Gearbox Autopsy
 

Some members may remember when I first got my Rover 75 I had issues with excessive movement in the driveshaft, and today I decided to remove the clutch housing (for use on a low mileage box with a damaged clutch housing) and poke around inside

Getting the housing off was not an easy job, and I would certainly say its easier to just swap the box, but not impossible to repair

You can see the state of the poor roller bearings

http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/...psrg2utj96.jpg

http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/...psuz8dvqva.jpg

I found it kept me interested this afternoon anyhow :D

any idea what caused this?

Blimey - that's the pits!
Poor or wrong quality oil or a simple lack of?

Click: http://www.bardenbearings.com/remote...ages_de_en.pdf

TC

NORMAL FATIGUE is most plausible

Symptoms:
Often referred to as spalling, and indicated by
the fracture of the running surfaces and
subsequent removal of small discrete particles
of material from the inner ring, outer ring or
rolling elements. Spalling is progressive,
and once initiated will spread with continued
operation. It is always accompanied by
a noticeable increase in vibration.
Causes:
Overloading; excessive preload; tight inner
ring fits; bearing has remained in operation
beyond its calculated fatigue life.
Remedies:
Replace the bearing and/or consider....

No idea myself, got the car like it and was the first thing I changed over

I guess there was an horrible growling ? :duh:

I imagine so, but never heard it for the banging about of the driveshaft, droplinks, upper mounts, and worn hub (I probably could have found a better condition 75 if I had shopped around a bit more, (but it had all the bells and whistles)
The roads around here aren't great, coupled with an an infant school and primary school meaning loads of speed bumps means any small knocking on a car is more than rather noticeable here ^^;;

On a side note if anyone is refurbishing a gearbox and needs any parts, apart from that bearing it seems in rather good condition and I'll be taking it to the scrappy in the future at some point, so just give me a shout and come and pick away at the remains
The diff parts alone are in the hundreds on rimmers

I doubt that.

if so this must come from an extreme mileage car, as this is not normal to my knowledge, even with high milers.
I think the most likely option is a problem with lubrication.
But it is a guess on my behalf.:shrug:

Dad was having a look at it today -so this is an ex REME engineers point of view- he reckons it could have been left without sufficient lubrication, got wet and then sat and rusted up. Next time the car moved, lots of crunching

The car was 175,000 miles with that gearbox when I swapped it out, so rather high but nothing extreme