Differential: Tear Down or Replace - Advice?
06-27-2006, 03:08 PM
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Differential: Tear Down or Replace - Advice?
'99 C4 - 60K Miles.
As some of you might remember, I asked about trans noise I was hearing nearly a month ago. The day before my service appointment it went away as quickly as it arrived, so I put the issue on hold. Yesterday the noise returned in this manner:
I was on the toll way and heard a loud "POP" when I shifted out of second. From that point forward it sounded like a baseball card in between spokes of a bike in every gear / clutch in AND clutch out. It varied with speed. When I came to a stop I felt a 'thump' in the drive line and the noise went away. After that my differential noises returned.
Today I went to the dealer. Three techs drove it. Two said it was coming from the rear differential - noise was reverberating up the torque tube. One tech said that it was coming from the front differential.
Their advice was as follows:
1. Begin with the rear differential. They are asking for 9 hours of labor ($1,125) to drop and replace the transmission.
2. They want to disassemble the trans in the shop. They would like another 5-10 hours of labor for a diagnosis. They said we can estimate the repair costs from there. If the trans appears okay they will move on to the front differential.
I didn't think dealers worked on transmissions. Would you follow this course of action or start with a used or rebuilt differential - I have a independent that will install.
They quoted $4,450.35 to put in a rebuilt front differential and $7,700 for the rebuilt transmission (plus the labor quoted above).
PM me if you don't want your advice posted.......or have a used or rebuilt C4 trans for sale.
Thanks,
Jeff
As some of you might remember, I asked about trans noise I was hearing nearly a month ago. The day before my service appointment it went away as quickly as it arrived, so I put the issue on hold. Yesterday the noise returned in this manner:
I was on the toll way and heard a loud "POP" when I shifted out of second. From that point forward it sounded like a baseball card in between spokes of a bike in every gear / clutch in AND clutch out. It varied with speed. When I came to a stop I felt a 'thump' in the drive line and the noise went away. After that my differential noises returned.
Today I went to the dealer. Three techs drove it. Two said it was coming from the rear differential - noise was reverberating up the torque tube. One tech said that it was coming from the front differential.
Their advice was as follows:
1. Begin with the rear differential. They are asking for 9 hours of labor ($1,125) to drop and replace the transmission.
2. They want to disassemble the trans in the shop. They would like another 5-10 hours of labor for a diagnosis. They said we can estimate the repair costs from there. If the trans appears okay they will move on to the front differential.
I didn't think dealers worked on transmissions. Would you follow this course of action or start with a used or rebuilt differential - I have a independent that will install.
They quoted $4,450.35 to put in a rebuilt front differential and $7,700 for the rebuilt transmission (plus the labor quoted above).
PM me if you don't want your advice posted.......or have a used or rebuilt C4 trans for sale.
Thanks,
Jeff
Last edited by jdk1; 06-27-2006 at 04:01 PM.
