Noisy Diff

[davamb]

Hey All,

Diff's been getting steadily noisier over the last couple of months, now quite bad. No surprise given the car's age I guess.
What are the options here? Rebuild worth it? Cost of a new one? LSD replacements worth it?

Thanks,

[StanTheMan]

mine lasted around 3-4 years after becoming noisy. But I'm easy on my diff & clutch.

Mazspeed LSD will make it a fraction stronger but still has the pinion as the weak link.

upgrade to the 1.8 torsen will cost you a bit but a worthy upgrade & never need to worry about breaking difffs unless you go serious hp or forget to fill it with oil......

[Mr Morlock]

A standard diff is fine for doing standard things. Just get quotes and decide what is the best choice. The decision may also include how long you intend to keep the car. If the car is an older model a diff replacement may represent quite a high % of the vehicles value. My inclination would be to have it removed and checked to see what is causing the noise- ie a quote for repair.

[davamb]

Thanks guys,

I'm rather attached to the car and want to hang on to it. I don't abuse the drivetrain at all, so standard's fine by me.
I'll take your advice and see what Tony at Ful-Tech has to say. It's due for a service anyways.

[project.r.racing]

When was the oil changed last?
How much oil is in it?
Could be as simple a lack of fuild. Lost over time.

[davamb]

When was the oil changed last?
How much oil is in it?
Could be as simple a lack of fuild. Lost over time.

Ahh yes. Funny you should say that project.r. I was driving home last night along the tollway when I saw the oil pressure needle flicker for a split second. I checked the oil when I got home to find it was below the <low> mark on the dipstick! Now I'm the kind of guy that checks his oil every month or so and it had been rock steady for the last couple of months - now it's suddenly dropped a long way! I decided to ride the bike in today and look at things over the weekend. I'm rather worried now. Hope there's no damage done.

Will have a look at the diff level at the same time. Presume it's just a case of fill it 'till it overflows.

[corners]

When was the oil changed last?
How much oil is in it?
Could be as simple a lack of fuild. Lost over time.

Ahh yes. Funny you should say that project.r. I was driving home last night along the tollway when I saw the oil pressure needle flicker for a split second. I checked the oil when I got home to find it was below the <low> mark on the dipstick! Now I'm the kind of guy that checks his oil every month or so and it had been rock steady for the last couple of months - now it's suddenly dropped a long way! I decided to ride the bike in today and look at things over the weekend. I'm rather worried now. Hope there's no damage done.

Will have a look at the diff level at the same time. Presume it's just a case of fill it 'till it overflows.

Thats mostly the case.
Na6 diff takes just under a litre from memory.

[davamb]

Thanks JCS,

may as well change the oil and filter whilst I'm at it. Off on a ride early tomorrow though, presume Repco or similar place sell a replacement - anyone know?

[davamb]

Well they do have a generic so walked up and grabbed it and some oil. Ran some of that Nulon engine flush stuff (that I had kicking around) through the engine before draining the old oil and replacing it and filter. That took 2 hours including walking time, didn't have any more time available so yet to check the diff.

Next weekend.
Sigh.