Technical Assessing internal gearbox wear

[fiat500]

In my case the bell housing was refitted after adjustment of backlash, but I did scribe a mark on a drive shaft to show the movement between the gears (it's not a lot, but you can feel it)

Thanks for that reassurance Ian. I've just been playing with a special wrench I've made to turn the castellated rings. Things quickly bound up so as a result I've taken off the bellhousing to see what's going on. I see that a trained eye could probably check for backlash without any measuring instrument. I am planning the same as you; to adjust without the bellhousing and then reassemble and double-check. the problem is when you take the bearings too far, they don't naturally get pushed back enough to give a slight amount of play when you turn the opposing adjuster.
It's definitely a job that you can only learn by just trying to do it.

 

[Bleeding Knuckles]

Thanks for that reassurance Ian. I've just been playing with a special wrench I've made to turn the castellated rings. Things quickly bound up so as a result I've taken off the bellhousing to see what's going on. I see that a trained eye could probably check for backlash without any measuring instrument. I am planning the same as you; to adjust without the bellhousing and then reassemble and double-check. the problem is when you take the bearings too far, they don't naturally get pushed back when you turn the opposing adjuster.
It's definitely a job that you can only learn by just trying to do it.

Hi Peter, yes it is a bit of trial and error. One thing I did that seemed to help with the adjustment was to scribe a small line onto the adjuster ring and a corresponding line on the carrier you can then (if you really want to) measure the distance moved of each adjuster and apply the same in the opposite sense on the other side. If you do find the bearings binding take hold of both drive shafts and spin the diff a few times using both shafts (it may be tight) I think this helps to reset the bearings to the new adjusted point.

Ian.