Diff problem

[autox]

Hi,

Right, this is my autocross car. after spending the winter months stripping the shell and rebuilding it etc i have finally put the engine back in, got my new wiring sorted (down to 8 wires for all of car), etc, etc. any way I put my drive shafs in, and though nothing of it, they seemed to go in ok. But when i started the engine i just heard lots of wiered 'gearbox' type noises, and when i put it into ger just more noises and no drive. I When i removed engine from the car i did not strip it, bang it, or touch it in anyway as it was running fine last season. So i thought it must be the shafts wernt seated propperly or something. Any way spent a bit of time and just couldnt get the driveshaft to 'feel right' as they should be, so i felt inside the diff where that shaft goes and couldnt feel the splines, etc. Had a bit of a feel arround with me finger and could feel some things moving and then one bit just fell the the bottom. Anyway i took the diff cover off and found bits of the diff just fell out. (see the link below for images). So my question is, is this reparable, is it a new diff, how do i replace / fix it. Would the gear box have to come out or can you replace the diff, with the gearbox in place (im 90% certain it will have to come out) Bloody first race of season is 2 weeks today.....

anyway heres the pics, the blurred ones are from me just putting the camera under the car and taking as many i could.

http://www.pug306.net/jiff/images/diff/diff.htm

Cheers

Michael

[Aragorn]

did u start the engine at any point with no shafts in?

mike oxford did this a while back and it spat half the diff out, new diff time unless u wanna strip the diff down and replace the gears

[autox]

i didnt start it, cause had no carbs on but did turn it over when i fit me new starter, oh bugger.

is this an gearbox out job to fit a diff?

[Aragorn]

no u can get into it from underneath

[autox]

brilliant, so is it just a case of dropping old diff out, and putting new diff in? cant be that simple, come on its a nova were on about (sorry just had a 'bit of a time' with it this keekend :) )

plus as for a new diff, does it have to be a 1.4SR one or will any nova F10's do?

cheers

Michael

[Aragorn]

any F10 or F13 diff will fit, just put the crown wheel of your existing diff onto the new one to ensure the ratios all match up

[_JH_]

out of interest, and slightly off topic, can you lock the diff (or use an LSD) in autocross like in autograss?

[Stuart]

check the FD guide in teh tech guides for the removal process.

why would you want to lock the diff on a FWD car? thats just death waiting to happen lol

[garyc]

I'd read your rule book to see what you can do, I dont know what the standard diff is prob 3.9, you may be able to run a 4.1 which I think is what you would be wanting to run.

[autox]

Well i got the diff out tongiht and to my supprise, everything looked alright no chips, or knackered bit apart from the two 'washer bits' on the splined side gears (i think thats what they are called??) the other two gears and their 'washers' are fine, do u recon it would be worth just getting two of these washer thingys for the splined gears and just sticking it back together? Can i get them for that matter, here are this lot of pics, what do u recon?

http://www.pug306.net/jiff/images/diff/diff2.htm

No i cant fit an LSD or Locked diff in class 1 and if the car came as standard with a 4.1FD i could use one, but at the minute i just want it working as first race is very soon, with not much budget left :)

cheers

Michael

[_JH_]

why would you want to lock the diff on a FWD car? thats just death waiting to happen lol

lol, there's plenty of reasons for and against it, but in autograss it's still better than an open diff, although obviously not as good as a LSD.

[autox]

Well its working again. Went down to Reg Vardy Vauxhall and got the washers i needed next day. The guy originally said 2 weeks but when said how urgent it was he helped me big time, so cheers Reg Vardy!. Re build the diff with new washers and its moving again!

Now for the racing..... :D