Who knows about differentials?
Discussion
Hope someone can give me an opinion on this -
I bought a cheapie e30 bmw from the bay, the only thing wrong with it seems to be that the diff is making a hideous noise. At first I thought it sounded like a cross between a wheel bearing and a pebble stuck in the brakes or something. The noise gets louder and higher pitched depending on the speed of the car. It didn't seem connected to what gear it was in or engine load in any way.
Today I got the back end up in the air and had a good poke around - the outside of the diff is wet with oil, and I can reproduce the noise by putting it in any gear above 2nd at idle and letting the wheels spin in mid air. Holding either of the wheels still has no easily noticeable effect on the noise.
Draining the oil out of it, only about 1/3 of a litre came out (holds 0.9L according to book). I filled it with new stuff (it took the full L) which made it a bit quieter but still a very long way away from being acceptable. Now that the main screech is quieter I can hear that there is a deeper noise as well that is related to engine load.
So the question is - is this diff going to be recon-able? Any other advice, ideas? Its my first car with a separate diff so they're a bit of a mystery to me!!
Cheers
Neil
I bought a cheapie e30 bmw from the bay, the only thing wrong with it seems to be that the diff is making a hideous noise. At first I thought it sounded like a cross between a wheel bearing and a pebble stuck in the brakes or something. The noise gets louder and higher pitched depending on the speed of the car. It didn't seem connected to what gear it was in or engine load in any way.
Today I got the back end up in the air and had a good poke around - the outside of the diff is wet with oil, and I can reproduce the noise by putting it in any gear above 2nd at idle and letting the wheels spin in mid air. Holding either of the wheels still has no easily noticeable effect on the noise.
Draining the oil out of it, only about 1/3 of a litre came out (holds 0.9L according to book). I filled it with new stuff (it took the full L) which made it a bit quieter but still a very long way away from being acceptable. Now that the main screech is quieter I can hear that there is a deeper noise as well that is related to engine load.
So the question is - is this diff going to be recon-able? Any other advice, ideas? Its my first car with a separate diff so they're a bit of a mystery to me!!
Cheers
Neil
Edited by buggalugs on Wednesday 16th January 17:11
agent006 said:
stevieturbo said:
A used replacement unit would probably be cheaper than rebuilding yours with a new crownwheel and pinion.
Almost definitely. Unless you want an E30 LSD then you'll pay between £100 and £200 for an open diff.
Cheers for the input guys 
agent006 said:
buggalugs said:
Am I reading that right, £1-200 for a non LSD diff? ah, feck. This car is becoming less cheap now Cheers for the input guys
Rebuild will be twice that at most professionals. Cheers for the input guys 
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