Noisy diff, any way to fix it?

[themitchster359]

personally, i would just swap it out for a good used one.

[hoveringuy]

personally, i would just swap it out for a good used one.

I pressed the pinion out yesterday... more trashed bearings.

I've ordered new bearings. For a hundred bucks I can have a diff with new bearings instead of finding a used one that will be another crap shoot. These diffs are going on 20-25 years old, even good original ones will have bearing wear.

[smooth]

good luck with that.
I went through all this a couple years ago.

The time and money you're spending now can get you a nice 100K 3.73 LSD with no drama.
But if you get it all buttoned back up and working properly let us know here with a nice lil writeup :)

[hoveringuy]

good luck with that.
I went through all this a couple years ago.

The time and money you're spending now can get you a nice 100K 3.73 LSD with no drama.
But if you get it all buttoned back up and working properly let us know here with a nice lil writeup :)

I have a nice 3.73 without drama. I decided that I can use slightly taller gears with the M54, it has tons of torque and a 3.25 will be perfect.

If douche-bag seller weren't such a weanie I'd return the POS back to him, so at this point I'm better off repairing it. I'll be better for it and I'll take pics.

[hoveringuy]

New input bearings were pressed in last week and I had a local transmission shop set the pinion drag. 16 in-lbs. It feels suprisingly stiff to rotate the input without anything else inside the diff case. I thought it would spin more freely but I have no experience in that. The guy at the shop was experienced in diffs and he said it feels right.

Good enough for me.

I also disassembled, cleaned, and re-assembled the LSD. Pretty simple stuff.

I have the output bearings and seals in the mail now that will let me finish it it up. Total cost to rebuild with the professional help will be around $150.

[Spaz]

New input bearings were pressed in last week and I had a local transmission shop set the pinion drag. 16 in-lbs. It feels suprisingly stiff to rotate the input without anything else inside the diff case. I thought it would spin more freely but I have no experience in that. The guy at the shop was experienced in diffs and he said it feels right.

Good enough for me.

I also disassembled, cleaned, and re-assembled the LSD. Pretty simple stuff.

I have the output bearings and seals in the mail now that will let me finish it it up. Total cost to rebuild with the professional help will be around $150.

Sounds like the better option now to go rebuild your own diffs then sourcing out used, like you mentioned they'll all be somewhat higher mileage now.

-Cam

[hoveringuy]

Sounds like the better option now to go rebuild your own diffs then sourcing out used, like you mentioned they'll all be somewhat higher mileage now.

-Cam

Any used diff will have AT LEAST 200,000 miles on it by now. At least I will know this one is fresh.

[hoveringuy]

Diff is back together. I received and installed the new output bearings and seals. Re-assembled everything and found that the input shaft had a tight spot every 3.25 revolutions at the same spot.

Hmmm....

It should be equally lose or tight all the way around. Basically, I had some gear lash for most of the ring gear but none at part of it.

I ended up shimming one of the output caps out about .0025" and that, believe it or not, made all the difference. It's smooth and quiet when I turn it by hand with just the right amount of lash.

I also checked the breakaway torque. Unscientifically, it's around 70ft-lbs.

I'll install it soon.

[hoveringuy]

... swapped.

Took me about 2 hours. Newly rebuilt one (so far) is remarkably quiet. No drama.

The 3.25 with G260 is great with the M54. Whereas before I was turning 2500 rpm in 5th gear at 60mph, now it's down to slightly over 2000rpm.

1st gear is more worthwhile, it doesn't run out in 1.5 seconds anymore.

[Spaz]

I"m glad the diff is working out well for you, i'll look to do this with mine in the near future.

-Cam

[hoveringuy]

I got some highway miles in this morning.

The gearing is perfect, but what struck me is that I always thought my 3.73 was quiet. I guess quiet is relative after 200,000 miles. The new bearings make it QUIET!

It's one of those things you don't recognize because you just get used to it.

I wonder what replacing my rear wheel bearings would do, even though they don't make any noise?

[smooth]

Can you give us an update? The one I got a few years ago is starting to make noise like the one it replaced :( They seem to be twice as much as I remember paying on Ebay, guess I'm due for a rebuild...

If you can give us a step by step with part numbers and directions, I'd really appreciate it.

[SiGmA_X]

Rebuilding is far better.. I have found a good guide before, I forget where tho. I think on BF.c/FI. I am thankful to know how to do it without the guide, I just need all the specs, but I think All-Data/TIS list a good deal of them. For my e36's 3.23LSD, I am estimating $271.23 including pinion and output bearings, new clutches, and powdercoating the rear cover, plus shipping for the clutches. At shop cost for most things, but AutohausAZ had some parts cheaper, and those that aren't cheaper are just a couple bucks more. Its also a good time to replace rear wheel bearings (~$40ea, 1-2hr each tops), and change axles boots and repack with RedLine CV2.

[smooth]

Well I hope someone posts a how-to because I need step by step instructions with part numbers :(

[Adrian_Visser]

Check these threads out for some instruction:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=931518

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=152657&highlight=obx

This site has LSD parts (yes they are for porsche 944 but it's the same as the e30 diff apparently)

http://www.autoatlanta.com/porsche-parts/9442-89-91/305-05.php

I believe that the bearings and seals and shims etc. are available from the dealer.