Oh dear....diff or gearbox whine!

[MrMCI]

Hi all,

I noticed towards the end of my trip abroad that I was starting to get a bit of whine from the drivetrain. To the Griff out tonight and it sounds like being on a tube train! I am fairly sure that the noise is not rev dependant so must be the gearbox or diff. I may be kidding myself but I think that it may go away if I put the gearbox into neutral and coast along.

Is this a common problem? I am going to change the diff and gearbox oil but don't hold much hope as I know Quinny only did it about 2k miles ago.

If the worst comes to the worst, what are my options? How much???

Thanks in advance,

Mark

[carsy]

When i bought my car the diff was slightly winney. I could definately tell it was the diff though. definately coming from the rear end. Had it re conditioned and lovely and quiet now, no noise at all. If its the diff it will whine with throttle on but go quiet as you throttle off. Either way if its diff or gearbox they will have to come out for a recon. Not the end of the world. All part of the fun of owning a TVR.

[steve-V8s]

I presume you have checked there is some oil in them.

[chris52]

It could also be a wheel bearing noise your getting.

Chris

[MrMCI]

The job for the weekend is to change the gearbox and diff oil. The sound is pretty loud and you can hear it on acceleration and declaration and sounds just like an electric train speeding up and slowing down (more Austin Metro than Griffith). I don't think I can hear it if I put the car in neutral and coast so that would rule out the wheel bearing think.

[steve-V8s]

Just a thought, is the Speedo working normally ? This does not tie in with the fact it goes when coasting but the Speedo sensor ( on later cars ) is an inductive pickup looking at a toothed wheel on the driver side diff output flange, if the gap is too small or something has lodged in the gap that will make a shot wheel bearing noise. Not certain where the sensor is for earlier ones, possibly on the front of the diff.

[MrMCI]

Yeah ok, good thought. I did clatter the underside of the car when on holiday in france and pushed the exhaust up into the prop shaft. There is a remote chance that this caused the prop in turn to hit the speedo sensor, the speedo is working as well as it ever has, ie fairly vague!

If the worst comes to the worst I will get the gearbox and diff out (using Quinny's video as guidance :-)) and re-conned over the winter, any recommendations on the best place to get this done?

Thanks for the help,

Mark