Re: Driveline problems

["K.G. Nicholson" <kgn@domain.elided>]

On Tue, 23 Jun 1998, Tim Buja wrote:

> Specifically, there is a very noticable whine from under the back seat
> under part throttle between ~50 and ~58mph.  The frequency of the whine
> is dependent on road speed, and the volume is dependent on throttle
> position.  Maintaining a steady speed of 55mph is very aggravating due
> to the whine.  If I power through this speed range to above 60 mph, the
> whine is considerably less noticable than when I maintain a steady 55mph.
> Coasting down from 60 to 50 is totally quiet.  BTW, the tach reading
> at the peak whine volume is around 3200 rpm.  The noise is a whine,
> and not a rumble typically associated with failing wheel bearings.

I had this on my previous stag - the crown wheel and pinion were worn - but
the car ran for some time without problems despite the annoying noise.  When I
eventually opened up the diff the crown wheel teeth were noticeably worn -
they had a sharpened edge to them.  I am not a diff expert but I understand
that you can adjust the preload between the pinion and the crown wheel but
that if the gears were quiet and have since got noisy then you are most likely
to need reconditioned parts.  I know someone was trying to source
remanufactured crown wheel and pinion gear sets but I am not sure whether they
are of good quality. 

I believe that it quite a challenge to find a reconditioned diff that is both
quiet and durable.

Regards 

Graham Nicholson