[Vwdiesel] Future Outlook

[James Hansen]

impossible.
Your diff will not fail only in first gear.
It will whine like a mother-in-law in all gears, and when you vary the 
load the sound will change, but no way will it make noise only in one 
gear and not the others.

What you describe sounds more like CV joints.

It's very common during early winter for old grease to get stiff and not 
lube the joints, and all the CV joint problems start to show up.
-james

Stephen Kraus wrote:
> I recently wrote about a popping that occurs when coming from a stand still
> to speeding up in first, and from the responses of most of the list it has
> been determined that the differential is failing, causing is to make a
> grinding noise in first gear when driving uphill or when starting from 1st
> fast (it does not occur in 3-4-5 gears, and only occassionally in 2nd gear)
> 
> How long will the differential last without replacement? I have a steady
> well paying job and am determind to keep my 1989 Jetta Diesel alive no
> matter what.
>