Groaning Noise When Coming Off Throttle - Driveshaft Bearing?

[MikeAuto 0]

My daily 205 (1.1) has developed an interesting sound, its a groaning/honking sound that sounds not unlike a bloody donkey. This happens mostly when you come off the throttle, it changes with road speed, not engine speed (whether in or out of gear) and causes a slight vibration. Its not like a wheel bearing rumble though.

 

I thought it might be the intermediate bearing on the driveshaft failing and turning in its housing, so I changed the driveshaft for a new one (well, recon anyway) and it seemed to solve the problem for a few hundred miles. But now the same noise is back.

 

So I'm wondering if I've changed the wrong thing in the first place? Or if the recon driveshaft is at fault? I'm at a bit of a loss!

 

 

[welshpug 1,656]

more likely to be the diff

[DamirGTI 342]

Ditto - diff bearings ... common problem on MA gearboxes , i had a few 205/106/Saxo's mainly base models with this particular issue all of them being diff bearings except one Saxo VTS which had almost identical issue/noise but that one had bad gearbox input shaft bearing (the noise was similar as the worn diff bearing while driving except this one was also noisy at idle , which is never case with the worn diff bearings ..)

 

D

[MikeAuto 0]

Cheers for the replies guys, thats something I hadnt thought of, and didnt realise its a common problem.

 

Whats the best solution in terms of repair, fix this box, or use it as an opportunity to swap to 5-speed?

[DamirGTI 342]

The diff on the MA gearboxes is deep inside the box , theres no separate/removable housing for easy access to just the diff itself as on the BE gearboxes , so in the case of MA gearbox in order to get to the diff to replace the bearings you need to strip down entire gearbox .. which isn't fun unless you're used to do gearbox repairs !

 

If you can't find someone who would do the repair of the current gearbox at an reasonable price , maybe an known good used one would be better .. but since they all suffer from diff bearing issues (and generally are a bit sensitive gearboxes bearings and cog wheel wise) , really need to be told that is a good one from honest salesman who wont stitch you up on purpose .

 

PM Miles , he's our gearbox guru so he might have good spare one for you , or rebuild current one for you .

 

D

Edited June 9, 2014 by DamirGTI