Knackered diff

[taylormj4]

Had a clonking noise from the rear when going from drive to over-run and vice versa. Car was going in for a service anyhow so asked for it to be looked at, suspecting diff bushes (even though only done 2 years ago) but bad news....the diff is knackered.

Never heard of anyone on the forums knackering a diff. The really bad news is a new one is close to £2000 !
The garage offered a refurbed diff option but that is nearly £1800 so doesn't seem a good idea.

Has anyone knackered a diff before ?
Any other options worth considering ?

Thanks.

[hillclimbmanic]

Which diff do you have fitted? I'm assuming you're talking about your Chimaera?

ETA. There are BTR diffs on Ebay, for £900, new...

eBay item number:272231024450

Edited by hillclimbmanic on Friday 13th May 07:57

Edited by hillclimbmanic on Friday 13th May 07:57

[77racing]

taylormj4 said:

The garage offered a refurbed diff option but that is nearly £1800

Has anyone knackered a diff before ?
Any other options worth considering ?

Thanks.

Yep I have had to sort a diff out before , so have many on here.

Options are buy a good second hand one on the bay £350-£450
recon at a reputable dealer , not sure how much but never heard of it being any where near as much as £1,800

[Pupp]

First thing to establish is the diagnosis is a reasonable one - if it's a BTR diff, try changing the fluid to Morris Lodexol 80w-140; this is a reformulation of the originally specced Mobil product and has cured many diff clunk caused by using the wrong fluid (correct fluids are critical to proper operation of these units).

John Reid at Grantura Engineering is well worth a natter with to get a second opinion on knackeredness (or not); and for a much more cost-effective rebuild if it does prove to be in need.

[taylormj4]

Thanks for replies.
It's a 1997 partial-face-lift model (front facelift and mirror door-openers but old style rear lights) so I thought it was a GKN diff but I could be wrong.

The prices include labour and VAT. The garage is a well-known TVR garage.

Is the BTR unit the older version ?

[Andy_mr2sc]

taylormj4 said:

Thanks for replies.
It's a 1997 partial-face-lift model (front facelift and mirror door-openers but old style rear lights) so I thought it was a GKN diff but I could be wrong.

The prices include labour and VAT. The garage is a well-known TVR garage.

Is the BTR unit the older version ?

As above speak to John Reid at Grantura Engineering. He rebuilt my diff 18 months ago for around £450/500. Ok I had to take it out and re fit but a 'specialist' has the right tools to do this reasonably quickly (not £1300 worth of labour!) A lot of 'specialists' send their gearboxes and diffs to John anyway.

[stesrg]

Just had my diff and box done by John @ grantura cant wait to get them in :-0 photo on faceboog griff section .
Ste .

[Pupp]

taylormj4 said:

Thanks for replies.
It's a 1997 partial-face-lift model (front facelift and mirror door-openers but old style rear lights) so I thought it was a GKN diff but I could be wrong.

Is the BTR unit the older version ?

BTR is the later type - could be either on that age of car; mine was a 97 facelift with Fiesta lights but has a BTR - stick a camera under it and take a pic of the backplate; will be easy to ID from that

[hillclimbmanic]

John Reid is rebuilding my GKN diff, at the moment... £400-450

[TJC46]

taylormj4 said:

Thanks for replies.
It's a 1997 partial-face-lift model (front facelift and mirror door-openers but old style rear lights) so I thought it was a GKN diff but I could be wrong.

The prices include labour and VAT. The garage is a well-known TVR garage.

Is the BTR unit the older version ?

Your car will have the BTR diff , and they are available here.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TVR-Chimeara-Griffith-or...

[Hoover.]

Crumbs that's expensive, had mine taken out and rebuilt and installed for approx. £1k....... precat car so GKN diff I think

Edited by Hoover. on Saturday 14th May 16:28

[taylormj4]

Have looked into it more now and it is a BTR diff.

A couple of hours after I started this thread, the garage emailed me to say they'd made a mistake with the prices so now looking at more like £1500 for a new diff or £1350 for a refurbished unit, including labour and VAT.

Sounds like the new unit is around £900, so labour is arond £600.

I've heard that getting the diff out can be a pig of a job. I've done similar jobs on an old Range Rover but access is very easy. Is it feasible on axle stands or is it very difficult ?

Have now been to look at the car with the garage - head mechanic (also owner) was really helpful. Backlash is evident across the diff: can rotate offside drive-shaft without moving the prop. So something has worn. They have now advised I could continue to drive with it like this if I can tolerate the clonking but it also makes me concerned about using the full power of the engine as the diff could just give up on an overtake or something.

TVR Parts are advertising a Quaife unit, which they say is an improvement over the BTR unit and it appears to be cheaper:
http://tvr-parts.com/tvr-parts/part-details/tvr-rq...
Anyone any experience with one of these ?

Edited by taylormj4 on Saturday 14th May 14:05