Huge power drain - spool

[savage1987]

My diff is tight as all buggery.. car doesn't roll down slight hills and with the back jacked up can barely turn the axles in neutral even with rotors off.

Any suggestions? My thoughts are the pinion being overtightened by prev. owner to stop the front seal from leaking..

Any help appreciated!

Sam

[immortality]

get it seen to. the gears must have some backlash in them to allow for expansion when things heat up. you could lock the wheels up and then get someone to swing of the pinion nut to tighten it and collapse the collapsable spacer a little for more clearance either that or strip the diff down and remove one shim washer from behind the pinion

[savage1987]

Can still feel some backlash in the diff, it's not tightly meshed as far as i can tell. Even when warm you can barely turn the rear tyres with the car off the ground.

[leigh 7005]

hand brake cable sticking maybe? just a thought

[savage1987]

Thought of that, that's why I took the rotors off. Still almost impossible to turn the axles in neutral.

also, the handbrake shoes are soaked in diff oil from previous axles anyway, they do nothing

[delcowizzid]

if you rotate the driveshaft back and foward to see if there is any backlash does it turn easy.if it does im thinking dodgy bearing or shimming for the spool or axle bearings.

[Dirbatua]

eBay Australia - Buy or sell practically anything on eBay, the world's online marketplace

[savage1987]

lol! cheers dirby

delcowizzid, I'll check that when I next manage to get the thing jacked up. I hope somehow it's the tailshaft even though it won't be.. I have a new one lined up to go in anyway!

[Dirbatua]

lol well its probally cheaper and easier to get another one off ebay then to **** round with the current one if its ****ed.

[savage1987]

I've already done this rear axle assembly 4 times now.. it's the principle of the thing. Besides, I'll have to take out my spool and put it in another diff. What a pain

[delcowizzid]

did you fit the spool yourself and did you use the stock shims it may just be too tight and need a slimmer shim

[savage1987]

suuuure did.
Might well be the case, will take the axle out and leave it at a diff shop for a day or 2 i think, see what they can do

[savage1987]

OK I am a couple of steps closer to diagnosis..

Jacked the car up tonight to change the rear springs and set up the shocks properly..

• The last time I drove the car was 2 hrs ago or more, that was a long trip at highway speeds. The diff is still far too hot to touch.
  
• Oil has boiled / got so hot it seems to have thinned right out at some point and leaked through the filler bung, and wept from the front seal.
  
• I checked the tailshaft play in neutral, it wiggles with one hand so that doesn't appear to be the problem.
  
• There is barely any backlash in the diff (tailshaft has MINIMAL play estimate less than 1mm)
  
• Took both me and Dad on a wheel to turn the rear axles, in neutral with handbrake off. That's how stiff it is sometimes.

Help!
As it stands the rear axle will come out when I do the engine swap in 2 weeks or so, I'll take it to a rebuilders and they can diagnose and repair. I will degrease and blast down the entire thing before it goes back in, and coat everything in silver paint for ease of spotting any further leaks

Sound like my best plan of attack?

Any help appreciated
Sam

[georgeonboost]

just get another diff from the wreckers and slap the spool in it. would be a lot easier than trying to find out whats wrong with the diff in your car now. if it was an LSD diff i would say otherwise but its just a single pegger with a spool in it.

thats my 2c.

George

[stocky]

lol well its probally cheaper and easier to get another one off ebay then to **** round with the current one if its ****ed.

how is buy a new one off ebay a helpful solution?

[savage1987]

I'd rather keep this one and get it professionally sorted.. at least I know I'll have a solid diff once it's done.

[delcowizzid]

must be the shims or carrier bearings for the spool take the car to the diff guru's so they can put the correct shims and stuff in ide say or you could swap the shims around but if its that tight something will give and its probably wearing the diff gears too

[immortality]

ther gears must be way to tight to create that much heat, i'd think they are probably stuffed. you running a mini or full spool?

[greenfoam]

I agree the whole thing will be stuffed now anyway, just get one from the wreckers bolt it in and be happy I've seen this happen to a badly setup diff before and the gears were ground down pretty good

[savage1987]

mini spool. Will see what the rebuilder has to say when he opens it up, if it's going to cost too much may consider just spooling another one. Who's to say it won't just happen again though?

[Pub247]

fif you put the spool in yourself ?
was the diff fien before this?
did you change the diff gears?

[savage1987]

fif you put the spool in yourself ? yes
was the diff in before this? no
did you change the diff gears? no

............

[immortality]

putting a minispool in wouldn't alter the gear mesh/backlash unless you accidently swapped the 2 shims when re-installing.

the other option is that the diff was stuffed before you got it, however excess wear would have been evident on the gears when you fitted the mini spool

[savage1987]

I wouldn't have known what I was looking at when it comes to wear on the gearset

[savage1987]

Rear axle is out, just finished it then, it's off to the rebuilders tomorrow for a quote or 2

Feel free to place bets on what is wrong inside it

Sam