Gearbox suddenly become noisy

[thescrapman]

Make sure the breather pin on the diff is free to "juggle" if it is leaking from all seals

[Pete Lewis]

the diff breather jiggle pin is just above the level filler 

easy to see if you take the N/S rear wheel off  makes filling easier if you dont have ramps or cant get the car level 

Pete 

[Colin Lindsay]

The diff can be strange regarding leaks; after I fill any of mine, usually on the lift first time after replacement seals, they all leak like billy-o when they go back onto all four wheels. This causes initial worry but after a time they stop. I've always thought that firstly they do assume a sort of 'front-down' position whilst on the road; whilst on the ramp the cars are level. The filler is to the rear so that when I fill to the level of the filler hole, it's actually slightly overfilled and the excess runs out once the car is back on all four wheels again. I've also seen this when owners jack up one side to fill the diff, the excess oil runs to the other side of the casing and then emerges again once the car is back on the level. I've got into the habit of cleaning under the car for the first few days but after a good initial run the oil usually stops; maybe, too, the front seal has 'bedded in' against the metal. 

A fairly heavy leak on the estate was due to the casing being insufficiently tightened at the join, which stopped once the bolts were tightened fully.

[steveo]

Thanks all, will have a look at the breather & change the oil, just got a silver line suction pump thing to change the oil in the wife's Abarth 595 as it has iffy sump plug threads, works well and was only £24 on eBay, some new EP90 in the diff will hopefully slow up the leaks, and its probably never been changed, just want to keep it on the road for the summer with no major problems / work !

[Pete Lewis]

Lidl were selling a pump for around £12   used it on my diff to change to ep140  and it worked well enough but leads were 

too short and used the old battery charger  .

Pete

[Oldmech56]

Had this very same problem with my Herald, turned out to be the new overdrive mount ...plus the new engine mounts that I had fitted., replaced the new engine mounts with second hand but much softer engine mounts and the noise reduced considerably , but was still uncomfortably loud. purchased a new overdrive mount from a reputable dealer.......no improvement, it was as hard as the first one . purchased two 8mm x 30mm cotton reel rubber mountings , made my own mount for the overdrive box and hey presto.....my Herald is now quiet, comfortable and drone free !!! I had struggled to drive more than a few miles  up to now, as the transmission noise was unbearable.

[Pete Lewis]

the oD mount is a bit odd it doesnt need to have the top support plate   sink much and its metal to metal under the weight 

as the top meets the bottom    all a bit hopeless especially  if made by the you know who 

Pete

 

[NonMember]

30 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said:

it doesnt need to have the top support plate   sink much and its metal to metal

Exactly this. I had one fail on the Spitfire and you couldn't tell by looking at it. About a millimetre of rubber separates the two bits of metal when new, and that along a narrow edge. Hardly surprising they fail.