Whine Whine Whine

[Tim]

Hello All

The diff on my Carlton is whining quite a lot. Almost electrical type buzzing at anything above about 40.

Is this terminal. Is it the diff itself or is it a bearing somewhere in the propshaft assembly.

Can i just stick some thick oil in it?

Cheers!!

Tim

[automatic]

That sort of cyclic whining is often a duff bearing. But could also be signs of something seriously wrong in the diff.

1st check has it been leaking and is there actually some oil left in it?

2nd check Remove the diff cover and inspect the gears inside. The teeth may be overly worn. There should be very little play in them. Look for detritous in the diff case. Any of the above signify that the diff needs a rebuild. Cleaning it out and filling it with thick oil may make it quieter but is masking rather than solving the problem

[Tim]

OK, will attempt to have a look at it, but already got one car in bits so its not ideal :-)

Duff bearing - is this easily repairable. Worn diff itself is likely to be ££!

[automatic]

It depends which bearing it is. I'm presuming that its RWD. If so are you sure your not mistaking a wheel bearing whine.

There should be bearing where each shaft enters and exits the diff. Really the only way to test it is to spin each shaft by hand to feel if its rough. To do that your really need the diff disconected from the car.

So personally I would be visually checking the condition of the gears and the oil level first. Its only a few bolts on most cars. You may find just changing the oil in it gives a substantial improvement

[Rich606]

Is it a rumble or a whine?
Electrical buzzing sound makes me think a rumble and a worn bearing.
Am I right in thinking it's a two piece propshaft on these with a bearing in the middle? Could be that that's worn.

A worn bearing in the differential is likely to be the pinion bearing. It's rotating faster than any bearings on the output side of the diff so will wear faster. Fixable but I don't know how easy or cheap.
I'm not sure how you'd differentiate between the two either; get someone else to drive it while you crawl around in the back with your ear to the floor until you can hear where it's coming from maybe...? ;D

Worn diffs can whine, like a high-pitched whine. By all accounts they can keep doing this for quite a while without issue. So I wouldn't worry too much about it being terminal.

[Tim]

Like an electric remote control car in the boot :-)

Haven't particularly noticed a rumble, but i'm not really sure what i'm listening for!

[automatic]

If you turn each of the three shafts by hand in turn you should be able to feel where the roughness is. If rich606 is right and there is a bearing in the propshaft check that first it will be the cheapest and easiest fix. Get underneath the car so you are close to the bearing and turn the propshaft. You should be able to feel and here if that bearing is worn

[lewist123]

Speek to ColonelK on here.

He ran drift carlton for a fair while. I seem to remember him saying something about them all whining to some extent.

I suggest a quick PM in his direction, or he might show up with some words of wisdom.

[stealthstylz]

They all whine just leave it it'll last forever. Once it's whining there's not much you can do other than a full rebuild to sort it, and it's not worth the money.

Matt

[Tim]

Cheers guys. Haven't had chance to do anything (still fighting to undo the crankshaft sprocket on the polo)

I will check the oil (once i figure out how), and see if i can find the source, but like Matt says, its not worth the money to fix it ;-)