8 replies to this topic

[Pelvisgt]

Well what a night !!! Sorry about the long story !!


Was going along the motorway and I heard this bang and the front passengers side wheel felt like it was blown.

So stopped and checked it all and nothing seemed to be wrong.

So got back in and started to drive and it kept making a clunking noise and the faster I went the worse it got.


So later the AA arrive and the guy jacked it up and turned the wheel and it made a scrapping noise and had some play in it and said "I suspect it is the planet gears are gone".


So I was just checking on here what the planet gears are and is it a fixable part of the diff/gearbox or is it just better to get another gearbox ??

And any ideas of the time it will take before I get my nuts handed to me on a plate by the garage.


Thanks again for any help

[Kerrin]

The planet gears are part of the diff assembly.

If you have lots of clunking it is possibly the diff pin has snapped or worn through and or the planet gears have cracked or are also very worn.

It is at least an engine out job, but may only need the diff assembly stripping out, if all the broken bits can be removed.
If there is lots of debris it may be wiser to strip the gearbox off the engine.

Most of the labour will be the engine removal.

An up rated pin and planet gear assembly is available from minispares.

[Guess-Works.com]

Check it's not a CV or Pot joint problem first.... mind you if one of those has gone then you'll not be driving anywhere...

If it is a differential failure then it will be engine out/ gearbox off, strip and rebuild... possibly replacement gearbox case depending upon what has let go...

There's always the option of getting it done by a specialist

[Pelvisgt]

Right ok,

Yeah I would but you are far away from me in Bristol and I have no way of transporting it lol


Would fitting a new gearbox be a better solution you think ?

[Cooperman]

If it is a diff pin then it's easy to do once the engine/gearbox assembly are out. In fact you don't even need to take the engine off the box. The diff assembly is on the back of the box and you just un-bolt it to get at the crownwheel assembly.
However, if the planet wheels have broken (unlikely) bits of the debris could have got into the gearbox and as 'guessworks' has said, it needs to come to pieces for checkingn and, if necessary, rebuilding properly.
Check the external parts of the drive line first, like the outer and inner CV joints and wheel bearings.

[Pelvisgt]

Thanks for the fast reply's all


So if it was the inner CV or outer CV or wheel bearing would it feel as if the tyre was flat ?


Also hopefully would it just be a case of taking the engine and gearbox out taking the broken parts away and replacing with new parts ? Or would it need setting up or something similar ?

[Cooperman]

I once had a seriously worn diff pin, and I mean 'seriously'. It was worn down to about 3/16" left of its original thickness. I took the engine out, removed the crownwheel, changed the diff for a cross=pin one and re-fitted it all. It took me just over a days work.

[Pelvisgt]

So about 6 hours labour ?

As I can't do it myself I want to prepare myself for the damage lol

[Guess-Works.com]

pm sent