The transaxle failure that occurred in Bozeman was traced to a seized stub axle in the differential bearing assembly. The 284 transaxle uses a jackshaft configuration that uses unequal-length intermediate axles to connect to equal-length halfshafts. This is done to minimize torque-steer. The intermediate axle on the right (jackshaft) side is about two feet long and inside a large aluminum housing. The left side is about four inches, and looks like this:
Due to being low on transmission fluid caused by a leaking axle seal, this axle fused itself to the differential bearing because of inadequate lubrication. Extracting it from the transaxle required the use of a 12-ton hydraulic press and splitting the transaxle in half. The shiny part in the middle was smeared with aluminum bearing material that had to be removed on a lathe by a machine shop. The resulting opened transaxle looked like this:
Getrag 284 disassembly (2)
Getrag 284 disassembly (2)
Such a mess, and such a waste of an extremely rare and irreplaceable transaxle that self-destructed because of a $10 seal.
Here is an article by another guy who tried to take apart a 284 in a Chrysler/Maserati TC.
Best advice I can give is NEVER, NEVER, NEVER try it….rumored to be unserviceable by anyone but the factory, those rumors as it turns out are pretty much true.
http://www.turbododge.com/forums/f4/f22/98898-finally-opened-284-tc-trans.html