Noisy Diff Following refurb

[nigelj77]

I had the BTR diff from my 98 450 refurbed a few weeks ago, new bearings and seals, the company doing the work commented on it not having any backlash when it was delivered and as a result wouldnt guarantee the crownwheel and pinion but adjusted the backlash back to what it should be. I was on holiday at the time so my mate who's garage were removing then refitting it agreed they should reassmble with the previously agreed parts.

I've only driven it a couple of times since but at around 40 - 50 mph I'm detecting a grumbling wining type noise so am fearing that it should have had a crownwheel and pinion while it was apart.

Anybody had this done and if so what was the cost?

I've tried calling the place that did the refurb but cant get through, suspect they are out to lunch......

[nigelj77]

Thanks for the reply Barretti, I wish it were that simple.....

I watched the oil go back into the diff at my mates garage, I spoke to the diff repairer, he said as it had run with zero backlash it would have worn a pattern onto the meshed gears, he suggested giving it 1000 miles and it may settle down again, if not it's going to end up around £900 all in to drop it out the car, have the gears swapped etc, great news, had it been changed at the time it would have been more like £400.......

[nigelj77]

I wish I'd taken that route from the start but the refurb seemed like a cheaper option.

I'd be surprised if they were as cheap as £900 fitted, i think they were £880 + £50 delivery when last listed on ebay then theres in the region of 4 or 5 hours labour to swap them over.

In hindsight the new Malaysian diffs they had would have been my best option, at least the sun is out so I can start on the 1000 miles to try to quieten it down.

[nigelj77]

Phazed & Siliconekid I'll enquire what central want for supply only of a diff, I saw they offered a conversion to replace the gkn diff with a btr and brackets for £1100

Spaceman, the refurb place say it had zero backlash (that may well mean almost zero) I've had the car about a year and only had the diff refurbed due to it leaking oil, it felt fine and sounded fairly quiet. They claim they adjusted the backlash to the correct level for this diff. What I believe may have happened is if it has run for a long time without the correct setting the shape of the meshed gears has altered slightly, it would be nice to think it settled back down as they suggest but I'm not that hopeful tbh.

Pretty bl**dy fed up tbh :-(

[nigelj77]

Portzi, not sure on the diff pricing, somebody else had made the comment, looks like £1100 + vat for the replacement of a GKN diff and looks like that excludes fitting.

The mate who did the removal and refitting isnt a TVR bloke but in fairness dropping a diff out isnt that far removed from removing a diff from any rwd independednt suspension car so I'm not overly worried.

Yes the refurb company are Lancashire based, is that a concern, I was reccommended them by somebody on here???

[nigelj77]

TVR Beaver, thanks for the info, I would hope that it was inspected with engineers blue like you suggest, thats what I would have done had I had the bottle to pull it apart but hearing how hard the bearings can be to remove I left it to the experts.

I suppose how long it takes to bed back in will depend how long it's run with the wrong backlash.

I was on holiday at the time the diff was dont so my mate made the decission to reassemble the diff with the same gears after talking to John, I still dont know what my decision would have been, the diff was fairly quiet before so I think I'd have assumed it would be the same when it wnet back together.

At least the sun is out so I'm enjoying running it back in and worst case it's £8-900 to put it right as I look out the office window I forgive it all the money it costs me....

[nigelj77]

Update on my noisy diff following it being refurbished, I'm now 350 miles through the 1000 that many sources have suggested should settle it down.

So far the diff isn't quietening down, this weekend I've done about 130 miles in the car and after a long run the diff seems to sound even worse than normally, I'm wondering if the temperature is thinning the oil and therefore there's no cushioning effect between the gears.

Opinions would be appreciated on whether after 350 it should be settling down at all, as I say at the moment if anything I think it's sounding worse.

The gentleman who did the diff refurb is currently on holiday but back next week so I'm planning to also speak to him to see what he thinks is going on.

Cheers.