Anybody seen this before??

[mach2andy]

Took a peek inside my non powerloc diff today, and found this sitting in the bottom. It looks to me as though it's possibly part of a thrust washer, and it's 0.40 mm thick. The diff has covered 60,000 mls, and it looks to me as though its never been apart, but I'm no expert, so I can't be sure. The diff looks to be in good order, but I can't comment on it's operation because I've never driven the car.
Anyway, any suggestions, thoughts, or comments welcome

[johnetype]

If you remove all the bolts holding the diff cover on you'll be able to move the cover to one side and get a better look inside to see what's come adrift.

If the diff is still in the subframe you won't be able remove the cover completely but you can move it enough to see inside and if you have one of those endoscope like USB cameras off eBay for a few pounds you'll be able to poke around even more.

If you had a powerlok diff I'd be able to make a more useful contribution but you don't. Check all the tab/lockwashers are still where they should be.

[mach2andy]

Hi John
I should have explained that the diff is on my bench with the cover and both drive shafts removed. Again, I'm no expert, but the internals seem to be in good order, but it seems foolhardy to put the unit back into the car without finding where this broken piece has come from. Looking at the parts catalogue, the thickest shim that I can see is .030 which seems to reinforce my initial thought that it looks like part of a thrust washer. There appear to be 2 different thrust washers associated with the side and mate gears. I'm going to have another good look later on to see if I can see anything amiss. Failing that, I guess I'll have to call International Rescue!

[Bob.]

Could be part of thrust washers item 29. Wherever it has come from the unit needs stripping, the rest of it is probably still in there and there is a reason why it failed.



Let us know what you find - Good luck
Bob

[mach2andy]

Took my diff to Alan at AJS engineering last Saturday, and he called yesterday to say that it's finished. New crown wheel & pinion, bearings, seals etc. I didn't want to refit the IRS only to find that it has to come out again because of a whine or rumble or other extraneous noise. The broken piece in the photo was a thrust washer that sits behind one of the side gears. Alan found other bits of it lurking inside the unit, and a load of crap fouling up the passageways.
And yes, I know that I've fitted the release bearing return spring on the wrong side of the slave cylinder.

[AshM]

Nice work Andy.

I do not have the return spring / bracket on my Clutch Slave Cylinder at all.

Re-built with a new seal recently and all working fine without it.

Is this something I should worry about? I am generally a fan of the concept that if the factory fitted it then they had a good reason.

cheers
Ash

[johnetype]

Ash, it all depends on if you have a hydrostatic slave cylinder fitted or not. Given you have a Series 2, my guess is that you don't have a hydrostatic slave cylinder and don't need an external spring.

If you want more information, please search posts on here for details.

[mgcjag]

Have a look at page E.X.s.2 it gives details of the clutch slave cylinders......early cars started off with a slave that had a spring and needed adjusting....then it changed to a slave that automatically compensated for clutch wear with no spring....then the changed back again to an adjustable slave with a spring....Steve

[AshM]

Thanks both.

Will do some research.

Appreciate the feedback.

Cheers
Ash