Rear Axle whine 2WD.

[Trouble at t'Mill]

Hello.

I've just bought a 2 WD Bongo on behalf of my niece which has a rear axle whine - the diagnosis of rear axle wear has been confirmed by a local garage. (The oil level was down by around a half inch, and took about 1 pint to top it up! Unfortunately, the damage has been done as the whine is still present.)

I'm now looking for the best solution which could include repair or return for refund from the dealer (who doesn't have his own workshop.)

For the first option, there are 2nd-hand axles available, but they (a) seem to cost silly money (£300-400!), and (b) how sure can you ever be of its provenance?! And fitting would be around £150 on top...

So, are NEW parts - crown wheels, pinions, etc - available to allow a rebuild? If so, how would the cost compare - would it be less than the £550 total for 2nd hand?!!

Can anyone recommend a specialist garage who would take on this kind of work - ideally in the South West?

Many thanks for any help and advice.

[missfixit70]

Whereabouts in the SW are you ? if you click on the "user control panel" top right of the screen, you can put your location in your profile & some local recommendations can be chucked your way, One of the main breakers Bellhill, who advertise on this site's main page will be able to source & fit a secondhand unit with some sort of guarantee I would think & Allans in Plymouth have a very good reputation.

Welcome to the forum by the way

[Trouble at t'Mill]

Hi Kirsty.

Thanks for the reply, the warm welcome, and the little slap on the wrist! (ref duplicating this on the other post!) I've also updated my details to include my location.

I'd be happy to travel a reasonable distance to get to a good garage, and have indeed had a promising reply from Bell Hill garage. This seems a good way to go since - as you say - they can both supply AND fit, and they will offer a warranty and ensure all is fine. I was originally looking at having axles sent down for a local garage to fit. This would be ok - until the replacement axle also proved to be faulty!

I wonder if new parts are available, tho'?

Thanks again, Donnie.

[bigdaddycain]

Hi Donnie, welcome to the forum, until somebody starts to make a re-furb kit for the diff(s) on a bongo, i'm afraid we are stuck with hunting around for a half decent replacement axle(s) in the meantime

Until of course, some bright spark takes it upon himself to hunt down all the compatible sun wheels,planetary wheels,pinion gears..etc etc... Then there's the L.S.D.... with it's spring packs and clutches...

I'm sure there will be compatible parts from other vehicles,but a spot of "cherry picking" would need to be undertaken to put together a pukka kit for the bongo,until that time,we'll just have to perform transplants from dead bongo's...

Bell hill garage , and allan's vehicle services both have solid reputations, and you could do much worse than have either of them sort out your diff issues.

[al & chris]

We got rear axle from a breakers via 247 spares an internet search company. Very happy with eas of use and responses from breakers. £250 inc del for complete rear axil, this makes garage mechanics job easier as it is a straight swap not having to change parts. Not sure about fitting cost as we paid £300 but also changed front axil oil and gearbox oil as well as full break fluid change. We have done a few thousand mile since change and all is well no rear diff whine like we had before. We had all this done at our local garage in derbyshire.

[al & chris]

Rear axil also came with a 90 day guarantee but seems to be ok so didnt need it.

[Trouble at t'Mill]

Thanks bigdaddycain, useful to know that 'new' isn't really an option at the moment!

Al & chris, many thanks for the added info. too.

I've had a similar quote from 247 spares, and my local garage would fit it for around £150. This all seems fair enough - unless the 'new' axle turns out to be faulty! Obviously, 247 would replace it under their warranty, but they - understandably - wouldn't cover the extra labour charge, I wouldn't have thought? So, an added risk?

So this is where Bell Hill garage works out as the most sensible choice for me; since they supply AND fit, any problems would be addressed by them until solved. Strangely, they favour the replacing of the diff whilst keeping the axle in situ approach as they reckon it's easier. Each to their own, I guess! (Guess what - Bell Hill is cheaper for the complete job too...)

Anyway, it's now the 'problem' of the supplying dealer, as this fault was obvious the first time I touched 50mph after leaving their premises! Looks like I'm doing the running around for them, tho'...

Thanks again to all - what a forum!

(As soon as my niece either 'confirms' the purchase of this Bongo - or goes for another one, she'll certainty be joining the club.)