1.4 CL (L reg) diff noise

[wst]

I've been looking at a 1.4CL to get. I took it for a test drive today, and as had been said, it had a noisy diff. It's done 120k miles. How concerned should I be about this, and how easy/expensive is it to replace (the noise is beyond 'repair', it's quite growly in the turns)?

Thanks for your time, and if I get this, expect to see me around even more

[zollaf]

well, its certainly not going to get any better. why not look for a car thats in better shape. this one sounds like its going to need a replacement gearbox fairly soon. you could look at used boxes, or a recon unit. either way its not going to be cheap.

[wst]

How much is 'not cheap'? And sadly, thanks to our wonderful government and scrappage, there's not much choice. It's this, a Seicento, or a Punto, both which cost more and are less practical :/

[zollaf]

if you can find a good used gearbox, you will pay something like £100 ish. a recon box will be more like £500. then about 4 hours labour to swap over, plus £100 ish for a clutch. totally agree about the scrappage scheme. trying to find good cheap cars is a nightmare.

[wst]

Hmm, this will be interesting. I'll have to see how it goes down with my dad... he was hoping for it to have about 3 months without extra expense really... and I guess when the diff goes it's going to fire itself all over the place...

Is a new clutch really needed? The clutch currently on it doesn't slip much if at all...

Will get a quote for the work needed from a garage and take that to the dealer if we decide to go ahead and buy.

[zollaf]

thing is with noises like this, you dont know how long its going to last. first thing to do would be to check or change the gearbox oil to see if that helps. a clutch is a good idea when youve got the box out, as the box has to come out to change it, and if you dont and it fails next week... you get my drift.

[wst]

Clutch is just convenient, then. Got it

I'd change the oil for certain, then, and drive gently. When it goes, I'll find out all right... and so will the engine, if I'm unlucky, I guess. Definitely a high priority job. Thanks for the help!