Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi
I have a rubbing grinding noise from the rear of my car. The nearside seems worst but it is reduced in reverse. I have changed the wheel bearings but this hasnt improved things and it still does it if the wheels and drums are removed. I have just checked the oil in the diff and its full over metallic particles!!!
I just wondered if anyone has any clever ideas before I remove the diff?
Many thanks

Pretty obvious - it's the diff!

The differential contains two bearings that the ends of the half shafts run in. It is quite possible that one of these has broken up. Should you be unable to get hold of a second hand differential it is much cheaper to replace the bearing than to buy a reconditioned differential unit.

newagetraveller wrote:The differential contains two bearings that the ends of the half shafts run in. It is quite possible that one of these has broken up. Should you be unable to get hold of a second hand differential it is much cheaper to replace the bearing than to buy a reconditioned differential unit.

Hi
Thanks for your reply. Is the bearing replacement straightforward or does it involve all the shimming associated with differentials?
Regards
wells01

the other possible cause is that the axle perches are shot and the axle has pushed up at the front causing the prop to catc bodywork
However in this case i doubt it, as you've not mentioned it being much worse on bumps / when laden
and I expect you'd have spotted that anyway.

For the diff - my preference would be to get another 2nd hand serviceable one (e.g. offer £15 from an MOT failure minor srapper) and do a sraight swap without messing with stripping bearings.
If a diff is already partly damaged (running in swarf... )then you may never get back to a good state.

When you take the old diff out, make sure that you flush the whole casing thoroughly before fitting the new one - you don't want any of that swarf in the new oil!

Thanks for your replies.
It looks like a good secondhand diff is the way to go.
Now has anyone got one?
Regards
wells01

ebay does - but it's VERY expensive - especially considering the drive flange is missing - and that will mean setting up all the pre-load. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/A-Series-Differen ... 35a9064c50

But - here's one at £10 - that's more like it! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/diff-morris-minor ... 2eae83ebcf

Complete axle here - but you would need to ask the ratio......http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Morris-Minor-1000 ... 415131e88c

Thanks
I saw the £10 one on ebay, given the ammount of rust on it I wonder what the bearings are like. Also I would be supicious as he advertising two different diffs with the same photograph so who knows what you would get. I would much prefer to buy something a bit oily. The complete axle would be great except for the 400 mile drive.
Regards

The other two are different ratios - I would go for it at £10 - how much more I would pay - well not sure really. A good wash out and it should be ok. It's VERY unusual for final drives to fail - unless shrapnel from a broken shaft is left inside - and/or it's run with little or no oil!

bmcecosse wrote:The other two are different ratios - I would go for it at £10 - how much more I would pay - well not sure really. A good wash out and it should be ok. It's VERY unusual for final drives to fail - unless shrapnel from a broken shaft is left inside - and/or it's run with little or no oil!

Hi
The 4.22 and the 4.55 have the same photograph. I have asked him to clarify what we are actually looking at and what the bearings are like.
Fingers crossed.
Regards