Now that I got my sisters car back on the road (again) with no oil leaks or sounding like a lawn mower..... time to start thinking about the whining diff.

 

This is a '82 GLF 2wd 1.8 A/T. It whines when giving it gas (only when moving) and increases with speed. Let off the gas or shift into neutral and it stops.

 

It leaks gear oil right next to the output shaft above the exhaust (yes it stinks) but not too bad. She let it get way too low before buying gear oil for it. This is when it started whining and hasn't stopped since topping off the diff.

 

How long will it last like this before having to replace the diff?

Time for a fluid change. Get all the lovely stuff she ground off out of there.

 

How long will it last? Who knows... tell her to start saving for a 5spd now

Yeah, I told her there's nothing I can do to quiet it down any and that she will need replace it at 'some' point.

 

Ohh......and she won't drive a manual.....

my last car was driven in excess of 30 miles with NO gear oil. topped it off and it made the 2000 mile trip home, and the tranny still works in another car.

 

i would bet it holds up for a good while, if its not damaged now(it still works) it wont wear any more than it is now with gear oil. how long was she dry?

 

another one of my cars had a little but of a diff noise when i got it but i never had any trouble out of it

You best (cheapest) bet is probably to run it tell it blows and replace the tranny with a good used one (5 speed?), if you plan on rebuilding the tranny you already have sooner may be better than later, as it may save you some worn or broken parts.

 

Generally, a whine is bearings and a growl is gears. My '87 wagon with the 3AT growls like angry bear in sharp corners (bad spider gears), and is pretty noisy overall. It too has bad output seals and has been run low on oil (before it was mine). But its been running like that for years now.

 

Gary

She said it ran a 'couple of days' like that (about 50 miles).

 

I told her she will have to get used to it, then it will get replaced when either she can afford it or she gets stranded.

 

No, my sister has never been too bright about maintaining anything with a motor. She once blew up a lawnmower because she never checked the oil!

Sometimes ya gotta live and learn. Let her blow this tranny up good. Then when she calls you to fix it you can remind her how simple and easy it is to prevent this

ha!

I'm still trying to get her to stop calling everything a thingamajig or whatchamacallit!!!

 

All she knows is she has a go peddle and a stop peddle. lol

The only thing she's learned is she breaks it, I fix it.

I don't recommend this. But back in the old days, Used car dealers would put sawdust in trans and rearends to quiet them down before a resale.

Yeah, I've heard some of those horror stories...not too long ago either.