Metal ball on the tranny drain plug magnet. What gives? - Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community

Molez93 · 04-06-2020, 07:55 PM

Any ideas what the heck is going on here?
I found a small metal ball (ball bearing?) on the tranny drain plug along with the expected metallic sludge. I took a picture of that ball next to my key (for sizing). That pic and a screenshot of a transmission schematic are included here. There are a couple "possible" sources of that ball based on the schematic, but without taking the case apart have zero idea what the likely (typical?) source would be for the one on the magnet. More importantly, is this going to become a big deal?

The gear box has never given me any problems in a little more than 1.5 years of ownership, including ~100 autocross runs, ~6 track days, and ~9000 miles total. The 1-2 cold shift was never great, but it always got better after a few miles of driving.

Thank for any ideas you have!

Infinity · 04-06-2020, 08:21 PM

I don't have an answer for you, but that would make me super nervous!

Mr.ac · 04-06-2020, 08:35 PM

A big wtf from me too.
Did you hear it drop into the pan or was the ball bearing already in the pan?

Molez93 · 04-06-2020, 09:36 PM

I heard nothing. The time had simply come to refresh the drivetrain fluids. Was just cleaning off the drain plug, checking out the sludge and found it. I've never replaced/drained my own tranny or diff fluid before, but the transmission fluid was definitely in worse shape than the differential.

Grady · 04-06-2020, 09:52 PM

If the transmission is working fine, forget about it and keep driving.
Your other 2 options are to lose sleep worrying about it or start doing exploratory and disassemble the transmission.

Molez93 · 04-06-2020, 09:58 PM

I already shopped for used trannys on eBay. $500 and an opportunity to do my first transmission swap if it fails... could be worse. I'm definitely prepared to just drive it- heck, I was already.

Would be nice to know wtf happened though.

86TOYO2k17 · 04-06-2020, 11:59 PM

If it was an auto id have a good guess.

Just do a couple hard pulls back to back, if it still works fine after that. Free weight reduction?

alan.chalkley · 04-07-2020, 02:52 AM

Lucky you got it out before it took a ride through the gears!

Code Monkey · 04-07-2020, 07:25 AM

You will need a new transmission, sooner rather then later, linky.

Molez93 · 04-07-2020, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Code Monkey

You will need a new transmission, sooner rather then later, linky.

Thanks for that. Interesting and possibly helpful- consistent with my expectation at this point at least.

Grady · 04-07-2020, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by solidsnake11

Maybe it got dropped during assembly and they installed another. Now you have a spare.

That is a large possibility, especially if this is the first change.

Molez93 · 04-07-2020, 12:43 PM

Decent chance it’s the first change. Bought it from the second owner with 32k on all but the engine (that had 70k+). It saw a lot of autocross and track time with them, and still with me.
It’s the only twin I’ve spent any real time driving, other than 20 min in my friend’s FRS. Seems to shift the same as that one from what I can recall.

sneaky_pete · 04-08-2020, 05:27 PM

thankfully they put magnetic plugs in the gearbox!

soundman98 · 04-08-2020, 05:43 PM

totalled. time to buy a civic.

04-06-2020, 07:55 PM	#1
Molez93 Scott M Join Date: Jul 2018 Drives: '13 BRZ (DocWalt's old car) Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 78 Thanks: 20 Thanked 34 Times in 29 Posts Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Metal ball on the tranny drain plug magnet. What gives? Any ideas what the heck is going on here? I found a small metal ball (ball bearing?) on the tranny drain plug along with the expected metallic sludge. I took a picture of that ball next to my key (for sizing). That pic and a screenshot of a transmission schematic are included here. There are a couple "possible" sources of that ball based on the schematic, but without taking the case apart have zero idea what the likely (typical?) source would be for the one on the magnet. More importantly, is this going to become a big deal? The gear box has never given me any problems in a little more than 1.5 years of ownership, including ~100 autocross runs, ~6 track days, and ~9000 miles total. The 1-2 cold shift was never great, but it always got better after a few miles of driving. Thank for any ideas you have! Attached Images __________________ 13 BRZ (STX prep) 14 Lotus Evora S 06 BMW Z4M Roadster, 01 740i

