play, the force is significantly more than 1.5 kg, then you have received a defective spacer sleeve.

Next we reassemble:

We fasten the cardan according to the marks;
Fill in new oil (you need to pour oil with API GL-4/GL-5 approvals, volume 1.5 liters);
We install brake drums and wheels.

The process of replacing the rear axle gearbox seal of a VAZ 2107 is clearly shown in this video: