diff bearing failure

[davidallen]

Hi,

When last run, the diff on my elan was making a screeching noise. On the
advice of the list, I pulled out one of the diff drive shafts last night.
and it was not a pretty sight; the bearing cage had been chewed up and the
shields mangled.

The question is, should I remove the diff from the car and strip it down or
just replace the bearing and seal. I guess the unknown factor is how much of
the cage has been dragged into the diff? On the other hand, I have no wish
to pull out the diff.

In any case, I am also planning to replace the other output bearing and
seal.

Would the failure of the bearing put greater loads on the donuts. Are there
any obvious visual checks for the state of the donuts?

Thanks in advance.

David



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[nowhere]

What - are you kidding?
You know diff's are rather scarce, and you are going to take a
chance on destroying one?

The diff should be removed, and thoroughly cleaned. Any metal
particles that might have gotten inside will do wonders for the
ring, pinion and spider gears, not to say the bearings in a few
thousand miles. As the particles circulate, more metal will be
added to the lubricant, causing damage at an ever increasing
rate. I would install a magnetic drain plug to catch any tramp
metal.

No, donut loadings would not be appreciablely increased.
Precessing motion of the loose output shaft may have galled the
splines, so check both the gear and output shaft splines.
George
--- "ALLEN, David" <***@***.***> wrote:





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[davidallen]

Well, I am still in two minds......... Pulled out the seal last night which
is inboard of the bearing, and it was not in bad condition. The inside
bearing shield was detached from the bearing, but also still in one piece.

Consequently, I hope the bearing cage has been spat out of the diff rather
than finding it's way past the seal and shield. I guess the rotation of the
drive shaft would also tend to throw the fragments out via the path of least
resistance

Anyone else care to comment or had a similar experience?

David

-----Original Message-----
From: nowhere [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 5:55 AM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: Re: [LotusElan.net] diff bearing failure


What - are you kidding?
You know diff's are rather scarce, and you are going to take a
chance on destroying one?

The diff should be removed, and thoroughly cleaned. Any metal
particles that might have gotten inside will do wonders for the
ring, pinion and spider gears, not to say the bearings in a few
thousand miles. As the particles circulate, more metal will be
added to the lubricant, causing damage at an ever increasing
rate. I would install a magnetic drain plug to catch any tramp
metal.

No, donut loadings would not be appreciablely increased.
Precessing motion of the loose output shaft may have galled the
splines, so check both the gear and output shaft splines.
George
--- "ALLEN, David" <***@***.***> wrote:





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[lotuselan2]

Unless you have a cause for the failure, you are crazy not to tear it down.

[davidallen]

I am assuming it was the running and setting up on the rolling road which
caused the failure. It was OK when I left the car, but was making a hell of
a din when I picked it up 2 weeks later!

David

-----Original Message-----
From: lotus [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2004 5:12 PM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: RE: [LotusElan.net] diff bearing failure


Unless you have a cause for the failure, you are crazy not to tear it down.




















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[lotuselan2]

David
Do you think it got cooked from lack of air flow on rolling road? The
failure you described, sounds more like it was mechanical damage, like a
knock from side.
Ken

[simonknee]

I'd concur, no reason why a rolling road would cause a bearing failure per
se.

_____

From: lotus [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Thu, May 27, 2004 18:02
To: ***@***.***
Subject: RE: [LotusElan.net] diff bearing failure



David
Do you think it got cooked from lack of air flow on rolling road? The
failure you described, sounds more like it was mechanical damage, like a
knock from side.
Ken







<>

["e s"]

could be that it was 30 years old.........
--

--------- Original Message ---------
DATE: Thu, 27 May 2004 17:25:48
From: "ALLEN, David" <***@***.***>
To: ***@***.***
Cc:

I am assuming it was the running and setting up on the rolling road which
caused the failure. It was OK when I left the car, but was making a hell of
a din when I picked it up 2 weeks later!

David

-----Original Message-----
From: lotus [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2004 5:12 PM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: RE: [LotusElan.net] diff bearing failure


Unless you have a cause for the failure, you are crazy not to tear it down.




















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[davidallen]

Yes. I pulled the bearing out of the other side, and I don't think it would
have lasted much longer. The shield was starting to work loose, allowing the
ingress of water, and the remaining grease had dried up.

I guess the session on the rolling road pushed it over the edge.

(I suggest you check yours, at least to make sure the outer shield is still
in place!)

David

-----Original Message-----
From: e s [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2004 11:35 PM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: RE: [LotusElan.net] diff bearing failure


could be that it was 30 years old.........
--

--------- Original Message ---------
DATE: Thu, 27 May 2004 17:25:48
From: "ALLEN, David" <***@***.***>
To: ***@***.***
Cc:

I am assuming it was the running and setting up on the rolling road which
caused the failure. It was OK when I left the car, but was making a hell of
a din when I picked it up 2 weeks later!

David

-----Original Message-----
From: lotus [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2004 5:12 PM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: RE: [LotusElan.net] diff bearing failure


Unless you have a cause for the failure, you are crazy not to tear it down.




















CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
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[type36lotus]

As I aways have to remind my coworkers when they say "It was working
fine yesterday" that "everything works until it doesn't"

Mike Geiger
66 S3 Coupe' and dinosaur computer geek

--- In ***@***.***, "ALLEN, David" <david.allen@e...>
wrote: