Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hello fellow Elan fans, I'm new to this board but have owned my Elans for 35 years...a late adopter. I'm in the process of refreshing both cars and wonder whether a diff needs attention as it makes a noticeable rumble when turned by hand. The site won't accept an MP4 video, so challenging to explain the sound better. I'd be grateful for any advice on next steps and suggestions of a good person/company in UK that could repair. I'm in Bristol.

Many thanks,
Roger

If the diff is full of oil, and makes a noise when the car is running on the road, then it sounds like at least the bearings need replacing. I can only recommend Promotor, who are in Chesterfield, Derbys. The owner is on here, and he has the right approach to gearbox & diff rebuilds, and there are lots of people on here that are well satisfied. If mine ever need doing, I'll be going to him for sure. He also has the correct special tools for measuring and rebuilding them.
No affiliation.

Roger,

Bearings tend to rumble, gears usually whine.

Hope this helps,

Richard Hawkins

HUL1K wrote: The site won't accept an MP4 video

Possibly upload a video to youtube and post link?

It does sound like it might be bearings, so probably best to get it looked over/refreshed.

Thank you for replies and the Youtube suggestion (doh...why didn't I think of that?). Have posted a 20s video here:

https://youtu.be/zy77ZHHfEYQ

I have read good reports of Promotor on this forum but cannot find contact details. Grateful if anyone can help.

Thanks,
Roger

HUL1K wrote:Thank you for replies and the Youtube suggestion (doh...why didn't I think of that?). Have posted a 20s video here:

https://youtu.be/zy77ZHHfEYQ

I have read good reports of Promotor on this forum but cannot find contact details. Grateful if anyone can help.

Thanks,
Roger

Hi Roger,

I think your first step is to remove the two output shafts and see how the bearings feel in isolation and also to have a look down the hole to see if anything looks untoward in the diff centre.
How long is it since the car was driven, even if just up and down the garage / drive?

Cheers.
Al

It sounds like it could be quite normal to me. This is just the noise from the planetary gears. They are spur gears and therefore noisy and when one side is not turning and the other is you’ll get a noise like that. I’d just leave it alone. You can only accurately assess the condition once you have the car on the road

It's not too complicated. Have spmeone knock it apart and look it over. A new set of seals would never hurt

Did you try turning it from the pinion side to see if it makes noises?

Thanks for the replies. Several ideas to pursue this week.

Amazing to be able to tap into a global network on such a niche topic.

Roger