04-06-2020, 08:35 PM	#3
Mr.ac [insert cool phrase here] Join Date: Aug 2015 Drives: BRZ Premium Location: Central Coast CA Posts: 2,369 Thanks: 709 Thanked 1,558 Times in 930 Posts Mentioned: 30 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	A big wtf from me too. Did you hear it drop into the pan or was the ball bearing already in the pan? __________________ New daily driver - Subaru BRZ Premium Weekend fun/track car - '91 MR2 Turbo Gen3 Old daily driver - '88 MR2 Supercharged

04-06-2020, 09:36 PM	#4
Molez93 Scott M Join Date: Jul 2018 Drives: '13 BRZ (DocWalt's old car) Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 78 Thanks: 20 Thanked 34 Times in 29 Posts Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	I heard nothing. The time had simply come to refresh the drivetrain fluids. Was just cleaning off the drain plug, checking out the sludge and found it. I've never replaced/drained my own tranny or diff fluid before, but the transmission fluid was definitely in worse shape than the differential. __________________ 13 BRZ (STX prep) 14 Lotus Evora S 06 BMW Z4M Roadster, 01 740i

04-06-2020, 09:58 PM	#6
Molez93 Scott M Join Date: Jul 2018 Drives: '13 BRZ (DocWalt's old car) Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 78 Thanks: 20 Thanked 34 Times in 29 Posts Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	I already shopped for used trannys on eBay. $500 and an opportunity to do my first transmission swap if it fails... could be worse. I'm definitely prepared to just drive it- heck, I was already. Would be nice to know wtf happened though. __________________ 13 BRZ (STX prep) 14 Lotus Evora S 06 BMW Z4M Roadster, 01 740i Last edited by Molez93; 04-06-2020 at 10:14 PM.

04-07-2020, 12:43 PM	#12
Molez93 Scott M Join Date: Jul 2018 Drives: '13 BRZ (DocWalt's old car) Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 78 Thanks: 20 Thanked 34 Times in 29 Posts Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Decent chance it’s the first change. Bought it from the second owner with 32k on all but the engine (that had 70k+). It saw a lot of autocross and track time with them, and still with me. It’s the only twin I’ve spent any real time driving, other than 20 min in my friend’s FRS. Seems to shift the same as that one from what I can recall. __________________ 13 BRZ (STX prep) 14 Lotus Evora S 06 BMW Z4M Roadster, 01 740i

04-06-2020, 08:21 PM	#2
Infinity Senior Member Join Date: May 2016 Drives: 2016 Scion FR-S Location: Maryland Posts: 173 Thanks: 49 Thanked 39 Times in 29 Posts Mentioned: 2 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	I don't have an answer for you, but that would make me super nervous!

04-06-2020, 11:59 PM	#7
86TOYO2k17 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Drives: 2017 toyota 86 Location: PNW Posts: 2,131 Thanks: 336 Thanked 1,188 Times in 781 Posts Mentioned: 16 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	If it was an auto id have a good guess. Just do a couple hard pulls back to back, if it still works fine after that. Free weight reduction?

04-07-2020, 02:52 AM	#8
alan.chalkley Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Drives: 4wd zooks Location: Sydney / Australia Posts: 495 Thanks: 135 Thanked 167 Times in 108 Posts Mentioned: 1 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Lucky you got it out before it took a ride through the gears!

04-07-2020, 07:25 AM	#9
Code Monkey Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Drives: Subaru BRZ Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 838 Thanks: 868 Thanked 562 Times in 337 Posts Mentioned: 4 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	You will need a new transmission, sooner rather then later, linky.

04-08-2020, 05:27 PM	#13
sneaky_pete Member Join Date: Jun 2018 Drives: MY14 86 GTS Manual Velocity Orange Location: Australia Posts: 77 Thanks: 4 Thanked 49 Times in 26 Posts Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	thankfully they put magnetic plugs in the gearbox!

04-08-2020, 05:43 PM	#14
soundman98 ProCrastinationConsultant Join Date: Sep 2013 Drives: '14 Ranger, '18 Tacoma 4Dr LB Location: chicago-ish Posts: 11,330 Thanks: 35,240 Thanked 13,673 Times in 6,781 Posts Mentioned: 98 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	totalled. time to buy a civic. __________________ "The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time"

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