A few weeks ago I started to noitice sound coming from my transmission, it's a terrible uneven grinding/ popping noise most noticable when the wheels are moving, but the engine is silent (such as coming to a stop in neutral). The car drives just fine.

I took my car into my mechanic (I've used this guy for years, and he's been very honest and reliable.) And he sent it over to a specialized transmission shop.

They identified the differential as the source of the noise, and estimated $3500 for the repair.

My mechanic says I could wait on the repair for a while, but that doesn't rest well with me. If something is loose or broken, and making noise, how can that not be causing additional damage? How does that quote sound for differential repair?

 

Quote sounds really high. The absolute lowest an aftermarket Quaife would cost is $1,200. That leaves about $2,300 in labor costs? I can't see how it would take him 23 hours to complete the job (assuming $100/hr).

 

I'm thinking you could buy a used tranny & have it installed for under $3500. You might want to investigate that.

 

A clutch instal...is 11 hours, so assuming it takes 5 hrs to remove the tranny, and 5 to reinstall....that leaves a lot of $$ in that estimate for parts...but perhaps he is purposfully over estimating the $$ to prevent later issues...kinda of a worst case estimate. I would ask for a bit more of a brakdown of what is included, since I would assume your trusted mechanic would only send you to a good shop.

 

I'd replace it sooner than later. I've seen these diffs come apart and break the trans case, then you'll have to buy a trans. But here at my shop about $3500 would be the cost of a new trans installed. So it sounds high unless they are replacing the trans.

I do have some used diffs that are in good shape if you just want to buy that.