[200q20v] Anybody ever change a differential bearing?

[Wolff]

>
> I've been complaining for nearly a year about a slight scraping noise
> from the tranny area only during deceleration. So after reading your
> message I just went down to look closely at the right inner CV on my
> car--expecting to see some evidence of abrasion from the heat shield.
> Damn there's only about 3/16" clearance! But I saw no evidence at all
> to indicate my CV joint assembly has been contacting the heat shield.
> How loud is the sound you hear? In my car it's a very faint
> scraping--similar to a brake rotor slightly scraping on the dust
> shield. In fact I think my old noisy fuel pump had masked the sound
> until was replaced last summer.
>
> Sorry I have no info on bearing replacement. Could a defective oil
> seal on the output shaft be contributing to the shaft freeplay?

No leaks, so amazingly, the seal is holding despite the bad freeplay (and
yes there's oil in the trans).  On mine, I can grab it and wiggle it by
hand. The noise is pretty loud. Like taps on sheet metal, but only over
bumps while decellerating.  Each of the 6 bolts through the CV takes it's
turn hitting the tin. It wasn't obvious by looking at it. Only after I
figured it out could I see the evidence of the outer edge of the bolt heads
hitting the tin.
Wolff