Diff troubles in 61

[Caddy Daddy]

Well I thought after rebuilding everything from the radiator to the Drive shaft the only thing to be a major problem would be the diff, so guess what, the diff is stating to make a whoa..whoa..whoa, sound, you can hear it between 15 to 45 mile an hour, after that the road noise takes over and with the windows down you can't hear it at all, but its there.

At around 35 mile an hour when you sway the car to the left and right the noise stays the same so it is possibly not the wheel bearings, and I had the seal and rear wheel bearings replaced a coupe of years ago anyhow, so it can't be these.

If you break it does not stop it just goes on depending on the motion of the wheels.

So my question is, has anyone had diff issues, and if so are there any rebuild kits out there, my mechanic who was in the car with me, after jacking the back of the car up and inspecting the outer area of the diff and the rear wheels, in the end he said it would possibly be the centre bearings in the diff.

So anyone?   Thanks regards  Milton Watkins

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day Milt,

These Diffs are not rebuildable in the field as when repairs were required, the Centres went back to the Factory.

Special Tools are needed to re-set-up the Gearset, and the only thing that can be done is replacing the Front Seal.   The Crown Wheel is Riveted to the Carrier, and the Backlash has no adjustment as in a "Normal" diff.

But, there is no reason why the bearings that were replaced haven't gone again.

Bruce.

PS.   You have mail.

[Caddy Daddy]

Hi Bruce thanks for your comments, I just found out that they can be repaired, the pinion bearings can be changed, the Set up f the backlash can be done and also the preload, it just has to be done by professionals so I think this is where I will go, fingers crossed.

Regards Milton Watkins

[Jim Stamper]

     My two cents, probably cheaper and more certain to get a used one. If you have been following these rear end stories, these repairs are not always as successful as one would hope. One reason probably is they generally don't give trouble and that means no one really gets any experience with them. They know all about Ford 8" and 9" and chevys and Dodges and all the pickup rears and front ends that need servicing but no one decides on a gear ratio change in their Cadillac and they rarely break if even minimally serviced hence no experience. They only think they know about them because they do know about the other kinds.  If you do go the repair route, keep us posted on how it goes and the result. I personally would get a good used one and go. Cheaper in the long run, and the factory knew all about them and how to set them up to begin with, and they were using new parts.   
                                                                              Jim Stamper  CLC#13470

[Caddy Daddy]

Thanks for your comments Jim, I will post on this post the results and any pics, a little bit on the hard side to get a diff or a centre over here in Australia, but you never know, I have a friend that exports motor homes (RV's) from the US, so he will help me get one over, but I'll try this first, the noise from the diff at the moment is only heard if the windows are up, and we live in the tropics, so I only think about the noise in the winter, first thing I will do though is to check the level of the diff oil, as I have had the drivers side bearing seal at the drum leaking for a while, maybe its a little dry?
Regards Milton

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I had a car that was silent with the windows up, but when the windows were down, there was a terrible noise as I drove.   It was the wheel caps.

Bruce.

PS.   It would be nice to see pictures of the Diff Centre, especially in pieces, if the mechanic decides to strip it down.