DRIVELINE CONCUNDRUM

[Thomas Pekar]

i HAVE A 23 tTOURING. the only modification was to install disc brakes which are wonderful,
last fall i pulled away from a stop sign and I heard WHAM and i ceased forward motion the engine was running I had no forward or reverse gear. When we got the T back to the garage opened the transmission cover finding the low gear pedal shaft had broken ,not surprised for 99 year old metal fatigue. I have seen one other example . I decided not to rebuild but replace the motor.
before hooking up the new motor I decided to spin the driveshaft to align the square and guess what it spun freely at the u joint. it should not have been able to spin. I raised the rear end so the tires were not touching. Each wheel was able to be turned by hand and the driveshaft did not turn at the u joint . Nor did each rear wheel turn in the opposite direction to each other.
first suspect ;broken or missing woodruff key at the wheel hub. i was able to insert a wire 1/2 inch on both sides suggesting the keys were in place.
second suspicion; the woodruff key on the pinion gear is shared off,
there is no sound of metal grating or grinding.
I am asking for help to diagnose the problem before i start tearing everything down. sincerely your friend model T tom

[TWrenn]

Well if it were me I'd tear it ALL down anyway so then you know exactly what you've got in there, and can react accordingly. Not that difficult to yank the driveline/rear axle assembly and open it up. It's just a gooey mess from the pumpkin lube crud! Good luck and have fun. You'll be glad you did in the end.
A side note, on my former '12 CRP/U I took out the rear end just to change a leaky pumpkin gasket, glad I did 'cause lo and behold there I discovered a cracked inner bearing sleeve, just waiting to disintegrate and do more damage.

[MichaelPawelek]

What color is the oil in the differential? If it is a silvery grayish your thrust washers may have disintegrated to the point the ring and pinion gears no longer mesh.

No matter what the problem I believe the differential needs to come apart.

[Scott_Conger]

I certainly hope you are keeping the original engine with the car...

If it was running fine before, it would run fine after the pedal shaft was replaced...

[speedytinc]

Sounds like a sheared pinion key. If stock gears, the D/S can be removed from the axle without completely tearing it down. That would be my first look. If thats not it, you are still moving in the right direction. Your rear end still needs to come out or the motor moved forward or removed. I have seen a ring gear with all bolts sheared, but there was a lot more noise when running. When up, did you pull on the wheels looking for a broken axle?

[Jerry VanOoteghem]

Doesn't matter too much what happened. It's broke and needs to come apart.

[Stu Tomlinson]

Many years ago I experienced a T coasting to a stop with no reaction from any of the pedals. I had a broken axle shaft that caused this problem. When they break it is usually just inside the outer wheel roller bearing.
Stu

[DickC]

Could it be a broken drive shaft? I had this happen to a 1920 I owned. I was driving up a slight grade and the car started to jerk (or seemed to throb). I soon realized I had no forward movement, no reverse and no brakes. To shorten this story, I found the drive shaft broken under the race at the rear end. Why it broke I have no idea except possibly a flaw in the shaft that finally showed up. Being inside the race one would think it broke at the strongest place on the shaft.