Re: [alfa] Spider rear end whine

["Dean W. Cains" <dwc@xxxxxx>]

Hi Val:

I'll concur with Dave that some rear end whine is normal, and I've heard it 
in every Spider I've ever owned, even one's with really low mileage.  I 
suspect the noise is more evident in Spider's (than let's say in a GTV or 
Berlina), because there's no real insulation (like a back seat) on the rear 
deck, and your ears are so much closer to the source.  Be sure to change 
the oil, and unless the noise is really ugly, forget about it.  And, always 
remove the filler plug before the drain plug, for reasons I'd rather not 
remember, although a gearbox was involved.

Regards,

Dean
Lutz, FL
'74 & '87 Spider Veloce's


At 12:49 PM 6/30/2004, you wrote:

> Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 08:53:01 -0700 (PDT)
> From: drm <cimice2351@domain.elided>
> Subject: [alfa] Spider rear end whine
>
> Valery Danilov wrote:
>
> >I wanted to tap into collective wisdom again. Never had to deal with
> >differentials up to this point, but my "new" Spider has a distinct
> >whine
> >coming from the rear, noticeable mostly on deceleration, or coasting in
> >neutral. Under load the noise seems to go away.
> >What would be the most likely diagnosis in this scenario, and likely
> >cure? In
> >case I need a new rear axle, are they interchangeable between the
> >years? My
> >car is a late model Spider.
>
> I don't know how loud your whine is, but some is not abnormal.  Your 
> symptoms don't sound like a bearing, but rather gear wear.  A very 
> substantial clunk in the transition between accel and decel is more 
> important than the whine.  I've driven cars with a rear whine for 
> thousands of miles and it never got worse and it never got better.  The 
> only thing I found that has made some improvement,  is the use of 
> synthetic lubricants.
> If it were mine, I'd drain it, refill with any good GL-5 gear oil, like 
> Redline, Amsoil etc. and just drive it.
>
> Dave Miller
> Deltona, Florida
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided