me and david know quite well what happens when you have rooted bearings in your gearbox and the effect it has on your eng bearings.

we found out first hand when we stripped my old engine and gearbox

thing is i'm guessing these double row bearings should be oil immersed!? Sound doesn't sound oily.... to clear.....

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New from the UK and wanting a NICE little British car!

ok Gareth,,, i really hope i`m wrong with this,,, i really do,,, i`d very much rather it simply be something like a zip tie on the pot joint boot clicking on the suframe or something,,, that would be much easier & simpler to correct hey?

But all the bearings inside the gearbox & diff are "swimming" in oil,,, & """IF""" it`s a broken bearing cage, then the shear weight of each ball falling & hitting the next ball makes a certain click noise,,, so,,, going on what you have described it just seems quite possible that`s what it may very well be

I wish i was there to actually listen to the noise myself

as i said, it is quite rare for a diff bearing cage to collapse,,, but that doesn`t mean to say that it can`t possibly happen,,, there are some cheaper "Plastic cage" type diff bearings out there these days so it could quite possibly be that too,,, it`s anyones guess as it`s very hard to diagnose a noise in someones mini via the internet forums

we`re all just trying to help,,, but i really do hope i`m wrong,,, either way you will certainly want to investigate it further yeah???

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

oh joy......

Its the pot joint!!!! had a peek today and shoved my finger in to the joint and had a play and hey presto.. no noise, a handful of grease and rebooting it! problem happily solved!

Joy!

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New from the UK and wanting a NICE little British car!

I was on the money!!!!! Lol
But I have to ask, are there 6 whole bearings in there in each side??? you could be masking a bigger problem with grease

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glad it was something simple

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.