diff noise and poss cv noise

[dickydg]

i have a c180 esprit n reg. i used it a lot acouple of years ago towing my caravan to race meetings and eventually the diff started to whine a lot and the prop centre bearing went. replaced these with parts from breakers and all was lovely. unfortunately the first time a towed the caravan the length of the country the diff started whining again (yes i replaced the oil). have i just been unlucky with the diff from the breakers or is this a problem with them. will it last even though its whining. i have also developed a banging noise which i cant locate. it sounds like rear nearside cv joint or the diff. it only bangs when suspension is compressed on left side by going round right hand bends. anybody any thoughts on this and how to find what is at fault without just blindly replacing parts. i cant reproduce the knocking on stands even with the suspension jacked up.
yours hopefully
richard

 

[Aussie Nick]

I think you are being extremely optomistic to tow a caravan with a c180. I would suggest you raise car on a hoist and see whether the coupling has failed on the rear shaft from the side where the noise is coming. Obviously the diffs in these do not like the towing experience.

 

[dickydg]

its only a little caravan but obviously the diffs dont like it. didnt think that towing forces would put much more strain on a diff. not to the point of pulling it apart anyway. which coupling do you mean. do you mean the cv joints and how do i check them. nothing has completely failed as it still drives ok. if there was a complete failure of one shaft there would be no drive at all. it just knocks badly when that side suspension is loaded/ does this point towards cv or something else