DEX210 - Potential Gear Diff Issue

[FrogPrince82]

Hi Oople Fans,

During my last club meeting I went backwards into a wall quite hard, hitting it square on the rear of the car. It carried on but now makes an odd noise while running, particularly when on power.

Initially I thought it could have been the pinion/spur alignment but on checking this all appears ok and the noise doesn't appear to come from here when free spinning the wheels.

I've been told it may be the diff, but am unsure what to look for in the ways of damage? I have a gear diff and the noise does come from this area. I was wondering if anyone has experienced similar or could advice on what to look out for in assessing any damage before I open the rear of the car up?

Thanks in advance.

[jo90]

Have you opened the gear box yet to check

Layshaft bearing
Idler Teeth
Diff teeth

?

Are any damaged, broken ?

[/tobys]

A racing buddy of mine had a bearing collapse on the layshaft (spring side); without the pinion it span OK but when meshed up the spur was like a fiddlers elbow! Safe to say that it wasn't as quiet as it usually was!!

If you had a big shunt I suppose it could have done something similar...

HTH

[AfroP]

didnt realise you had a gear diff in
I would definately strip down the gear box and have a look and make sure nothing is bust
possibly the bump you took drained the oil out the diff or something

[FrogPrince82]

Thanks for the info.

I have now taken the whole gearbox apart and I couldn't see any broken or cracked parts

It was running very tight with a noticable "notchiness" at a particular point when turning the gears. I removed the whole lot, regreased and then rebuilt it.

Now everything seems to be ok, if still a little tight (but not as bad as before), but nothing worse than when new so hopefully this will loosen up with some running.

Hopefully it will all prove ok this Sunday as Seaham

[jo90]

I found I had rebuilt mine to tight once. The screws that hold the diff halves on can easilly be tightend up to much.

Best way to check this I have found is to build your diff, but don;t screw up the screws very very tight. Push down on the casing, then tighten the screws until they hold the casing on. thorougly clean the case of any oil. Now leave it for 15 minutes resting on one side. Check after if there is any oil seapage. If none turn over and rest for 15 mins on the other side. If there is then nip the screws up about a 1/4 turn, clean and rest again. After a while you will get used to how tight the screws go to so it will cut down the intial time of rebuild. You may still get a bit of oil come out in use, but don't forget your spining the diff at high RPM...it's inevitable with pretty much any diff it will seep some oil.

you will also notice that the gears sit together better and aren't as tight.

Hope that helps.

[FrogPrince82]

That's a big help, cheers! I always worry if it's too tight or not enough but I guess, as you say, it will be easier to judge after a few rebuilds.

Thanks again for all the help.